Bill nailed just about everything. One thing I'll add is time and lots of it. The good thing is it allows lots of changes to be made because ideas evolve over time. On my Fox D upgrade, the walnut changed 3 different times in the 3 years involved in the project. The gun went from a straight grip to a round knob and back again a few times. Stockmakers time became elongated, engravers time became elongated. Ultimately the project came out perfect in every way possible from my point of view. PS. The other good thing about taking a long time is one has to write checks pretty far apart. I gave Gournet a deposit to get into his pipeline when I knew he wasn't going to see the gun for at least a year. In summary patience is is a virtue on these custom guns because these folks are true craftsmen and the really good ones are backed up always.
|