Waste of time, or....?

[Richard Flanders]

Now, that is absolutely beyond incredible. Who would have guessed it would come out THAT gorgeous! I didn't think there was a chance in hell that you'd get anyone to restore it. Bravo for persevering and going the extra 50mi on that one!! This gun will most certainly reset the standard of whether someone will get what seems like a total wreck of a gun restored or not. You are my hero John!! Had I spent the money to restore that gun I wouldn't regret it for even one micro-second!

[John Cleveland]

Thank you all!

Mills, I have joined today. I figure that I need to get the research letter on her.

Stan, I hope it does get Bill some business, although he is not sitting idle for business. He has several racks of guns awaiting or in process of work. He advised that it might take 2 years to get mine done because of his backlog. Fortunately it was less than that. I told him that I was going to post some pictures. He probably won’t see it because he doesn’t do computers, but he sure does the old fashioned gunsmithing skills well. He is a quality guy. It cost more, but he had the vision to put on wood that is quite above the original grade, and I think that it paid off. I had asked if I needed to get stock measurements, he felt that he could make it good without that. I wondered. But in practice dry fire with snap caps, the thing really seems to really snap to a cheek weld that puts me looking as flat down the rib as I could with careful placement. Even with a straight English stock.

Richard, your comments really made me feel good about taking the chance. Maybe the example will salvage some other old soldiers. They may not get top dollar in an auction since they are not “original”, but there is some value to having them back to their original glory, while some “originals”, while more collectible, have faded somewhat. There is merit in having been well preserved and cared for, and there is merit in resurrection.

Thank you all again. I don’t get to spend a lot of time on forums, but I am so glad that I found this forum.