[Rubi3]

Doubtful there will be many closed doors to the new duo. Eligible women will be eager to be a welcoming committee and may already be practicing new recipes. When My family moved to a small town in northern Oklahoma years ago, I was shocked how much was already known about us. The first boy my daughter dated had been behind us the day we dragged main the first time.

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by Rubi3

Doubtful there will be many closed doors to the new duo. Eligible women will be eager to be a welcoming committee and may already be practicing new recipes. When My family moved to a small town in northern Oklahoma years ago, I was shocked how much was already known about us. The first boy my daughter dated had been behind us the day we dragged main the first time.

Hopefully not, but it has been my experience that the "off the beaten path" towns in southern Oklahoma are a bit more "keep to themselves" than other parts of the state. This may simply be a function of the fact that there is not a lot of transient culture in many of the towns. If you are there it's because you live there, are from there or are related to someone who's from there. However, once they decide our new friend isn't a revenuer, they will probably lighten up.

[Brennus MacBean]

Originally Posted by eddie gein

Hopefully not, but it has been my experience that the "off the beaten path" towns in southern Oklahoma are a bit more "keep to themselves" than other parts of the state. This may simply be a function of the fact that there is not a lot of transient culture in many of the towns. If you are there it's because you live there, are from there or are related to someone who's from there. However, once they decide our new friend isn't a revenuer, they will probably lighten up.

I'm definitely a "keep to myself" kind of person. In my off time I'd rather stay at home and read a book or tinker around at the bench building one of my rifles (I build mostly flintlock longrifles, percussion plains and Midwestern half stock muzzleloaders and the occasional bolt action for myself).

I'm not a revenuer by any stretch of the imagination. I'm the "anti-revenuer" Liberty or Death personified. I just got a new (to me) car so it is not covered in bumper stickers yet, but my old car left no room for doubt about who I am . Every time I went to Ann Arbor (a very liberal town in Michigan), the lefties would actually scream insults at me and waive rude hand gestures in my direction because of my bumper stickers I even had one woman in Ann Arbor (who I thought for sure was a boy at first) kick my car and scream that I should die because I AM INTOLERANT (the offending sticker was an image of Uncle Sam from the old recruiting posters, and the caption was: Uncle Sam Wants You- To Speak English).

A small town with polite like minded people would be very refreshing for me.

I've found a little info on Murray State College's Gunsmithing program and from what I have found it seems to be geared more towards teaching firearms repair instead of the skills needed to build custom firearms. I want to brush up, focus on and pursue custom work at this point in my life. I was a general fix it, scratch and dent, bluing touch up, scope and sling mounting gunsmith back in the 80's and 90's until I gave up the FFL. I worked on muzzleloaders only after that.

[Goodpasture]

Originally Posted by Brennus MacBean

.........it seems to be geared more towards teaching firearms repair instead of the skills needed to build custom firearms. I want to brush up, focus on and pursue custom work at this point in my life.....

I would think a good repair education would be essential. It seems most business generating activity would be repair of existing weapons. I also think the majority of custom work will be modifying existing weapons......why build it totally new when there is a decent production alternative that can be custom fitted? Developing a whole new weapon would be interesting, to say the least, but a thorough knowledge of existing weapons and their good and bad points seems to me to be essential......

[Rubi3]

There's a good chance the instructor is very knowledgeable about custom firearms and will allow you to chart what you are looking for. Maybe not, but maybe. I think creative people have a lot of leeway. Well.........sometimes...

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by Brennus MacBean

I'm definitely a "keep to myself" kind of person. In my off time I'd rather stay at home and read a book or tinker around at the bench building one of my rifles (I build mostly flintlock longrifles, percussion plains and Midwestern half stock muzzleloaders and the occasional bolt action for myself).

I'm not a revenuer by any stretch of the imagination. I'm the "anti-revenuer" Liberty or Death personified. I just got a new (to me) car so it is not covered in bumper stickers yet, but my old car left no room for doubt about who I am . Every time I went to Ann Arbor (a very liberal town in Michigan), the lefties would actually scream insults at me and waive rude hand gestures in my direction because of my bumper stickers I even had one woman in Ann Arbor (who I thought for sure was a boy at first) kick my car and scream that I should die because I AM INTOLERANT (the offending sticker was an image of Uncle Sam from the old recruiting posters, and the caption was: Uncle Sam Wants You- To Speak English).

A small town with polite like minded people would be very refreshing for me.

I've found a little info on Murray State College's Gunsmithing program and from what I have found it seems to be geared more towards teaching firearms repair instead of the skills needed to build custom firearms. I want to brush up, focus on and pursue custom work at this point in my life. I was a general fix it, scratch and dent, bluing touch up, scope and sling mounting gunsmith back in the 80's and 90's until I gave up the FFL. I worked on muzzleloaders only after that.

Well, there aren't any Ann Arbors in Oklahoma. Even Norman isn't radical left, Tish sounds like it would be great for you. As others have mentioned, it is more then likely that the instructors in the program down there have similar interests as you do and certainly could advise you concerning the merits of the program in turns of your interests. They could probably advise you of opportunities related to your interests in the area.

Sounds like you have a passion for your craft and deserve to find the best mentors to help you with your art.

[StillwaterTownie]

I saw on TV news that Johnston County where Tishimingo is voted Tuesday to legalize liquour by the drink with country music star tweeting his approval as well. That's been quite pitiful how that place had been too backward to have that for 30 years. I wonder if they made sure they stayed backward enough to keep liquor by the drink banned on Sunday. 56 out of 77 counties in Oklahoma now have liquor by the drink.

[Brennus MacBean]

Originally Posted by Goodpasture

Developing a whole new weapon would be interesting, to say the least, but a thorough knowledge of existing weapons and their good and bad points seems to me to be essential......

Developing a new system is something different all together. The work that I am interested in is rifle work, using an existing action that I blue print and then install a quality barrel and then shape a stock from blank piece of wood. I like to build 1911 style pistols using available frames and slides or starting with a donor 1911 using premium internals and old fashioned rust or nitre bluing that I am pretty good at doing (it's slower than the modern caustic bluing but it looks nicer and is cleaner). I like to work on revolvers too, tighten them up, polish the surfaces that need to be polished and make them work smoother. Since I was a gunsmith, I know a lot of the basics and advanced aspects of function and repair but what I and other gunsmiths at least in this area have found is that people are not repairing their firearms as much, they don't even clean them like they should. If a problem develops, they get a new one. This is especially true of muzzle loaders. With the advent of these cheap inline muzzle loaders, people who buy these don't get them fixed because they can get a new one for $100 every few years. The demand for traditional muzzle loaders has decreased dramatically but the traditionalists are willing to pay a lot more for a historically correct, hand made muzzle loader than the average hunter who just needs/wants a muzzle loader to take advantage of an extra chance to get a deer during muzzle loading season.

It's taken me 20 years to develop what I know about muzzle loaders and what the various stock designs and features are. I can look at an original longrifle and can usually tell you the state, county, township and the builder who made it.

When it comes to shaping a stock for cartridge firearms, I am not as proficient and this is the area that I'd like to study because at 47 (in June), I don't want to spend another 20 years learning on my own. I do plan on corresponding with the various heads of the schools that I am looking into. Thanks to everybody for the advice and encouragement.

[Bass&Catfish2008]

Originally Posted by Brennus MacBean

Developing a new system is something different all together. The work that I am interested in is rifle work, using an existing action that I blue print and then install a quality barrel and then shape a stock from blank piece of wood. I like to build 1911 style pistols using available frames and slides or starting with a donor 1911 using premium internals and old fashioned rust or nitre bluing that I am pretty good at doing (it's slower than the modern caustic bluing but it looks nicer and is cleaner). I like to work on revolvers too, tighten them up, polish the surfaces that need to be polished and make them work smoother. Since I was a gunsmith, I know a lot of the basics and advanced aspects of function and repair but what I and other gunsmiths at least in this area have found is that people are not repairing their firearms as much, they don't even clean them like they should. If a problem develops, they get a new one. This is especially true of muzzle loaders. With the advent of these cheap inline muzzle loaders, people who buy these don't get them fixed because they can get a new one for $100 every few years. The demand for traditional muzzle loaders has decreased dramatically but the traditionalists are willing to pay a lot more for a historically correct, hand made muzzle loader than the average hunter who just needs/wants a muzzle loader to take advantage of an extra chance to get a deer during muzzle loading season.

It's taken me 20 years to develop what I know about muzzle loaders and what the various stock designs and features are. I can look at an original longrifle and can usually tell you the state, county, township and the builder who made it.

When it comes to shaping a stock for cartridge firearms, I am not as proficient and this is the area that I'd like to study because at 47 (in June), I don't want to spend another 20 years learning on my own. I do plan on corresponding with the various heads of the schools that I am looking into. Thanks to everybody for the advice and encouragement.

With all the hunting in Oklahoma, and the Tish area in particular, I would think you would have no shortage of business/customers given your trade and skill set.

Personally, I've never gotten into the muzzle loader stuff. I used to hunt quail/dove all the time. But, the Bobwhites have been gone for several years now, so I've fished and only fished most recently.