You're all probably wondering where the guns tie into this, or even if they tie into this. Well, I'll tell you when I was 14 I really wanted to go deer hunting. And it's not because I like to kill ro anything like that, it's probably more of a right of passage for a young man, for those non-hunters just bear with me a little. All of my friends were going deer hunting, it's just what people of age do in Nebraska. So, I wanted to go deer hunting as well. My Dad was not a hunter, I wanted to buy a 270, he said no, but I did convince him to let me buy a muzzle loader. Muzzle loaders don't have nearly the range of a high powered rifle. I think mostly, he didn't want me to accidentally shoot one of the neighbors cows. Of course as I was earning my own money at the time so, value was a concern. I found a kit gun that came with two interchangeable barrels. One 50 caliber and the other a 36 caliber. So, I assembled the gun and interchanged the barrels a few times, but I had seen the insides of the gun, and I realized that they weren't really very complex. And, I decided that I could use the spare barrel to make another gun. So, I did. Keep in mind I was 14 at the time. It took me three attempts to make a workable firearm, and that was crude at best. Then, I made another slightly better. By then, I had read a little about the old time gunsmiths and seen some examples of fine firearms, and decided, that was what I wanted to do with my life.
I was 16 by the time I decided to become a professional muzzle loading gunsmith. What I really like are the golden age flintlock rifles, the ones that built this country. I like them for their grace and beauty, but also for their history. I realize that at one time these guns sole job was to kill. An ugly gun can do that. But the craftsmen of the era put a lot of work into making everyday serviceable items both beautiful and functional. It shows in furniture of the era as well. Buildings, clothing, etc. America was new and you see a lot of rising suns carved into things. They finally had a chance at a bright future and they knew it. If you get the chance, look into golden age flintlocks, and federal style furniture.
What I found is that I really like to build nice things. To me it doesn't matter so much if it is a rifle, or a piece of furniture or a house, they all use some of the same skills.
I wrote a letter to Gary Brumfield who was the head gunsmith at Colonial Williamsburg asking about an apprenticeship. He never wrote back. And later that year I met Steve Zihn who is in my opinion one of the top muzzle loading gunsmiths in the United States. He did take me on as an apprentice.
It really was a chance meeting for me to meet Steve. I went to my first muzzle loading rendezvous. I really didn't expect there to be any gunsmiths there. As it turned out this was a larger rendezvous and there were two gunsmiths set up with their booths. Steve's were by far the best I had ever seen in person. He was so easy to talk to . Of course I showed him the pistol that I had just built, which was rather ugly. He picked it apart, told me it was going to hurt my feelings, as he proceeded to point out several flaws, and also pointed out how it could have been right. It didn't hurt my feelings though. I knew it could have been better and was thrilled to know how. I talked with him for hours that day about guns, architecture of guns, methods, styles, you name it. There were so many things he told me that day that I did not fully grasp untill later, I just soaked as much of it up as I could like a young impressionable sponge. It turned out, he liked to teach, he's very good at what he does, and I like to learn.
So, after that chance meeting we stayed in touch with letters. People still wrote letters in those days. I still had a year of high school to complete. But, I did have a plan. I was not going to go to college. I did not want to work an office job, I wanted to work with my hands and build works of art. I built 4 more guns while I was in highschool, mostly in the highschool ag shop. It was a different era, the world was not quite so crazy back then. One day, the guidance counselor came to the shop and watched me work on a rifle. Looking back on that, I know he was really there to pressure me into going to college. He probably gave me up for a lost cause, but he was impressed by the work I was doing. We can't all work white collar jobs. Somewhere along the line, somebody actually has to produce something.