For those willing to understand that what's posted below is meant as just one of those good natured light hearted discussions that happens around a campfire, please read on..
Our entire bottom metal line has a complete and uninterrupted 2 deg. draft around the entire perimeter of the guard,
I'm glad you now have the draft. Is the draft machined @ 2deg while the floorplate mating surface is flat? I don't know. My point being when a floormetal is installed at a 3 to 3 1/2 deg angle the 2 degree draft at the back of the mag well and rear of the guard turns into a minus one. This is much more of an inletting problem when using a Mauser style integral box.
which was only possible to do correctly with a true one-piece.
I apologize to everyone for ever doing this incorrectly. 40 lashes. ouch ooo ow ow ooooooo.......
I think if we're going to do a "fair comparison", we should not be talking apples and oranges either.....
The level of polish that you speak of is not being delivered by any bottom metal maker, regardless of price, unless they are completing the entire custom rifle themselves.
There are capable smiths willing to complete the entire custom rifle themselves. My point was some of them are willing to go that extra mile and have clients looking for that level of finish and crispness inside & out. You can't get that out of a vibratory polisher with a little touchup. I know, I have one. Nobody is forcing them where to spend their money. I've the mindset that if all the floormetal customers were exposed to all the options there would be more $ales of those extra miles. You can't buy something that you don't know even exists. Also trying to give some answers to the subject of this thread.
Our polished and blued upgrade is not intended to provide the highest luster possible that would require someone to spend the better part of a day obtaining.
Mine is
Again my point of time & materials = $
What advantage is $600 dollar BOTTOM METAL over $150 dollar bottom metal? You simply cannot completely finish a bottom metal correctly, until it has been inletted into a stock, where the bottom metal and stock are finished as a complete unit.
I would agree with you. When I fit the latch I leave the final fit until after I stock it so there's no rattle between the floorplate and rails.
What we do is simply give a finish that will closely match a factory rifle finish that is closer to Winchester's Super Grade models, though it has always proven to have a higher luster than that.
I think you do a very good job of that. It's just not what I'm trying to do.
There are many folks out there that don't have an endless budget for making good upgrades to their rifles
Most of my clients don't have an endless budget. They just want something that can't be produced for $150.
Blackburn has a notable difference in their bow design, but it's not copyrighted.........
The copyright was done in 1988, under architectural works, works of the visual arts. general visual arts.
There are many clients who like Blackburn's design and are willing to pay for it. It's a free market economy.
While some will place my bottom metal in the "cheap" category, or consider it simply a good value,
Ummmmmmmm who puts the price tag on your product?
I've yet to begin polishing a part for shipment that didn't come straight off my machine with a better finish than has been offered by my competitors as a finished product.
Is this because you have someone else polish those?
Come on Matt, are you REALLY saying that Sunny Hill's hand polished units don't have better finish than an unpolished one off of your machine? I'd bet that Andy would disagree and might be a little insulted as well.
I'm not going to tell someone they're paying too much for bottom metal, but I'd have a hard time having someone who's worked for me in the past tell me that they were going to spend a day polishing one guard and charging me $350.00 to do it.
Searching....Searching... Sorry, I can't find you on my clients list. When it's your money, you can spend it where you like. That's the great thing about the current world of custom gunmaking. VARIETY
What other bottom metal makers do that will drive up additional costs is the integral box, but that can be a real can of worms at the very least. I've made them, used them, and wouldn't use them again.
They make a slimmer more graceful stock. Which is important to some. They're also the only option for a Mauser. Maybe the prospective client could be persuaded in using a Mauser for their custom rifle they are considering building. It's a lot more work to machine and commands a higher price.
They are far more trouble than any minute amount of benefit they may or may not add.
That's your opinion. Not some point of fact.
Leaving the box out of the equation gives the gunsmith or end user much more versatility on cartridge and bullet selection within a given cartridge.
Some clients know what they want. Others are happy to leave their options open.
The only item that you're truly sacraficing is the extra weight of the integral box and nothing more.
Again. This is your opinion. Not some point of fact.
the Mauser 98 have proven themselves all over the world as being amongst the most dependable features available on a rifle
I love that quote.
I'm not here to pick a fight with Matt. He has done a great job producing a good product with a long line of happy customers. I applaud him for it. Wish I could check out his operation and learn something. I just think some of what he has posted here needs to be in the OP-ed column. He has every right to strong opinions about the products that he creates. It is understandable that the more people view these opinions as true Gospel the larger his customer base becomes. Can you blame him? I can't. Just offering my opinion and it's worth every cent the reader has paid for it.
From the link about Legend rifles posted above:
A Williams steel floor-plate and trigger bow is re-machined and cosmetically detailed before installation.I think this a good example of the difference between $150 and $600. Attention to detail is paid for by the hour.
