Your views on engraving?

I myself prefer understated simplicity in Firearms, even if I am partial to old Nickel...and or sometimes old Stag or Mother of Pearl Stocks.

So, I do not own any Engraved Guns.

Sometimes I will see images of Engraved Guns which are very appealing and done so well that one has to pause and concede it is indeed very beautiful.

But, as for my own Guns, I really seem to prefer them to be un-adorned overall.

The only Engraved Gun I almost bought ( still kicking myself ) was a typical, early-ish Wolf and Klarr looking, Engraved, Nickeled "S & W" 2nd Model Hand Ejector in .44 Special, dating to the mid 1920s, which also has the Steer Head MOP Stocks.

It was just so wacky, it was somehow endearing.

One would not have called this 'good' Enraving, even if it had it's own sort of charm regardless....and, that was what sort of appealed to me with that one; it was an example of a style and a time period and locale, or of a genre within those.

Heck I have few.....I am partial to this scratched up 1957 model PYTHON.....Heck I am a beat up 57 model myself thanks for giving me a reason to post these again.... RR



Just had these two "scratched"

I once had a noted 'scratcher' put my name and rank on the top backstraps of two Colt SAA's, in a 19th Century style.

I even laid it out on graph paper, using a mechanical drafting pencil to give him the correct idea for spacing and serifs.

My mistake was in 'not' completely erasing the fine, light little pencil marks in the lettering - mistakenly assuming (yeah, I know) that he'd understand that block lettering comes to hard stops at the junctures.

Guess what - he didn't.

He merely made a transfer and 'scratched' in every line, as fast as he could - no matter how it looked - and left the edges of his work proud.

I buffed it all away - refinished the backstraps, and that was that.

Sadly, he'd done fine work on a little Navy Arms (Uberti) Sharps Pepperbox, so he'd lured me in, so to speak - but that was on a brass frame I'd removed the Italian proof marks from.

The only engraving I ever really liked was the minimal work that Colt provided on just the blued parts of the Single Action Army - I like the 'clean' look, coupled with the color casehardened frame - but 'to me' a Colt SAA's beautiful whether engraved, plain or worn, so I guess it really doesn't matter.

It ain't for everybody, that's for sure and there's nothing wrong with that. Since I was a kid I've always admired engraved guns. Particularly Colt single actions and other revolvers. I thought it to be wonderfully artistic and a worthy addition to even the plainest working gun. So the .22 that Bob referenced looked like a fine example to me. I also love custom guns and engraving is always a nice touch there too. I just never thought it would be something I'd be able to enjoy for myself, except maybe on a very limited basis. Like a lot of folks, I figured if you had to ask, you couldn't afford it. What I didn't know when I was younger was that engraving did not have to be exorbitantly expensive. Later I learned that folks like Michael Gouse, Jim Downing and Jim Riggs could do you a fine engraving job at affordable rates. It might not compare favorably to the works of guys like Mike Dubber or Howard Dove but for the asking price, I'm more than game. I also plan to use every single firearm I ever have engraved and as such, I'd rather it wasn't museum quality.

Times, perceptions, perspectives and financial situations change and I'm happy to report that I've recently had my first gun engraved. To say that I'm ecstatic with the results would be a gross understatement. It's hardly left my sight in the three weeks since its return. Now I'm wanting to have more and more of my guns engraved. Some that I already have, others that are still on the wish list. Either way, it will mean fewer but better guns per year and that is just how I want it.