Gun Engraving

I recalled an interesting insight into engravers in Spain so looked it up again to quote the paragraph.
The book, which I highly recommend, is:
Wieland, Terry. Spanish Best The fine shotguns of Spain, Second Edition. London, The Derrydale Press, 2001


"It is widely held in the gun trade that engravers are a touch whacko at the best of times. They may appear to be under control but it is just a matter of time. Basque engravers have a tradition that goes back centuries, and this is reflected in the way they work today. It is traditional, for instance, for engravers to sport thick, bushy moustaches. It is also traditional for them to work in a separate corner, and preferably in a separate room, off by themselves. This is not so much to keep the engravers from being disturbed as to keep the engravers from disturbing others. Finally, any engraver worth his moustache will have a birdcage at his shoulder with a canary singing gently. This, presumably, is to calm him down. To this day, you see the Basque engravers (grabadores) working in the old way, graving the old patterns."
 
Londonshooter, your post was not off-topic at all (I quickly saved the Peanuts cartoon, which made me laugh out loud). I am firmly in the Linus camp.

Decoration on a gun is multi-dimensional. To a gunmaker, it might be a practical means to soften the appearance of where metal joins meet, break up expanses of flat, shiny metal, or by the use of house styles, engraving can identify the maker from five paces (in some cases, the engraver too). To an owner, it might mean personalization or provoke pride in ownership. To the engraver, the decoration is an expression of their skill and artistry on an unforgiving medium. These are some of the reasons why engraving is worth a close look.

Decoration and personalization objectives have not diminished over time. I see the continuing urge to make a gun one’s own and different from others of the same type in the endless CGN discussions on choke tube lengths and brands, wood grades, synthetics and colours, add-on mounts, recoil pads, barrel and chamber lengths, and even preferred retailers.

Outside of rarefied levels, guns today do not have hand engraving. It is, for all intents and purposes, a lost art to most shooters. It is hard to appreciate what you rarely see; harder still if you never have a close look or understand how the engraving was done in the first place. Here is a die-stamped version of decoration, an example taken from a website about engraving. Attractive, perhaps, but an imitation of engraving, and not the real thing.

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I prefer the handwork of a moustachioed introvert, working in the corner to the sounds of a caged bird… if it means giving three-dimensionality to flat surfaces and metal parts. There is a reason why I prefer the early breech-loaders. They are the last of the hand-crafted guns, before the widespread use of power machinery and before factory production changed the sporting gun world forever. Sure, hand-finishing continued, and is ongoing today, if you can afford it; but the days of hand-forging barrels, building locks, and shaping actions with hand tools are over. Here is an example of a well-made low-cost gun retailed by Scholefield, Goodman & Sons of Birmingham, a general-goods retailer. Not even a gunmaker-signed gun (though it was likely built by Joseph Wilson of the Abington Works cooperative), yet the engraving quality, though simple in design, lifts it above the ordinary, with shaded open scrolls, careful rosettes, and quality border work.

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Being born about 175 years too late, I miss this level of gunmaking in everyday guns. I just can’t get excited over modern CNC-machined guns with generic die-stamped or laser-cut decoration. However, I recognize such guns are sturdy, dependable and well suited for current shooting demands. To each their own, I guess.
 
Can't speak for the lunatic-introvert-with-bird-in-a-cage engravers... as the only two engravers I got to personally know are women

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Christine did this knife for me a few years back.

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Maybe I'm easily amused... But I really enjoy seing them work, hammering their chisels and somehow making stuff appears on the metal.
 
I hear you Pinfire, for volume shooting practicality dictates that I use a Beretta over/under, for pleasure I always reach for one of my vintage doubles. Lately I've been rotating some of my little used ladies on the range and I've been reminded that old guns, like old cars, are subject to breakage.
The gun pictured is a WR Pape gun ca. late 1860's, very early in the centre fire usage spectrum. Pape was ( and is) widely acclaimed as one of the finest makers outside London and is often referred to as "the Purdey of the north" and this gun certainly underscores this. A very interesting piece which shows at least four of Pape's period important patents, it has been used, abused, beat, broken and busted but through all this it still locks up like a bank vault and is fully functional. This gun has been loved a lot to keep it going all these years. To my eye the shaping, fitting and finishing are the equal of any gun I've seen, the superb quality still shines through all the years. Border engraved only, but what borders, with rope twist and flourishes that enhance the graceful lines.
 

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When money is no limitation, engraving can be incredibly over-the-top, as seen in this video about Peter Hofer guns. Much Bulino-style engraving, precious-metal inlay, even what appears to be cloisonné enamel work.

One of the more interesting parts for me is at the 3:45 mark, when the shape of the fences is chiseled by hand.
 
Engraving is not something that comes to mind when you think of Russian guns. Here is my Russian TsKIB SOO MTS-7 OU, quality is at a different level compared to the typical Baikals and Toz that one normally sees.

TsKIB SOO made guns for the leaders of the Communist party and presentation guns for foreign dignitaries, Here is link to a gun presented to Nikita Kruschev at the opening of the 21st session of the Communist Party session in 1959.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw-__BwhecQ&list=RDCMUCrfKGpvbEQXcbe68dzXgJuA&start_radio=1&t=440s



















 
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Wow, beauties all. The German blackleaf engraving style is very striking -- I particularly like the ammunition cover. The detailing on the Russian TsKIB SOO MTS-7 is superb, as are the photographs. And I have never held as fine a Spanish gun as that Arizaga (maybe I just don't get out very much).

As it is a shame to post without pictures, here is a 12-bore by Thomas Birkett and Henry Allen of Birmingham (1864-1866), with bold open foliate scroll, nicely shaded, and a herringbone border. Mis-matched engraving on the hammer, which is a replacement made at some point in its working life.

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Love the engraving on that Birkett & Allen hammer gun, pity that the hammer is a replacement but adds character to the a 100+ year old gun.

Few pics of my Pape....with an 1 1/2 OZ LC proof for 3" chamber.





 
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