Gun Craft: Fine Guns and Gunmakers in the 21st Century

289 Pages·2010·9.085 MB·English

by  Vic Venters

V
Gun Craft
i
c
Today’s generation of craftsmen— T
V he early 21st Century marks
the last to be trained via traditional e a transitional period in ar-
methods—is coupling hand skills n
tisanal gunmaking. New com-
t
with evolving manufacturing e puter-controlled manufacturing
technology to produce some of the r
s technology is supplanting the tra-
fi nest shotguns ever made. Fine Guns & Gunmakers
ditional craft skills once required
to make fi ne shotguns and rifl es.
in the 21st Century
Noted gun authority Vic Ven-
ters knows well the time-honored
methods and many of the crafts-
G men who still employ them—and
he wants to preserve that knowl-
edge for generations to come.
u
In Gun Craft Venters draws on
Vic Venters is Shooting Sportsman n extensive research and in-depth
Magazine’s Senior Editor. He has interviews as he examines today’s
written for Shooting Sportsman artisanally made guns and pro-
C
almost since the magazine’s vides insights into crafting “hand-
inception, and he joined the made” fi rearms in both Europe
masthead in 1996 as Gun r
and the United States. His intent
Review Editor when Michael a is to make the sometimes-arcane
McIntosh left that position to “The book you’re about to read is . . . free of the breathless gushing that
f techniques and technical infor-
become Shooting Editor. Venters’ too often taints the writing on this subject . . . . You’ll fi nd no sappy fanta-
t mation accessible and relevant
other interests include wildlife sizing here, just lucid thinking expressed in clear, cleanly crafted language
to readers’ experiences shooting,
conservation and the history . . . . Vic’s love of fi ne guns comes through at every turn.”
owning and collecting fi ne guns.
of the American South. He —Michael McIntosh (from the Introduction)
Gun Craft is required reading
currently lives with his family
for anyone who appreciates fi ne
in coastal North Carolina near “Fine guns deserve fi ne writing, and no one does it better than Vic Venters.
shotguns and the effort and skill
Wilmington. Well written, insightful and marvelously informative, his work is the real deal.”

that go into making them.
—Bruce Buck, Gun Review Editor, Shooting Sportsman 
S
A
S
P
OH
Above:
Author’s Photograph $30.00 U.S. BORTOO Front cover:
Back cover: ASHOOTING OST Vic Venters Photograph by David Grant
Top: Matthew Brown/ SPORTSMAN KMIN
BOOK A
Orange Media Photography NG
Bottom: Author’s Photograph www.shootingsportsman.com
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Front of Book.indd 1 8/10/10 1:38:16 PM
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Gun Craft
Fine Guns & Gunmakers
in the 21st Century
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Gun Craft
Fine Guns & Gunmakers
in the 21st Century
p
Vic Venters
AS
hooting
S
portSman
BOOK
www.shootingsportsman.com
Front of Book.indd 5 8/10/10 1:38:16 PM
Copyright © 2010 by Vic Venters
Unless noted otherwise, photographs and illustrations
copyright Vic Venters
All others copyright as credited
Used by permission
All rights reserved
ISBN 978-0-89272-907-4
Designed by Lynda H. Mills
Printed in China
5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Information
available on request
AS
hooting
S
portSman
BOOK
www.shootingsportsman.com
Distributed to the trade by National Book Network
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For My Grandfather,
Who Started It All
Wayne Victor Venters
July 13, 1903 - June 10, 1980
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Gun Craft
Fine Guns & Gunmakers
in the 21st Century
Foreword – Michael McIntosh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .v
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vii
GUN CRAFT & GUNMAKERS
The Unknown Gunmaker: Bob Turner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Jointing & The Circle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Jointing & The Doll’s-Head . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
The Hunter One-Trigger. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
The Case for Concentricity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
‘Best’ Barrelmaking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42
Hand-Regulating Chokes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51
Toys No More: The New Purdey .410s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
The Art of Finishing: David Sinnerton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
British Color Case Hardening. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82
Gianfranco Pedersoli: Italian Super-Engraver . . . . . . . . . . .95
Last Gasp in Liège . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105
The SuperBritte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118
The Spanish Way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128
Manufacturas Arrieta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .138
Table of Contents iii
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