doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Help with Gunmaking Definition: "Hand-Made"

I'd like to ask for help defining (succinctly) the term "hand-made" or "hand-crafted" as it applies to the making of of double-barrel sporting shotguns or rifles.

To narrow that, I'm really thinking of the criteria for "traditional" gunmaking as it was practiced in the pre-CNC/CAD-CAM era but modern enough to include the use of machinery -- i.e. Industrial Age and after.

I'm thinking: non-interchangeable components, manually operated machinery, and fitting, assembly and finishing by hand.

Additions welcomed and debate encouraged.

Thanks

I like your definition. I'm not sure of the "interchangeable" part,rather the components should be made using hand tools or maually operated machinery sounds better to me.

I take it you refer to the likes of Webley and Scott . Where parts were machined to within a set tolerance then hand filed and fitted . The whole thing being filed up by hand so that the individual crafts man "left his imprint" .
I doubt very strongly that any gun making has taken place since the advent of the breech loader that has not been of this type. Even in the percussion days Lock parts were either forged or partially machined ,then filed up in a jig often I understand by the apprentices before assembly by the "masters".

All guns are "hand made". How many have you seen assembled by foot? Or by mouth? Or whatever other part of human anatomy one might care to use?
nial

Nial, your definition would be "hand-assembled" ... would it not?

nialmac,To be pedantic, they are not hand made they are made by hand . That is made using tools that are held and maniplulated by hand . Even my fingres wont cut steel ,though at the end of most days they fell like sand paper. Mind you some of the bodge jobs and cock ups I've seen lately I begin to wonder .

Mr. Venters:
A rather perplexing question indeed from the author of "Gun Craft... Fine Guns & Gumankers In The 21st Century."

Nonetheless, your terms seem ambiguous. All guns are "hand-made." Some are even "hand-crafted." Human hands can build an AR-15. Human hands can craft a Galazan RBL. Does this make them fine guns? Hardly.

Furthermore, you can't reliably swap bolts in an M-1 Garand. Does this strict non-interchangeability give it special rank? Certainly not.

What's more, one can apply the rubric of hand fitting, assembly and finishing to most any of the above. None of which elevates them in the slightest.

What you are probably asking is what makes a Purdey, Holland, Fabbri, or Boss stand above the rest. In a nutshell, it is skill, dedication, tradition, plus a commitment to precision and art. Mix well and nurture for a a few centuries, and you might have a fine gunmaker.

Or the definition you seek.

Just a difference in the tools used, Vic.

I doubt the raw forging that becomes a modern day "Handmade gun" was forged over charcoal, so everything has changed.

A definition as you seek may be as elusive as 'Horizontal line" or "Honest politician".

Kensal, very good points. I'm going to have to rub my head a bit on that.

However, I am not asking what necessarily makes a "best gun" (as the makers you mention), as the techniques and materials could also be applied to other-grade guns that are made by largely the same methods. The comments Gunman made re Webley & Scott are what I was getting at.

As to the perplexing nature of my question, this author has always thought himself a journalist who write about guns rather than a "gunwriter" who knows it all. There's more than a semantic difference -- the more craftsmen I have visited the more I realize how little I know ... Hence the question.

The whole issue of "hand-made" or "hand-crafted," presumably in contrast to "machine-made" is a fascinating subject. These distinctions, many of them very artificial, apply to most material objects including guns.

If anyone wishes to pursue the philosophy of this subject, I recommend: The Nature and Aesthetics of Design by David Pye (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1978) Although the book deals with domestic artifacts Pye formulates a good analysis of "machine-work" vs "hand-work" and the issues that value each.