Snakewood and Steel

This is the first knife I have handled with Snakewood. After working with this wood I believe it is equal to Desert Ironwood in terms of hardness and durability. This knife is my Semi-Skinner and the blade is O1 steel. This knife is available for $225.00 shipped and I can have it to you before Christmas.

THIS KNIFE IS SOLD

Here's another view with my little #4 Rolling Block in 22LR

If you are interested in commisioning a custom knife, I can be reached at baumgartknives@gmail.com

More Customer Photos

I really enjoy seeing photos of customer's hunts and knowing my knives are out in the field being used. Here are a couple of customer photos taken from very different places on the globe.

From Africa...

The knife that was used to remove this bull elephant's tail, an old tradition signifying ownership of the animal, is my Large Drop Point Hunter. This particular knife has Desert Ironwood handles. The customer shared that his Professional Hunter was impressed with the knife's performance. Here's a link to the story of the hunt and some wonderful photos.

 http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/6321043/m/5771085512

And from Texas...

A beautiful Texas whitetail. The knife in the photo is my Semi-Skinner and is also handled with Desert Ironwood. Here is a link to the post involving this knife.
http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/5021043/m/7851082412


Lastly, here is a Small Drop Point Hunter with Wenge handles I recently completed.

If you are interested in having a custom knife made, I can be reached at baumgartknives@gmail.com

Recent Knives

Here are some knives that recently left my little shop...

Desert Ironwood is a favorite handle material of mine. All of these knives feature Ironwood handles. The top knife is a modification of my Semi-Skinner. The gentlemen that commissioned it traps with his son as a hobby. He wanted a shorter blade for skinning Fox, Coyote, and Raccoon.

A close up of the handles. The variation in figure and color keeps Ironwood interesting.

If you are interested in commissioning a knife, I can be reached at baumgartknives@gmail.com

A Customer Photo

Here's another sheep photo from my sheep hunting friend. This was the third sheep hunt he was involved in this year! The knife is my Semi-Skinner with Sambar stag handles and it is resting on the horns of a Desert Big Horn. I've hinted each time he has sent photos that those horns would make wonderful handle material, but have yet to get him to cut me off a couple of slabs!

 My Single Shot Addition Continues...

My addiction to American single shot rifles continues. Below is a Remington #4 Rolling Block take-down rifle I picked up this morning. This was Remington's smallest rolling block and was essentially a Boy's rifle. In my mind I see a boy waking up on a snowy Midwest Christmas morning and running downstairs to find this rifle under the tree. That thought/fantasy makes me feel good and I am very happy to be the current caretaker of his rifle. It cost me a little more than the $5.00 it retailed for in 1908! Now I just need to find a Beach front sight and gallery tang sight for it. These options would have added $3.50 to the cost of the rifle, but once again, I think I will end up paying a little more!

Customer Photos

The gentlemen that commissioned the stag handled semi-skinner pictured in an earlier post on this blog recently shared these wonderful photos with me. With his permission, I am sharing them with you. As you can see, he is a dyed in the wool sheep hunter!

 The first photos are from his sheep hunt in Wyoming. He was accompanied on this hunt by his brother.

The next set of photos are from a Desert Big Horn hunt in Utah. He accompanied his son, who harvested this wonderful ram.

K.Z. - Once again, thank you for sharing these wonderful photos!

Oregon Arms Collectors Show and the Farrow Rifle

Last Sunday I attended the monthly Oregon Arms Collectors show held near the Portland airport. I had been corresponding with a local collector of vintage single shots through the ASSRA forum and went to meet him and view the single shots he had displayed. At this show, he had several Remington Rolling Block and Hepburn sporting rifles. Prior to seeing his rifles I hadn't been a fan of Rolling Blocks. My exposure to them had been military rifles and I never saw anything desirable about them. After seeing this gentleman's collection of sporting rifles, I am a convert. Shortly after getting home, I began searching the internet for a #4 take-down rifle!

During a momentary break in examining all his wonderful rifles and asking a bunch of questions, I noticed that the table behind had a single shot with a lever I recognized from photos. While the owner of the Rolling Blocks took a break from me, I went around the corner and found myself looking at a Farrow Schuetzen rifle with a nickled action, false muzzle, swiss butt plate, and palm rest. Basically, all the bells and whistles. At some point the owner, who was away from his table, must have noticed me drooling all over his rifle and came over. After answering a bunch of questions he handed me the rifle and instructed me on the proper way to hold the rifle. I was pretty jazzed to be handling one of the rarest single shot rifles made and a bit nervous since I had a pretty good idea what the rifle was worth!

I had a great time seeing some very fine rifles and talking with guys who have spent years collecting single shot rifles and are willing to share what they have learned. I will definitely be attending next month's show.

Available Knives 09/06/15 and some more period photos

Currently Available Knives
It is rare for me to have any available knives on hand and they generally go fast when I do have them. My contact information is listed below.

                                                             THIS KNIFE IS SOLD 

THIS KNIFE IS SOLD

  

If you are interested in purchasing the remaining knife or would like to commission a custom knife I can be reached at baumgartknives@gmail.com


More Period Photos
This time some of the shooters...

W. Milton Farrow- Ballard employee, author of "How I Became a Crackshot : with Hints to Beginners", designer of the Farrow rifle.

Philo Jacoby, San Fransico, CA.- International shooter.

The Denver Rifle Club Team, 1898 Winner of the Coors Championship Cup

Back: D.W. King, J.A. Richer, G.C. Schoyen

Front: O.E. Adamson, Harry Willis, A.W. Peterson

Lastly, here is one that was posted on the ASSRA forum.

A Little R&R

Last week my wife and I took a long weekend and headed down to Grants Pass to meet other family members. The highlight of the trip, beyond seeing family I hadn't seen in 25 years, was a jet boat trip on the Rogue river. Since the ride was "wet" I didn't take many photos but here are a few...

Entering Hells Gate Canyon

Me and my dad.

Our group. 

My better half helping a bear fish in downtown Grants Pass.

Customers

The one thing I enjoy about this hobby beyond making something useful is the people I come in contact with. I think you would be hard pressed to find a better group of people. Thanks to all of you! You are a pleasure to work with.

Here are a pair of knives I made for a customer followed by a link to the comments he posted on the Accurate Reloading Forum website.

http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/5021043/m/4731088212

There is nothing I like more than seeing my blades used in the field.

Lee

Period Photos

Last night I was re-reading Kelver's book and studying the period photos contained in it. I noticed several photos were credited to the Colorado Historical Society. Taking advantage of one of the very few benefits of living in the "digital age", I decided to do a quick internet search to see what I could come up with.

Here are some gun shops I would like to visit...

John P. Lower's store, Denver Colorado

I also wouldn't mind shooting that Sharps Borchardt with Mr. Lower.

Carlos Gove's shop, Denver Colorado

The Freund Bros., Laramie Wyoming 

And lastly, another Freund Bros. Shop, The Wyoming Armory

 I love the interior and think I could have spent hours in there.

If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm fond of old photos.

Lee

Book Reviews and Available Knives

While waiting to get the Low Wall project started, I have been doing a bit of reading on the subject of vintage single shots.

The book on top, 100 years of Shooters and Gunmakers of Single Shot Rifles, was written by Gerald Kelver and published in 1975. I believe this is Kelver's second book on the subject. This book covers a broad range of subjects, from the origins of the Creedmoor rifles to Stevens cartridges and telescopes to gunmakers like George Schoyen and famous shooters such as`Charles Rowland. I enjoy the history and learning about the personalities involved, but because the subject matter is so varied one is left wishing there was more detail. Even with that lack of detail, I enjoyed reading it.

The second book is James Grant's Single Shot Rifles. It was published in 1947 and is the first of five books Grant wrote on single shot rifles. This book is a review of the rifles and features a lot of excerpts from period catalogs and flyers. It doesn't have much in the way of the history behind the development of the rifles or the companies that produced them. It does, however, allow you to see the options the factories offered and the various cartridges the rifles were chambered for. In the case of cartridges that were rare, Grant lists alternate cartridge cases that can be used through trimming, reforming, etc. This book was a little "dry" for me because of the catalog/flyer excerpts and lack of history, but it is still a good reference source.

By the way, I am looking for a reasonably priced copy of Kelver's, "Respectfully Yours, H.M. Pope".

Continuing with the single shot theme, here are a some links to articles I found interesting:

http://sandiegoschutzenguilde.org/History/PhiloJacoby.html
http://sandiegoschutzenguilde.org/History/JackLondon.html
 http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2010/08/history-pope-rifle-barrels.html

Available Knives

This Semi-Skinner is currently available and I am working on a medium Drop Point Hunter to go along with it. The handle material is fiddleback Myrtle and was provided by Cecil Fredi.

THIS KNIFE IS SOLD

If you are interested in purchasing this knife or are interested in having a custom knife made, I can be reached at baumgartknives@gmail.com

Cheers,
Lee

Low Wall Project

My Low Wall arrived and I am looking forward to starting the restoration process. According to the Winchester Arms Collectors Association website its serial number gives it a manufacture date of 1896.

As I said in my previous post, it has some issues. The stock is cracked in several places at the wrist, the forearm has some large chips, and the bore is pretty rough. The first place it will be going is Taylor Machine Shop in Puyallup, WA to have its bore lined.

Available Knife

The Semi-Skinner  below is currently available. The handle is Desert Ironwood, steel is O1, overall length is 7 1/2", and the blade length is 3 1/2". I had set aside this set of Ironwood scales for my personal use, but need to fund the Low Wall Project, so I pulled them out of "hiding". I haven't made a sheath yet, so if you are interested in purchasing it, you can choose a right or left hand sheath. 

THIS KNIFE IS SOLD

If you are interested in having a custom knife made, I can be reached at baumgartknives@gmail.com

Lee