TheGunsmith

The grips are made from scratch. The wood is ochre with silver wire inlay. The centre piece is a silver tree of life that's set into the wood and sealed in flush with the grips.

I have worked out how to resize the photos on the iPhone.

I have very recently joined this fine forum and after my intitial hellos have been asked to put some examples of the work that I do on here. A very brief history of myself may come in useful I suppose, Raised in Sourh Africa I came into contact with firearms at a very early age. My father carried an old 1911, mum a .22 unique and I eventually owned and carried a 9mm S&W. One of my fathers closest friends was a man called Chris Reeve. He was an exceptional knife maker and can now be found on the web working in Idaho under the same name. I used to work for him making knives and through him I learnt my tradecraft, business values and work ethics. Chris is a perfectionist and he has gone on to being one of the worlds best and most respected cutlers in the world and I am very proud to be associated with him. Suffice it to say that I fell into gun smithing through the military and found that I have a natural aptitude to most things firearms related. My father is an avid pistol shooter even at the ripe old age of 78. He was asked by the owner of the shop where he gets his supplies if he could make a set if grips for a Samurai Edge. Dad happily agreed but before he could do them he was diagnosed with cancer. He lost the will to do any kind if woodwork but knowing what I do he asked me if I would have a look. I had already done a 1911 for him as a gift and I readily agreed. I contacted the owner of the Samurai Edge and was given free reign with sorting the pistol out for him. I received the pistol and it was in a very sorry state. The barrel was loose, the mag was shot, the inners were worn, the seals were on their last legs and cosmetically it looked pretty rough. I set to work restoring this pistol both internally and externally. The photos attached are the end result. The owner was over the moon with the work that was done to it and suggested that I get onto some of the forums. The aim here is for some feedback from you guys and girls not only as shooters but also as airsoft weapon enthusiasts. I would love to hear your comments and suggestions. I hope to build a reputation as a "go to" for all things airsoft. Many thanks The Gunsmith. For some reason I can't upload the "before" photos. Apparently they are to big!! If anybody has any suggestions or wants the before shots to stick on here on my behalf that would be fantastic. Sussed it.

I am completely new to the world of airsoft and fell into it by accident. I have been an avid airgunner for longer than I care to remember and while away many a pleasant hour hunting vermin for some of the local farmers. Having grown up in South Africa and having a background in the military and policing, I have developed a passion for anything firearm related. I have always owned air rifles and the closest I got to a pistol after leaving SA was a plastic single shot sig p220. I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread and had loads of fun plinking away at paper targets. I got so good with it that I could hit a billboard sized target from a foot away almost 50% of the time. This thing could punch a hole through a piece of wet single ply toilet paper from well over a hundred millimetres away with ease. It was possibly the most dangerous pistol I had ever owned and lived with the constant fear of being seriously injured by a BB bouncing of the ground and hitting me in the ankle. I later discovered that there were other pistols out there that were a little more challenging. I acquired a rather pleasant umarex cp88 in .177 and the sig was retired to the cupboard. My father (78 years old and still shoots) introduced me to the world of steel bb's. He had an obscenely large Dan Wesson that looks like .38 special on steroids. He took me to his local gunshop where he gets his ammo from and I found and fell in love with the TFW 1911. My fathers preferred side arm back home was the 1911, I don't ever remember him not having it with him. Anyway I finally purchased a TFW and was not only impressed with the shooting realism of it but was overjoyed at the fact that it could be stripped like the real thing. Sadly my father was diagnosed with cancer and as a result of the chemo was unable to shoot. He still went on about the TFW and after a lot of searching I found a reasonably priced second hand one for him. Having spent more time than I care to remember in armouries gun smithing (hence the name), I did a complete rebuild on this second hand pistol. It was polished, hand engraved and chased and I made him a bespoke set of grips. He was so pleased that he took the pistol into the gunshop to show the owner. It turns out that he is into skirmishing and owns a mini arsenal. He asked me if I could make him a set of grips for his S.T.A.R.S m92. What a silly question. I of course agreed but when the pistol arrived it was the most battered, hammered and well used pistol I had seen. After hours of work I transformed this pistol into a thing of beauty. I stupidly asked if there was anything else he needed doing and now have a Mac10 and Dragunov to rebuild. My main aim for joining the airsoft forums is to learn a little more about the sport, perhaps get involved as well but also to keep my eye open for spare parts. That's me in a nutshell. The Gunsmith.