“Standard Manufacturing Resurrects The Colt Woodsman“

[DDDWho]

I would not trade either of these for a Colt Woodsman . .

 

[CoalTrain49]

That's not my point. In the U.S. the sanctioning bodies often have a financial interest in allowing somebody to become a master since they offer the courses for hard cash. A little googling will let you find out that "master gun smith classes" can be finished in 16 months. Maybe you overlooked that I had compared that to Germany, where an associate program is three years. That's 36 months. The resulting difference in quality and the sad demise of American trade schools is evident here. The guys that polished Pythons before the UAW strike on walrus leather, or the Babbit man, were not really considered masters but performed to a very high standard.

I am not all all saying that I find American gunsmiths having to universally take a back seat to German gunsmiths, after all there is no substitute for intelligence and no training or standardized testing will make up for talent. Les Baer, Nowlin, and a few others have proven to be world class but the marketing term "master gunsmith" used by Standard Manufacturing is objectionable to me and appears to be meaningless.

For sure the master title means different things to different people. In EU the test used to be a person who could build, say a shotgun, by hand from a block of steel. Maybe not the barrels but everything else. They would have to machine that entirely by using a lathe and some hand tools. Those trade unions existed in EU and probably still do.

Electrician. If you goggle electrician trade union you get a recognized national union with programs and the certs. Takes 8000 hrs of on the job experience and 96 hrs of classes to be a journeyman. In this state you have to pass a state exam to be certified as a journeyman or master.

Gunsmith. If you google gunsmith trade union all you get is institutions advertising online courses in gunsmithing. There is no union, no apprenticeship, journeyman, or master program. No state cert. So no, master gunsmith isn't a union or state certification. It could be anyone building those firearms. But if they want to claim they're built my master gunsmiths I won't argue the point.

 

[someguy2800]

I would not trade either of these for a Colt Woodsman . View attachment 1142187. View attachment 1142189

I keep thinking I should sell my targetsman and buy a model 41 or a browning medalist but then I take it out of the safe and look at it and smile and put it back. Honestly the only reason I have mine is because at one time I wanted to collected one of each of John Brownings commercial firearms, but I have lost interest in that pursuit, so I don't really know why I keep it other than it looks pretty and invokes nostalgic fealings.

 

[PzGren]

For sure the master title means different things to different people. In EU the test used to be a person who could build, say a shotgun, by hand from a block of steel. Maybe not the barrels but everything else. They would have to machine that entirely by using a lathe and some hand tools. Those trade unions existed in EU and probably still do.

...

First, the Handwerksmeister, a master in a trade is something unique to Germany but that isn't the point. It is the three year course to be an associate that is probably more than is required in all other locales. It has nothing at all to do with the European Union.
Also, to be a master one did not have to build a gun by hand but excel in one field. An associate would be expected to build a gun reasonably well from scratch.

I have had the privilege of meeting many German master gunsmiths and visited both Korth factories but the same level of expertise exists here. I just suspect ( or expect) that the American manufacturers that are world class are more modest than coming up with phony marketing titles but all this brings us even farther away from the thread about the revival of the outdated Colt Woodsman design.

 

[CoalTrain49]

First, the Handwerksmeister, a master in a trade is something unique to Germany but that isn't the point. It is the three year course to be an associate that is probably more than is required in all other locales. It has nothing at all to do with the European Union.
Also, to be a master one did not have to build a gun by hand but excel in one field. An associate would be expected to build a gun reasonably well from scratch.

I have had the privilege of meeting many German master gunsmiths and visited both Korth factories but the same level of expertise exists here. I just suspect ( or expect) that the American manufacturers that are world class are more modest than coming up with phony marketing titles but all this brings us even farther away from the thread about the revival of the outdated Colt Woodsman design.

I was using EU as an abbreviation for Europe, not the European Union. Typo. Should have been EUR. My mistake. But anyway, my point was it's a bit more regulated in Europe, as you pointed out.

I was a collector of British game guns at one point in time and knew Douglas Tate personally. We had a few conversations about the gun trade in the UK. All off that is documented in his books.

I know nothing about the German trade or the regulation. I do know that Krieghoff's and Merkel's are expensive. I had a Merkel game gun for awhile.

 

[kidneyboy]

22plinkster has a video review(ish) out on this pistol.

 

[Grayrock]

I think it is made of Unobtanium, unless someone has actually purchased one. They had their prototypes out for the shows and press- but nowhere for Joe Q. Public to buy.

 

[jmr40]

I tried to buy a Woodsman from an elderly neighbor back in the late 1980's. He came over to our house to show it to me one afternoon. Told him that if he ever decided to sell it, I wanted 1st dibs on it.

I wish I'd tried harder. A few weeks later he used it to take his life. His wife had died, he had no kids and didn't want to live alone anymore. Looking back on it I believe he was thinking about suicide when he had the gun out and showed it to me.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

My Woodsman was made in 1938 and is the most accurate pistol I've ever owned. I've killed a ton of squirrels with that gun -- and every now and then am tempted to make a shoulder stock for it.

 

[Mark_Mark]

the last thing I bought from Standard Manufacturing

I’m going to stick with my Colt Officer Target, and Ruger Mark’s