After a lifetime of sanding ....

I'm laying on stock oil. Here's the second coat.



The walnut has a natural overlaying "scale" pattern and coloration. Careful attention was given to the placement of the stock pattern on the plank, to take best advantage of the grain. It's worked out really well for the Dragon.



Carved signature is on the flat plateau, and will show under the exposed pressure reservoir ...



Photo prior to last round of stock carving/finish. However; it shows the "open reservoir" design of the stock.







The overlapping belly plates of the Dragon 87's stock.





A good view of the Dragon's "Bench Hook" for stable control during aiming.

The stock will have a soft sheen when dry, with several more coats of oil.



Gary



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/26/2009 09:00PM by barnespneumatic.

That's looking great Gary! Thanks for taking the time to post pictures on the way to the oven. The Dragon is certainly coming together as a spectacular gun.

Thanks Jerry,

It's been alot of work, but it has been rewarding to watch it turn out so well.

I got the first coat on it about 11 pm last night. What was it ... 7:30 I spoke to you, and ... hey ... just three more hours of grueling sanding ... and it was done! All the walnut dust you'd ever want to eat

Gary

Thanks Dan ...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/26/2009 04:48PM by barnespneumatic.

Just keeps getting better......

This gun looks amazing Gary! It looks like a Dragon and it's worthy the name of one. I have seen the $20,000 to $30,000 guns in Bass Proshop special gun room, and for the price I wasn't impressed, some of your guns and this one impressed the heck out of me.

That's what I keep telling him . . .

-- Jim

I've just made a note in your file ....

And, anytime you care to pursue that "Agent Thing" ... let me know.



Gary

Peter,
Most of the folks that enter special rooms at gun dealers would have no clue how special this gun is. Thanks to this forum and the ability to share the performance of the gun as well as the artistry, you and others would.

I'm often asked by folks who become aware of my airgun hobby, "what's the advantage to air power?" It's an honest question and not meant to offend. I tell them there is no advantage. There is appreciation and challenge. Why would somebody restore an old car when a new one will out perform it? Why would someone tune a 10/22 when they can out-shoot it with a 6mm? Why would anyone go hunting with bow or black powder or air?

It boils down to the challenge of doing something with less than the fanciest tool and the appreciation of the accomplishment. And, in the case of Gary's guns, the appreciation of the effort, skill and time it takes to make a highly efficient tool look great too. It's a combination of art appreciation and admiration of mechanical devices. I don't think it is a coincidence that many of the folks that post here or read this site know what a 302 cross ram manifold is and/or tinker with guns and machine tools.

In fact, I think if you have never tried to improve a mechanical device or fit a dovetail, you just can't appreciate fine craftsmanship.

Jerry Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> I'm often asked by folks who become aware of my
> airgun hobby, "what's the advantage to air power?"
> It's an honest question and not meant to offend.
> I tell them there is no advantage.

I generally agree, except for one point: air power lets a lot of us shoot at home in our yards\basements\garages.

> In fact, I think if you have never tried to
> improve a mechanical device or fit a dovetail, you
> just can't appreciate fine craftsmanship.

Yup.

dan_house Wrote:
> I generally agree, except for one point: air power
> lets a lot of us shoot at home in our
> yards\basements\garages.

Very true and that means more shooting time. But, don't shoot this gun in your garage or basement unless you are installing a new door!

Jerry Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> dan_house Wrote:
> > I generally agree, except for one point: air
> power
> > lets a lot of us shoot at home in our
> > yards\basements\garages.
>
> Very true and that means more shooting time.
> But, don't shoot this gun in your garage or
> basement unless you are installing a new door!
>

Every thing in moderation!!! hehehe

I've gotten to this stage now.









Waddyathink?



A tight flash shows what your eye sees, that it doesn't know it sees ... the dots are: 1). black. 2). midnight blue/black. 3). midnight blue. 4). black/green. 5). green ... applied in a certain progression of color ... and at a certain place in the oiling process.

Gary

barnespneumatic Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I've gotten to this stage now.
>

You cut stencil for that dot parttern?

No - just "dot-dot-dot" .... Morse code style.

Gary

That's just sick...

What's with all these pictures of WOODwork????

you'd think the only thing that matters on a gun is the stock - what about the barrel, action, metalwork ????....

Geez, it's just a piece of a tree.......


Oh, wait, ...I must have been channelling someone else -hehehe

Awesome work as always Gary, even though I know how much you love sanding!!!!


I really do like how the whole "Dragon" concept works here, in every facet and line

Joebill,

That's right. Trees are evil, sneaky things. This one forced it's way into my shop, plank by plank. But, I suspected it's plan to reassemble itself, and occupy ALL of the room in my shop. So; I attacked it with blades of all manner. (And half a ton of sandpaper). And ... what do you know ... I was right!!! That evil tree had captured an innocent Dragon inside! And so, I let it out, and it became my friend.

Will be neat to see it all together, with the real star of the show ... the action.

GAry

My GOD Gary!!!, How do you do it all. From wood to steel and back again. My hats off to your craftsmanship cause you never cease to amaze me.

WW Once again letting you run wild has resulted in something no one would have believed would work. It so cool when a craftsman who doesn't know what a gun is supposed to look like blends techniques and skills to open a new window to the Barnes landscape. Ok, Ok, I know..., I was the only one who didn't see dragons, belly scales, scaled metal and multi-hued stock accents coming next!

Keep the surprises comin'

Kent

Gun looks great.

Lon

Thank you guys,

This is the most fun I've had with a gun for some time. Just doing a couple of the hundreds of things that run thru my mind.

Now ... this one is nearly complete. At some time in the future, on the appropriate gun, I'll do some silver wire inlay. I'll let that as a tease.

Oh ... don't say you heard it here ... but Dory's stock and gun is almost complete too. This isn't all I've been doing, but with the news black-out and all, I couldn't say.

OK. Thanks for your comments. They've been encouraging. I know everybody's waiting for something, or a couple of somethings. That's never off my mind. Anymore, I can only work of about six things at once though, and keep up the quality. Thanks for your friendship all.

Gary

OOoh, that's something again.... I've had busy time but, well, but very glad to see tat all.

Thanks Gary for showing us things like this.

Gary, it's obvious why your guns don't get shot often enough....people just want to admire them all day long, then they're just too tired to shoot 'em
Besides, how often do works of art get out for a run? I mean, you don't see the Mona Lisa dragged out of her cabinet for someone to have a good play with...
Hehehehe

Neil

PS Looking good, that Dragon!

Look at it this way, you'll have something new to show in a couple of weeks. See, if you s-t-r-e-t-c-h out the pictures over days you keep the boys coming back, just like the serial cartoons Dory

Jerry, I agree with you 100%! I also appreciate extremely fine custom bigbores that Gary makes. To me, the custom gun is more than an effective tool to hunt with, but I'd also take great pride in ownership and enjoy holding and admiring a great looking, custom built hunting gun; and appreciate that it was built by hand from a skillfully and talented AirgunSmith.

Gary built and designed a vast variety of stylings, I like most of his guns. Granted, not all his models would appeal to everybody, but I think most of the serious bigbore lover would find at least some of his models would appealing to him greatly. For anyone to say that none of Gary's gun is appealing to him is beyond me...
An analogy would be to look at an exotic car like a Lamborghini and say I don't like the look, while the other 99% of the people love them he..he..



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2009 10:08PM by peter-n.

Now THAT is a cool looking piece of work. It's almost a shame that it's an airgun, since it almost seems like it should be necessary for it to breath fire. Perhaps a propane upgrade?

Have you seen the condensation plume when it fires? Plenty Dragon like.

I guess I'll have to load that one again. My bog-slow connection generally discourages video clips but sometimes they'll work. Did you say that this one is a .62 rifled bore?

love the scales on the stock too ,,, not sure if its medication induced inspiration , or what ever the cause is ,, but the fun element in this gun is really showing through, its nice to see.