Some points to consider

[mongrel]

Many times, back when I built guns as a supplement to my regular job income, and especially after I decided to try building as my primary means of making a living, I wanted, badly, to write an article or post listing some things that I (and every other builder I'm acquainted with, which is quite a few) wished potential customers would take the time to acquaint themselves with before attempting to order a gun. I always shied away from doing so, usually because the times I most inclined to write on the topic was when I was aggravated with yet another under-informed individual making requests/demands that he was blissfully unaware were either difficult or impossible to accommodate. I am not tactful when I'm aggravated, and I didn't want to seem to be publicly blasting someone for honestly not knowing any better -- even though, in this day and age, especially with everyone reading this obviously able to use the internet, information is easier to acquire than it ever has been in human history.

Now I'm in a position to really not have to care, so I will take a little time to explain a few points that, believe me, are of great importance to most builders you might ever think of contacting.

First off, KNOW WHAT YOU WANT. This would seem so simple and obvious as to be ridiculous and not worth stating, but the variations I've heard on "Oh, I don't know, do what you think is best, I'm sure it'll be fine" tell me this isn't the case. Most of us in the business of building traditionally-styled guns are in love with the things and love to talk about them, but the fact we are IN BUSINESS means that our time to discuss a project is often limited, and that we've learned a few things about the business end -- one of which is, the customer who doesn't know what he wants is, strangely, also the one most likely to suddenly, absolutely know that he didn't get it, when he receives his new gun. It's very dispiriting to spend what may total up to many hours, explaining multiple details to someone who treats me like the only source of information that's available, believe that I and the customer are on the same page, then invest many hours in the actual build -- and then have the customer disappointed because the finished product isn't what he had in mind (and yet was never quite able to describe to me, choosing instead to take the easy way out and tell me to do what I thought was best).

Hand-in-hand with knowing what you want -- if "what you want" is going to be defined by your friends, your fellow gun club members, the guys at the gun store, or complete strangers on internet discussion forums telling you what you want, and second-guessing every suggestion and decision that I as your builder am going to make -- have them build your gun. Anything involving a committee is most likely not going to turn out as well as it could have or should have, and I don't care to be involved. The vast majority of changes-of-mind I've had to deal with, due to a customer having been told by someone else that such-and-such needs to be changed, simply demonstrate to me that these outside parties making the suggestions have no idea what the hell they're talking about. Even in the instances where they do, if decisions have been made and particularly if work has begun, on a gun build, that's not the time to announce that the whole concept has been re-thought. In some cases it's impossible. In most cases it's very inconvenient. In all cases, you should have done that thinking before committing to the project.

As an aside, it's amazing how many "experts" on gunbuilding, particularly those telling one of my or my fellow builders' customers that what they want or what I'm doing is wrong, have never actually built a gun from scratch. They're the gun world's equivalent of armchair quarterbacks who've never played the game, but think that watching from the sidelines and reading about it somehow qualify them as the last word on the subject.

Last of all, you need to be realistic as to what you expect, going into an arrangement with a professional builder. Most of us have fairly long lead times and the better craftsmen charge large amounts of money for their services. If you don't want to wait anywhere from many months to several years for your gun, order it many months or several years ago, and if you don't want to (or can't) pay the price for it, make do with something less expensive. What I ran into, personally, due to offering a less expensive choice in a custom gun, was the expectation that, though I charged significantly less money than any other builder I know of, my product would compare favorably in every way to the products of those other builders. That was what finally (and after not very much time) killed me so far as building for a living. It wasn't the IRS or the irregular paydays. I could have adjusted to that, though I was finding it hard. It was, mainly, the unrealistic expectations of a number of people, and the fact that I was encountering more and more such people as time went by. Even the higher-end builders I've met and become friendly with each have their own horror stories about customers with more money than good sense, so it's not just me ranting, here; it really, honestly, pretty much no matter who you go to for your dream gun, going to be necessary to put some real thought into what you're going to ask the builder to do and what you will expect when the finished product arrives.

[Red Badger]

very nicely put...

[hotfxr]

Well said and surprisingly tactful, given your well known intolerance of the idiocy of the masses. I would publicly like to thank you for the time you have taken to answer all my (ignorance based) questions and the advice you have given me that has allowed me to be able to build a couple of rifles from scratch, not to mention your generosity in giving me more than I ordered when buying parts from you. Your love of these firearms is infectious and has spurred me into spending much more time learning the history of firearms and of the builders than I spend on the guns themselves. I hope that when the dust settles from all the changes going on in your life that you will still be able to continue to dabble in the muzzleloading dark arts and to share your vast knowledge with us here. Even if it means some of us will have to descend upon your domicile and build you a large storage shed to replace the storage you are losing by making your house a living space. Best wishes to you and if you ever get the hankering to travel out here to the Best (West) Coast, you are definitely welcome in my home.

[Hawken50]

 Very well said Mike. I sense a calm in the force that was Mongrel. Ann must have made ya get rid of the corpses behind the wood stove.

[William]

Well said and surprisingly tactful, given your well known intolerance of the idiocy of the masses. I would publicly like to thank you for the time you have taken to answer all my (ignorance based) questions and the advice you have given me that has allowed me to be able to build a couple of rifles from scratch, not to mention your generosity in giving me more than I ordered when buying parts from you. Your love of these firearms is infectious and has spurred me into spending much more time learning the history of firearms and of the builders than I spend on the guns themselves. I hope that when the dust settles from all the changes going on in your life that you will still be able to continue to dabble in the muzzleloading dark arts and to share your vast knowledge with us here. Even if it means some of us will have to descend upon your domicile and build you a large storage shed to replace the storage you are losing by making your house a living space. Best wishes to you and if you ever get the hankering to travel out here to the Best (West) Coast, you are definitely welcome in my home.

Very well put and echoes many of my sentiments as well.

[Whiskeytangofoxtrot]

I like to call it the walmart generation.

As consumers they think, nothing is ever there fault, they should have their butt kissed, and if they don't like it you should take it back without a word.

I am so glad i made the move from retail service technician to industrial.

[Red Badger]

"I hope that when the dust settles from all the changes going on in your life that you will still be able to continue to dabble in the muzzleloading dark arts and to share your vast knowledge with us here. Even if it means some of us will have to descend upon your domicile and build you a large storage shed to replace the storage you are losing by making your house a living space."

hmmm if everyone sent a $5.00 wedding present... and 50 or so of us decended upon Mikes home town we would have the manpower and materials to put up a nice new Honeymoon shed for the two of them (and assorted animals)...  (Understanding that Ann is as tolerant of human kind as Mike is...)  either that or the local constabulary would have us all in the clink just for knowing Mike....   

[pilgrim]

        I picture 50+ of us descending on Mike & Anns house and camping in thier back yard,  and each having brought a JUG,  yes I can see all of us in the clink,    probably because we were given the WRONG address.         

      hmmmmmmmmm     would Mike give us the wrong address?


     

[old salt]