Is the market for custom beautiful wood-stocked and blued rifles dying out?

[Mosin77]

Couldn't disagree more, and I suspect you don't actually believe that either. Paint that AR in your pic pink with glitter and unicorn stickers and I think you'd have walk back that statement. It's also interesting that you chose to post a picture of the rifle and not of the targets it's capable of. If performance is what's important, then why post a pic of the rifle and not it's performance? Because the appearance of a rifle does matter, at least a little bit, to everyone.

I agree. I don’t like ugly guns. I don’t want to own something that I can’t look at with some pride and love when I’m using it. I feel like they go out of their way to make most modern designed guns look deliberately ugly. I understand practicality but utilitarian doesn’t have to mean brutalist. And not everything has to be utilitarian either.

 

[herrwalther]

I can appreciate both kinds of rifles. I want to have a few "hard use" all weather rifles that are SS and polymer. Now and then I have the stray thought to sell a walnut and steel rifle to pay for them that I have to shake off of you will probably never find that kind of rifle again.

 

[Hookeye]

IMHO the best looking walnut and steel rigs at a reasonable price.............are Ruger #1's
Even then a lot of em have bland wood.

Seen some killer wood on custom versions.

Im a klutz so even if I had the funds for a custom, it'd be a tragedy waiting to happen.
Proly more dings and dents in and out of safe/cleaning than afield.

I do appreciate the art and skill of such craftsmen though.
And for those that can afford, cost and risk in usage, I say go for it.

Enjoy the fine pics folks post.

 

[Hookeye]

Some rifles are simply tools
Some are works of art.
Hopefully they'll still make those between.

 

[Mick Boon]

Couldn't disagree more, and I suspect you don't actually believe that either. Paint that AR in your pic pink with glitter and unicorn stickers and I think you'd have walk back that statement. It's also interesting that you chose to post a picture of the rifle and not of the targets it's capable of. If performance is what's important, then why post a pic of the rifle and not it's performance? Because the appearance of a rifle does matter, at least a little bit, to everyone.

You have a vivid imagination.

 

[giggitygiggity]

I don’t think that the market fot blued steel and wood rifles is dying out necessarily; specifically, I suspect there are many, many folks who prefer the classic lines.. I do, however think the financials support plastic stocked, matte blued rifles. What I mean is that from a manufacturer’s perspective, the manufacturer can crank out multiple plastic stocked rifles at a fraction of the price of a classic rifle. From a consumer’s perspective, there is an abundance of plastic stocked rifles and consumers will buy them because they’re relatively inexpensive and far more readily available than rifles with classic lines. I definitely prefer classic rifles. However, when I can get a wood stocked rifle with polished bluing for the same price as 2-5 plastic stocked rifles, the allure of the classic rifle subsides, not because I no longer find it appealing in its own right, but because it becomes more difficult to justify the purchase.