Nice looking 475 Linebaugh

[Joe S.]

www.gunbroker.com/Item/876962941

Not mine

[bushog]

I wish him good luck with his sale.

[bigbrowndog]

Is it my Imagination or does the caliber designation on the barrel climb up towards the frame???

Trapr

[Joe S.]

It kinda does.

[Encore64]

Several things I don't like, but to each their own.

Agree that the barrel marking does go uphill. The grips were too long and V-Tapered up to meet the frame. The rest of the fitting doesn't look any better.

But, hey, somebody might do it. Just not my kind of gun and I wish him luck with that price tag.

[bigbrowndog]

The hammer looks ?

Trapr

[ermont0825]

That's a ton of cash for a village build.

[leadhound]

Aug 17, 2020 19:30:05 GMT -5 bigbrowndog said:

The hammer looks ?

Trapr

He's got his welding certificate!

[maxcactus]

Aug 17, 2020 20:33:57 GMT -5 ermont0825 said:

That's a ton of cash for a village build.

HA! That made me laugh. Would be a great name for a new firearms mfgr - Village Built Fireams, made from Unobtainium in Kyber Pass, Somewheristan. Yeah, that seller is PROUD of his creation. I wonder what Hamilton Bowen could do if I sent him my Bisley with a check for $6000?

[500fksjr]

Its pricey thats for sure for a unknown builder!!

[potatojudge]

There seems to be a bit of a consensus about this gun, and the previous gun listed by this same gunsmith. He's a member here and on the Ruger Forum, and I don't know how long he's been doing this but IIRC I've been seeing his name for a couple of years at least.

I'll point out what many of us are probably seeing but won't presume to speak for anyone but myself:
- the lettering is electro etched deep and in a font unbecoming of a classy single action
- the 475 on the cylinder is not attractive, and is unnecessary on a single cylinder gun
- as stated, the lettering appears to run uphill a bit. Might just be the pics, and if so include a pic that clearly shows the lettering being correct.
- I have no clue why the frame says "5 Shot"
- The hammer looks like a turned down SBH, which is a bit odd. I'd like to see in-process pics of it's construction to understand what the goal was. Similar hammers on TLAs and by Forkin have been successful, but I don't know that this one is. It's growing on me, but it feels a little truncated like it needs 1/8 of an inch more length.
- The narrow standard trigger doesn't fit the contours of the grip frame. At this price point, you'd normally see Clements hammers and triggers or ones modified by Harton, and they would look perfect.
- The grip contour as seen in pic 14 is really off putting.
- I don't know if the rear sight has the shortest blade available, or the gun is regulated for any load, but Fermin's front sight is sticking pretty far up there. The nature of short barrels to a degree, but I can't know any of that from the ad. Since it's been shot, a test target and bullet/velocity would be useful information.
- Most top dollar custom octagon barrels have an integral recoil lug and front sight base. I prefer screw on sights, so no criticism there, but a lug would visually extend the ERH to the end of the barrel and IMO would look nicer while showing off the builder's skill and attention to detail.
- the gunk between the barrel and frame doesn't show well. Almost looks like a result of the blueing salts, but clean that stuff off!
- spar poly is not a selling point. Neither is mentioning a welding certificate. Nor is name dropping except to attribute parts where necessary and to indicate if another smith personally performed work on the gun. Not much about the style of writeup was appealing, and if you're gonna write it as the person who built it don't start with saying it was built by Ryan Ross. It's ok to say "I built it and here's what I did and why"
- things that are flat and square need to look that way in the pictures, and the pictures need to be of higher quality or at a minimum in focus. Cell phone pics are perfectly adequate if done right.

There's lots of good to say about the gun too- Screws are crisp, the ERH blends into the boss really nicely, the finish work looks excellent, the overall configuration is desirable, the width of Fermin's sight matches the flat of the octagon, the main frame to Bisley grip frame configuration is pretty well done (I should say, as well as can be done without welding the frame ears), the walnut selection was excellent.

I don't know if this gun will sell at $6600 shipped, but there's a huge pile of extremely nice customs for that price and much less with more certain provenance, quality, and resale.

Ryan, I'm not saying any of this to be mean. Every member here wants a new generation of gunsmiths to pick up where the masters have left off. We want you to do well and make this a viable business that puts food on your table and fine guns in our hands. We've all seen early examples of Bowen's work and others that let us know a gunsmith might have the mechanics down pretty well without having their style worked out completely, but those guns were not built at master-grade prices and more importantly they didn't have the blueprints left behind that you can benefit from. The overall aesthetic needs work, as do the pics, as does the writeup, and the pricing should be evaluated in light of the overall market. If you need someone to tweak a writeup, shoot me a PM or I'm sure other members would be happy to help out there.

[seminolewind]

Valid critique by PJ and a sincere effort to help not bash. Class guy.

[Joe S.]

Aug 19, 2020 9:22:37 GMT -5 seminolewind said:

Valid critique by PJ and a sincere effort to help not bash. Class guy.

I would expect no less from PJ.

[Encore64]

Agree and he simply posted the facts. I didn't see anything negative about it, just pointed out details vs. price.

I wish the seller luck, but could build two first rate customs for that or less.

As long as the Censor Police doesn't step in. I appreciate honest facts whether I agree with them or not. It's just in this case I do...