Wild West Guns 21 Winchester

Please forgive these poor pictures of a Winchester 21 in 16 gauge done for a customer of Wild West Guns. I’d already done a 12 and 20 gauge with the same pattern. The scroll pattern comes from an original done by the factory, but I replaced it with a much nicer style of English scroll. The dogs and game scene are my own. One of the most difficult requests for me is when someone shows me a factory pattern and asks, “What would you charge for that?”  Much of the older factory engravings are rather crude. I simply won’t do such poor quality work, so it’s literally impossible. Life is too short. Please don’t think I’m being contemptuous of those engravers. They didn’t have the binocular microscope I use, or some of the techniques I have learned (some from other engravers, some I learned on my own). The first time I sculpted the oak leaves on the fences, it took almost a full day. By the time I did this 16 gauge it was more like half of a day.  You can see how bluing brings out the gold and kills the scroll.  I plan on doing another, but might not do the birds and dog in gold, but do them in bulino and French gray the receiver to show them off. We’ll see.