Fine Gunmaking

Over the years I’ve written about a number of gunmakers and gunsmiths, and it seems more than coincidence that many of them either knew early on what they wanted to do for a living or their fathers or other relatives worked in the trade. Stockmaker Jim Greenwood’s dad worked as a gunsmith for part of Jim’s childhood, and Greenwood well remembers how much he enjoyed helping in the shop. Greenwood’s father studied in the Gunsmithing Dept. at Trinidad State College, in Trinidad, Colorado, in 1967 and ’68. Jim completed the same program 15 years later. “Dad told me he would teach me gunsmithing,” Greenwood said, “but he never really had the time, so I just planned on taking the program from the start.”

Near the end of his second year at Trinidad, Greenwood heard about an advanced program being started in Kalispell, Montana, by some of the top custom gunmakers in the US. Jerry Fisher, Don Klein, Tom Burgess and others rented a warehouse and essentially took on six apprentices in the fall of 1985. It was called the North American Rifle Maker’s Institute but, according to Greenwood, “It was almost doomed from the start. These men spent all day teaching us what they knew about gunsmithing, and then sent us home at night so they could get some of their own work done. The tuition about covered the rent and materials, so the instructors had to work overtime on their own projects to make a living.”

The training lasted about a year, and the great advantage of the instruction for Greenwood was that “I learned to do things the right way from the beginning.” The vast experience of these professional gunmakers gave a tremendous head start to this young stockmaker. After the program—and the Institute’s demise—Greenwood worked in Fisher’s shop for another three months.

Greenwood then had to begin making a living, but he did his first nine-month stint working in the “wrong” gunshop, where his training and skills were under-utilized. In 1986 he connected with George Caswell of Champlin Arms, in Enid, Oklahoma, where he started as the in-house stockmaker. In Enid two things happened that had a huge influence on Greenwood’s life and career: “George Caswell was incredibly trusting of me. He gave me the keys to the store and combination to the safe and told me to study the guns for sale. There were double rifles, competition guns, double shotguns, custom rifles and quality guns of all types from all over the world. I spent hours studying them and learned what fine gun work really was.” The challenge, according to  Greenwood, was “to figure out what was right and what I liked about each of the guns.”

The second thing was meeting John F. “Jack” Rowe, who was then working at Champlin’s and was not long removed from the English gun trade. The two worked bench-to-bench, with Rowe doing repairs and teaching Greenwood how double guns were made, how to disassemble them, and how to repair them. “He showed me everything,” Greenwood said. “Jack was very good to me. He knows shotguns inside and out, and working with him was an opportunity few people get.” They each worked as independent contractors, with Greenwood checkering for Rowe and Rowe passing him work when things were slow. Greenwood, who always had thought of himself as a rifleman, found himself stocking double shotguns almost exclusively.

Greenwood’s long-term goal was to have his own shop, so in 1991 he moved to Augusta, Kansas, to work with shooting instructor and gunfitter Michael Murphy. At the time Murphy ran a sporting clays range, gave shooting lessons and did gunfittings. He leased Greenwood the upstairs of his building, where Greenwood set up shop making custom stocks and repairing mostly double shotguns. He’s been there ever since.

These days Greenwood continues to offer a wide array of stockmaking services. One of Greenwood’s recent projects involved a Browning Superposed two-barrel set—28 and .410—to which was being added a set of 20-gauge barrels. He custom stocked the gun with Turkish walnut and three forends and replaced the ribs on the smaller-gauge barrels with wider Simmons-type ribs to match the 20-gauge tubes. Angelo Bee engraved the gun in a Midas-grade motif, with gold pheasants and quail in keeping with the smaller gauges.

As with most of Greenwood’s projects, the client traveled to the shop to begin the process. A pattern stock was fitted to the gun and, with length of pull adjusted, the gun was taken to the sporting clays range.

After numerous shots at a pattern plate and a few alterations, the gun was ready for clay targets. Greenwood and the client walked to Murphy’s sporting clays range, where nearly any type of target presentation can be offered to test stock dimensions. Because this was a field gun, flushing-style targets were presented until the client, with Greenwood looking over his shoulder, felt comfortable with his mount and ability to break the clays.

As part of the stockmaking process, Greenwood works with each client to make sure they have a proper gun mount. He places an emphasis on grip curve and configuration, with most of his creations having some amount of palm swell. He also frequently uses the non-gun term “comfortable.” It becomes obvious in talking with him that Greenwood thinks a large part of shooting well has to do with a particular shotgun being “comfortable” to mount and shoot.

During the course of each fitting, Greenwood is prepared to alter the LOP, comb and heel height, grip curve, cast, and amount of toe out as well as the pitch. He will bend and add or subtract wood as needed. The shoot-and-alter program could take anywhere from a half-day to two days. According to Greenwood, “I’ll keep working with the client and the gun until it feels comfortable and consistent to him and is shooting to the preferred point of aim.” With all of this work done prior to final stocking, many customers say the new gun feels and shoots like an old friend from the beginning.

The Midas upgrade was delivered on a South Dakota pheasant hunt (see photo, p. __), and the client killed 12 roosters with his first 14 shots using the 20-gauge barrels. “He was on cloud nine, shooting well with a brand-new gun,” Greenwood said. (Plus he got to look at that gorgeous walnut in the natural light of day.)

Greenwood approaches a target stock the same way; in fact, he includes the price of the shooting and fitting in that of the overall stocking. Greenwood achieved Master Class in sporting clays competition many years ago with his own Turkish-walnut-stocked Perazzi Mirage. “I think I understand what it takes to build a competition gun,” he said.

Greenwood offers three important results when custom stocking a competition gun. First, the gun will shoot to a known and consistent point of aim. This can be verified by shooting at a pattern plate as well as at different targets on the range. Second, the gun will have dynamic handling—correct balance and weight distribution—so the shooter can get it to the point of aim comfortably. And third, the stock will have a classic style, with clean lines and graceful contours—an approach Greenwood forged in his days with Jerry Fisher, Don Klein and others. Some of the disappointments I often find with custom competition stocks are their lack of visual grace and their clubby look and feel. Those bulky stocks may work for getting the guns on the target, but they do nothing for improving the aesthetic elegance that should be possible with any re-stocking job.

Regarding wood, Greenwood normally inventories some 35 to 50 stock blanks. He buys blanks that he likes as he finds them, and he’ll hold them until they are aged properly—about five years—before considering them for a new stock. In a departure from many well-known stockmakers, Greenwood inventories and enjoys using good old American black walnut. Some stockers think this wood is too brittle or chippy, but Greenwood doesn’t mind. He also has English walnut from several different sources, as well as California and Turkish walnut in fancier grades. Look closely at the photo of the custom Browning on page __ and you’ll see that even though the stock is made of outrageously figured wood, it still has excellent layout at the head and through the grip. Why not have strong and fancy wood to last a lifetime?

Although he has broad skills and training, Greenwood has begun specializing in recent years. He still does occasional refinishing, stock bending and repair work as well as alters gun for competition, but these days he prefers to make custom stocks. He specializes in making stocks for double shotguns, with the majority—about 70 percent—being for competition. He stocks few side-by-sides but makes quite a few for autoloaders, mainly Berretta 390s and 391s.

“My clients just love them!” he said with a laugh. “They have an auto they shoot well, and I set them up with much better stock dimensions and a very fine stick of wood. I tune the trigger pull, polish and slick-up the action, install custom chokes, and they love it.” These jobs can cost as much as $2,000 to $3,000, as it’s not unusual to use a $1,500 stick of Turkish walnut on a $1,000 autoloader. Again, Greenwood is very conscious of weight and balance, so these noticeable traits can be enhanced in addition to him improving the consistency of point of impact and ease of mount.

Greenwood travels often, shooting sporting clays and bird hunting throughout the Midwest. It would not be unusual to run into him competing or hunting in South Dakota, Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma or his home state of Kansas. He used to drag a trailer to shoots to work on guns, but now he leaves the trailer home and concentrates on his shooting.

At 46, Greenwood is a serious sporting clays competitor, and he has been on state and regional shooting teams. He is a state delegate for the National Sporting Clays Association, and just after our interview he was heading to the National Sporting Clays Championship in Texas. He’s been happily married for 16 years and is the father of three young children. One of his great pleasures was guiding his son on his first successful whitetail hunt with the same rifle Greenwood had used to take his first deer—a rifle his father had custom built in 1960.

Author’s Note: For more information on custom stockmaking, contact Jim Greenwood, 316-775-0161; www.greenwoodcustomstocks.com.

Autographed copies of Steven Dodd Hughes’s new book, Double Guns and Custom Gunsmithing, are available for $48 postpaid from the author, PO Box 545, Livingston, MT 59047.