Reeder Custom Guns - Are shiny longuns dead?

Handguns are an exception, you can protect them in large. Gary's shiny Black Chromex is the darndest longest wearing blue finish I'v ever seen too! I have several examples and have given them minimal pampering and much use. They wear well.

However a rifle is another matter. I remember the Weatherby's from my youth. I even saved my money and bought a Weatherby .22 when I was 16, my pride and joy for many years. Brownings too had that deep gloss finish that looked so good in the gun shop rack and in the open display gun cases at home. Things have changed.

I find ownership of shiny wood longuns a bit of a worry. I don't want to kick them up. No matter how careful I am it's like a new vehicle, that FIRST scratch is coming. It's almost subliminal, your fear can be pushed back but your extra care of shiny is always there. Nothing sadder than a vintage Weatherby that some guy finally threw the towel in and used to hold barbwire fences down to cross. What Neanderthals! But if you are handy with Tru-oil and steel wool you might find a bargain and transform one into a proper dull sheen prize for another generation.

I see prices dropping on some fancy shiny rifles. Perhaps the rose spectacle wearing generation is aging and no longer the major purchasers. It seems the synthetic, black, and camo rifles are beginning to command top prices for their utilitarian appearance. I guess it does let the pressure off, treat it more like a tool and worry less to enjoy the adventure more.

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anything is passé. Too bad. I bought a SW 29 in the 90s and had to explain to my LGS why it had to be blue when stainless in their eyes was clearly better.

Browning has that plastic shine finish on their guns...I’m not crazy about it and if I ever own one I’ll rub it down to a satin finish. Satin blue seems the norm on hunting rifles with wood dtocks these days as well. A mirror polished blue is I suspect entering the realm of custom only guns.

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Is just part of learning to handle a gun. They will eventually get some dings and scratches, but there shouldn’t be many. Most people I know have one gun they carry in their pickup or on their saddle all of the time, and they can get ruff looking after time, but it just don’t look right having an AR-15 in a scabbard on your saddle.

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The Stainless steel composite stock has taken over in the low to medium price range, and are much more practical for the hunter in the field, but the shiny finish great wood, super blued guns are still available abet a much higher price due in part to the labor cost alone. There are many quality stockmakers out there as well as custom gun makers like Gary that still use the top finishes.

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WHEN MY SON-IN-LAW AND TWO GRANDKIDS DECIDED TO HUNT I THOUGHT ABOUT GIVING THEM THEIR PICK. I ALSO FIGURED THEY WOULD BE WORRIED ABOUT SCRATCHING ONE OF "PAPA'S GUNS". SO I BOUGHT EACH OF THEM A RUGER AMERICAN SO THEY COULD ENJOY WITHOUT WORRY.

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Yea they may not look as good as they did in the rack at the store. But I can probably tell you the tales on how that scratch got there. Why my Ruger M77 25-06 got the barrel scratched up when we went down the steep hill to get Michelles first buck. Her and I walked all over the place to find a decent buck, she made the shot, and I was a proud uncle that day!

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expensive, as is the labor to give it that shiny finish. When our shop was in Florida one of our customers was an old fellow that worked for Weatherby in the early 60s. He worked in the wood shop and said their finish was the result of a coat a day for 40 days. Very few companies are going to take that amount of time these days when they can put a nylon stock on it and it goes out the door.

As much as I really don't like the look of the black nylon stocks it does make sense. The stock is a fiber glass mixture nylon so it never needs bedding as the heat of the barrel doesn't make it swell like wood will.(although I have heard folks tell me their gunsmith told them their stock needed bedding when it is already glass bedded from the factory because that is what the stock is made of). The stock never changes shape going from 70 degrees in your house to 10 below outside. It makes sense to have a nylon stock, but that doesn't give it any class or character.

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accessories and the box. But I prefer a synthetic stocked rig that I also found, for actual use. It has a less desirable but usable scope and mounts. Otherwise it's outfitted the same.

I thought, and I have done it before, about going all ape. Buying BOTH! Then robbing the parts I want for the working gun and selling the shiny with its box, unscratched, for no less than about $100 less than I paid. Then selling or using the less fancy optics off the synthetic rig elsewhere. Then of course settling with the VISA bunch and everyone wins, a happy ending. I end up with a rugged rig with some cool kit and much better scope and mounts for the same money. I have to shuffle sometimes, as I cannot justify the expense on myself. So I do some very creative trading. LOL

I really have to put a pencil to it as there are two shipping fees, two FFL tips. Even though, it may still work out.

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Are shiny longuns dead?

Interesting thoughts! I often think that finely blued

I love the wood/blue guns. Taking care of them

Not So Batman, they have just moved up in price

I HAVE SEVERAL CLASSIC BLUE/WALNUT RIFLES BUT

I actually appreciate the scratches.

Always a place for beautiful workmanship and walnut.

it is all about money. A nice piece of wood is

I found a reall nice shiny kit. Great scope, mts. some