A "Very New" Rifle by Eric Kettenburg

   “Its as one sweep of the hand... and it's done.”

Above comment from a collector about the latest rifle by Eric Kettenburg

Comments below by Eric Kettenburg.That is EXACTLY how I tried to approach it.  That’s a huge compliment, huge.  Sometimes I think that oddly enough this approach translates better in aged guns, despite the fact that just via the aging process alone there is much more than one sweep of the hand!  It’s an odd juxtaposition because I think for many or most of us we are now conditioned to appreciate and expect a degree of age in a any given piece, so now to view a piece as-new, it typically seems as though something is out of sorts and we feel uncomfortable. Really, how many of us are comfortable with a piece finished up as brand-spanking-new such as this?  It’s stiff and much less warm, no story or history, does not offer immediate invitation or welcome.  When new, the pieces are like a mother in law.  Grating.  But then, all the pieces we idolize to any extent were also new at one point, so I was thinking it might be good to document that for a change - I decided if I was going to do one as new for a change, best to go whole hog.  I spent probably the first 10 years or more working at this never ever aging anything because all my customers were the guy sat Fort Ticonderoga who were strictly concerned with authenticity with only an “as new “ perspective.  In fact, my entire interest in aging these things only took off after I saw some of my work, year after year, visually changing in the hands of a couple of guys who were serious hard-core Adirondack guides.  Russ Bailey is of course my perpetual favorite, as every year we’d get to ‘imbibing’ at night and he would constantly use the butt of his rifle - my first totally scratch built rifle - to stoke the fire.  Every freaking year.  I’d be surprised if that rifle still exists in one piece a “mere” 27 years later.   

Copy and photos supplied by Eric Kettenburg.