I doubt that they are better than Chambers and Jims offer a more completed product from the beginning,probably giving them the edge for less skilled or experienced buiders as we
Tip Curtis makes a good product TG .
But as you said , they are not better then Jims .
I would agree with that whole heartedly .
as to the rest .
i would agree , nothing wrong with the Lyman rifles ..
Reasonable quality .
For the western fur trade , IMO a reasonable representation for the most part of a plains rifle
as to throwing someone who has never built a rifle onto a custom?
well that depends on alot of things .
if they apprenticed, I see no reason not . But custom is Not what we are speaking of here .
As to semi customs. As has been shown here on this forum . Someone with little or no knowledge , with the help of the gunsmiths and experienced builders here . The do produce very nice pieces
One of the reasons I myself recommend Jim chambers is that while his items are up there , an inexperienced person can complete one of his rifles just as easy as a Lyman or any other production gun .
With Jims rifles , you get what you pay for . You pay for inletting , then the parts are inlet and inlet correctly . You pay for drilling , you get drilling .
You pay for a gun in the white , that’s what you get . When you open the box , what you see is so close to being ready to stain and oil , its mind blowing .
No harder to assemble then any kit gun on the market,.
Yet, one gets a very quality lock . Plus all the options in choices of barrels from some of the very best barrel makers in this country .
They also get a product that has a solid historical foundation . If that’s what they are looking for .
Myself I buy most all my semi customs from Pecatonica river .
I have a lot more work into them . But I can provide a product that for a base rifle is completely finished. For little more then the cost of one of jims assemblies.
Just like Jim, if I tell dick what wood I want , that’s what I get .
Now if im building a full custom for a customer . that’s a complete different story .
Depending on the lock needed , I MIGHT get it from Jim Chambers .
I Might get a barrel from Barbie Chambers . Ed Rayl or any number of others all the way up to Demas in England .
The Hardware for the most part comes from the rifle shop .
If not I do my own castings or have 1 of two local blacksmiths forge it
Stock woods come from any number of places . Canadian hardwoods. Tiger maple ,High desert hardwoods Or from my own stockpile of Black and English walnut .
For instance , right now im working on a custom stock for a original Moore SXS .
The customer wanted the stock to be done in Black Limba
The point is fellas , there are any number of very good places to purchase from .
But we should not confuse a semi custom with custom. Nor should we confuse a production gun like a Pedersoli /Investment arms / Lyman , with a semi custom from the likes of Jim chambers or Tip Curtis .
I would also tell you all this . If you ever have to replace a part on one of the Pedersoli rifles OR any of their sub companies . You Will pay either the same price or in many cases more then the cost of a simi custom
Take the Pedersoli Blue Ridge / Frontier rifle/ Hatfield . In 2004 the price for a barrel for that rifle in 50 cal was 350.00 +shipping .
Do you al realize you can get a rice barrel for that cost .
The stocks ran 325.00------525.00 depending if you wanted walnut or maple
The locks back then were 115.00 . .
Basically 20.00 more then what you could get a jim chambers for back then . With no where near the quality
Note also those prices are before the dollar lost its value
