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I'm glad you fellows are enjoying the podcasts, I'll pass this on to Reto. Personally, I enjoyed being included and the experience of the interview. Reto stayed with a same basic questions for much and the different, or similar answers point to some of the nuances of the trade. The fact that all of these guys are fulltime, what I call career gunmakers reflects on the attitude of many in the trade. Having spent much of my career attempting to document the guns, gunmakers and procedures I find this medium and its content to be a wonderful avenue for preserving information about this era of American Custom gunmakers.

As for part-time makers and pensioned retirees, if they do good work and charge living wage prices most of us wouldn't have any issues. Some, mainly stockmakers have made it very difficult for others as they chronically undercut prices. Some doing very high quality work at 1/2 or 2/3s what a career guy has to charge to stay in business. I heard about one fellow who bragged when retiring a while back that he had never raised his prices in the last half of his production. He had a very well paying straight job with a healthy pension waiting at the end. As for survival of the trade, I believe there will always be guys who are compelled to create fine firearms. What I say about myself is that when I found out a guy could actually create a custom gun there was nothing else in the world that I wanted to do.
Hagn actioned 6.5x55

Low Wall Winchester 17HMR