What is it with whiny kit-builders?
I've been on a 19th century gun kick lately, so I've been reading stuff online about what is available for caplock guns. Back when I started in black powder, you could get a single shot pistol kit for about $39 and a revolver kit for $79. Nowadays, prices have increased dramatically.
It's not the increased prices that baffle me, it's the whiny people who are building the kits and then writing about it on the internet.
I've probably ready half a dozen "reviews" of Spanish and Italian sourced pistol kits and every one of them is full of complaints about how the builder had to file things to make them fit, polish rough surfaces etc.
I thought the whole point of building a kit gun was to tinker with the thing and learn how to do stuff like that? Instead, it seems like these folks are expecting to buy a kit gun and just assemble a perfectly fitted, tuned pistol. That wouldn't be called "gun building" it would be called "gun assembling".
When I was 18 and built my first pistol, I had to figure some things out. That was the whole point of building vs buying one. One thing is for sure, I certainly wouldn't have posted on the internet (had there been an internet then) about rough-cast parts not fitting together perfectly. (duh--they are rough cast)
Nor would I whine about having to inlet an escution plate for a barrel key into the stock. Nor would i write publicly about how the thread on a nipple was messed up, so I used a different nipple (as opposed to just using a file to fix the unfinished thread on the supplied nipple).
What these whiners do is showcase their own lack of skill and aptitude. Instead of adopting a "can-do" spirit and learning how to actually build a gun from parts, they complain that the company that sells the kits (CVA, Traditions, Dixie etc) sells a "low quality" kit and Squawk that the would expect higher quality control from the kit manufacturers.
Sorry folks, but it is the person who builds the kit that is the manufacturer. The companies that sell the kits are selling you a conviniently gathered set of parts that when properly assembled will be a gun.
If people can't handle building a kit gun without whining, then who are going to be the gunsmiths in 20 or 30 years? It seems like people today just want everything handed to them.
We get calls from "gunsmiths" who need to get a spring for some kind of flintlock. A real gunsmith could just make a spring. There was one guy who had taken in a lock to repair for a friend of his who was having problems with the lock not sparking right. (I.E. worn frizzen) The wannabe gunsmith felt the fix for this was to make the mainspring stronger by rehardening it. He had heated up the spring to a white heat and now wanted to know what temperature to heat it in the oven at to temper it. We declined to get involved in that one.
Then there are the "gunsmiths" who are fixing a friend's musket and seem to think that they need a new frizzen because the case hardening is worn through, and can we send them a new one? Believe it or not, there are many of them that decline our offer to reharden the frizzen under our warranty because they insist that it can't be rehardened because they have tried it.
Some of it is just stubborn male ego. No, pretty much all of it is just stubborn male ego.
For some reason, we are all in a hurry these days and don't want to take the time to stop and actually learn how to do something. And coming back to the kit guns and their "reviewers", we aren't talking about something as indepth as blacksmithing, carving grips from wooden blanks, or making a spring, we are talking about people that think using a file to smooth out machine marks, and a piece of sandpaper to contour 99% finished pistol grips is a major accomplishment. Who are they to write reviews of a parts set?
Maybe I'm getting to be a crotchety old fart, but sometimes certain people just amaze me with the lack of skill that is in direct proportion to their arrogance.
For years now, there has been a standing offer for people (so-called "unit armorers" in particular) to come here and spend a day or two to take a crash course in lock repair and tuning. Since we moved here to NH, not a single person has taken us up on it.
It's not the increased prices that baffle me, it's the whiny people who are building the kits and then writing about it on the internet.
I've probably ready half a dozen "reviews" of Spanish and Italian sourced pistol kits and every one of them is full of complaints about how the builder had to file things to make them fit, polish rough surfaces etc.
I thought the whole point of building a kit gun was to tinker with the thing and learn how to do stuff like that? Instead, it seems like these folks are expecting to buy a kit gun and just assemble a perfectly fitted, tuned pistol. That wouldn't be called "gun building" it would be called "gun assembling".
When I was 18 and built my first pistol, I had to figure some things out. That was the whole point of building vs buying one. One thing is for sure, I certainly wouldn't have posted on the internet (had there been an internet then) about rough-cast parts not fitting together perfectly. (duh--they are rough cast)
Nor would I whine about having to inlet an escution plate for a barrel key into the stock. Nor would i write publicly about how the thread on a nipple was messed up, so I used a different nipple (as opposed to just using a file to fix the unfinished thread on the supplied nipple).
What these whiners do is showcase their own lack of skill and aptitude. Instead of adopting a "can-do" spirit and learning how to actually build a gun from parts, they complain that the company that sells the kits (CVA, Traditions, Dixie etc) sells a "low quality" kit and Squawk that the would expect higher quality control from the kit manufacturers.
Sorry folks, but it is the person who builds the kit that is the manufacturer. The companies that sell the kits are selling you a conviniently gathered set of parts that when properly assembled will be a gun.
If people can't handle building a kit gun without whining, then who are going to be the gunsmiths in 20 or 30 years? It seems like people today just want everything handed to them.
We get calls from "gunsmiths" who need to get a spring for some kind of flintlock. A real gunsmith could just make a spring. There was one guy who had taken in a lock to repair for a friend of his who was having problems with the lock not sparking right. (I.E. worn frizzen) The wannabe gunsmith felt the fix for this was to make the mainspring stronger by rehardening it. He had heated up the spring to a white heat and now wanted to know what temperature to heat it in the oven at to temper it. We declined to get involved in that one.
Then there are the "gunsmiths" who are fixing a friend's musket and seem to think that they need a new frizzen because the case hardening is worn through, and can we send them a new one? Believe it or not, there are many of them that decline our offer to reharden the frizzen under our warranty because they insist that it can't be rehardened because they have tried it.
Some of it is just stubborn male ego. No, pretty much all of it is just stubborn male ego.
For some reason, we are all in a hurry these days and don't want to take the time to stop and actually learn how to do something. And coming back to the kit guns and their "reviewers", we aren't talking about something as indepth as blacksmithing, carving grips from wooden blanks, or making a spring, we are talking about people that think using a file to smooth out machine marks, and a piece of sandpaper to contour 99% finished pistol grips is a major accomplishment. Who are they to write reviews of a parts set?
Maybe I'm getting to be a crotchety old fart, but sometimes certain people just amaze me with the lack of skill that is in direct proportion to their arrogance.
For years now, there has been a standing offer for people (so-called "unit armorers" in particular) to come here and spend a day or two to take a crash course in lock repair and tuning. Since we moved here to NH, not a single person has taken us up on it.
posted by MVTCoPete | 5:19 PM
3 Comments:
I agree 100%. Modern Americans are majorly whiny and reenactors especially. Too much instant gratification and such.
Also, MTV and Nintendo have destroyed America. MTV teaches that you don't have to be responsible and Nintendo (read Nintendo, X-Box, PlayStation, etc.) teaches that violence is okay. >:-O
I wish I lived closer, I would live in your shop so I could learn how to do things from scratch and why.
I absolutely hated to have to send my pistol back, but it was outside of my realm of knowledge to troubleshoot it or fix it..I'm not used to dealing with handcrafted stuff, I'm spoiled by modern engineering.
That was the second time I've ever had to call "Tech support" but luckily there were shenanigans involving gremlins..like the time my computer network router's manual told me to use Window's network setup wizard. The guy on the phone told me NOT to use it, to do something else instead. I wonder how many tools and electronics get returned because their former owners didn't read the manual or call someone that knows how to use them??
Sometimes you have to throw away the instructions but you have to know when to throw it away and that's what separates the pros from the knuckleheads.
my first kit was a markwell arms colonial pistol . a .45 caliber percussion single shot . cost $19.00 new . the fore end of the stock was warped , and twisted slightly to one side . that pistol is hanging on an uncles wall today , and is perfectly functional ! I cheated when repairing it . having no way to straighten a warped stock , I filed out the barrel channel as if for a round barrel . then I glass bedded the barrel ! piece looks good , and shoots good , and while not entirely historically correct , I`m happy with it , and so is the uncle who now owns it ! and yeah , the brass parts were in the rough , had no problem cleaning them up and inletting them ! if I could do it when I was 21 , there`s no reason these youngsters ( and some older folk ) cant do it today !
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