Reflections of a Pistolsmith

WELCOME TO THE NO BS ZONE OF TEDDY JACOBSON
I have been having major problems with the Blogger site and that is why my new blog was not published on time.

Before I start this commentary let me ask all of you that continue to want my work, to please call me first as I have started a list so that I can try my best in my semi retirement to help you in the near future. I had no choice but to make the agonizing decision to slow way down. I will no longer make any custom 1911 pistols, I will no longer work on any handguns that have already been worked on. I will no longer take in certain 1911 pistols that will just be a nitemare for me, those days are gone forever. Please feel free to call me most any day after 10 am central time and I will discuss what you have and what I will do. I will not be changing my website for now but my tools and stones are no longer for sale. I will honor my existing commitmentents to those that I made promises to because I am a man of my word. I will continue to help point you in the right direction so that you will make the proper decision. If you own one of the handguns I have worked on my best suggestion would be not to sell it as its value will sky rocket in due time.


I look back at my life as a struggling pistolsmith that had to learn everything on my own as there were very few people that would give me the right time of day while I was trying to learn and make a living at the same time. Every handgun became a different set of problems and there is an entire world of handguns out there beyond the 1911 pistol. There was a local Houston Gunsmith that was very nice to me when he was in business many years ago. Initially I did not have but one or two people I could talk with that were in the gun business, in the beginning it was very difficult for me.


I had a very nice man that called me yesterday and I had done some work for him a very long time ago and he asked me that when I can no longer do any work on all these various models who could I recommend that has the attention to detail that I do. I just had no real answer for him because there are some very qualified machinists out there but are they going to give his Sig Sauer or his HK or his Browning Hi Power, Walther, etc, the attention to detail in refining these weapons. I have no idea when in the middle of the discussion he mentioned that I am so willing to speak with everyone and there are people out there that ask for money in order to speak with them. I have always tried to help any decent person regardless if I ever did any work for them. Its true that when a "SMITH" spends time on the phone he loses money away from his work but that in my opinion is just a part of doing business.


I can only go so far what I write here, there are many things I would like to say and go into more detail but it would not be right at this point in time. I have had some wonderful dealings with some very ethical people in the gun magazine business. Are they all good as gold like John Taffin and Gila Hayes and Michael Boyle and Hal Swiggett and Tom Ferguson etc, etc, etc. ANSWER IS "NO" .
Most people I have encountered in the gun business when I was trying to learn were not near as helpful as I am, its true I do not teach anyone the details of changing angles, its not that easy and it took me years to learn what I know, it just did not happen over nite.


I can not begin to tell you how many times through the years people used to give me a handgun to work on and tell me not to rush, that I should take my time, BUT WANTED TO KNOW WHEN WILL IT BE READY. I had no way of snapping my fingers and fixing each handgun or waving a majic wand, it has always been labor intensive. I have not even mentioned all the bounced checks.
Every time I worked on a street gun, peoples lives depended on me. And when I read all the total nonsense on these chat rooms written by the same ole keyboard rangers it just makes me realize how very little they know.


Looking back 30 years at how I struggled just trying to understand one model at a time and this was after my regular job or on weekends was a nitemare. My wife used to sit at the table with me and read the same factory bullitins over and over while I took things apart and then re assembled it. This was hour after hour after hour and then I went on to the next model taking my own hand written notes as I went along. There is no money in my type of SMITHING, its too labor intensive. I did it because I liked what I was able to learn to do and that saved lives. In the early days I had no money to even buy tools because my bills came first. In order to buy specific files and screwdrivers and hammers I saved my lunch money, so I went without lunch in order to buy from Brownells.


As I became better and better with my craft more and more people wanted their guns worked on. I could never accomodate everyone as it was too time consuming. I found out people at local gun shows were selling guns they claimed I worked on at a premium price, when in fact they were bogus. I never worked on those guns and these show people had no problem trying to sell guns with my name. That is when I knew that I needed to get some kind of logo to identify my work. The logo that I now use is an acid etch and can only be put on steel. Each fabric template is photographed from the artwork that was created for me.


Let me back track a minute because I have no written script and I just write as I go, in the early days for 10 solid years I went to every gun show and I bought a handgun and I took it home and worked on it. At the next show I traded that handgun in for a different model and I took that one home and worked on it. I did this for 10 years so that I could expand my knowledge of models to work on. I never worked on some ones gun unless I had some experience with that particular model. I had to start having specific tools made for many various models. If I could not make the tools myself I had them made in a machine shop. These tools will never be sold, my instructions are that they are to be locked in a toolbox in storage or destroyed.


When I first started to get involved with gun writers most of my experiences were good, but not all. There are basically two different kinds of gun writers, one has a steady column in a specific magazine and the other is an independent writer who just submits articles in hopes that they will be purchased by some editor with an ego that thinks hes G-D. You got to realize that there were no computers in those days so the only means of mass communication to gun people were gun publications. When I say I have done 150 guns for gun writers that is true but I only got 60 articles in print because of many factors.


If an editor did not like the pictures that accompanied the article he would not accept it. Most gun editors did not have a clue what they were reading when it came to detailed technical conversation. They were just there to gather articles and pay as little as possible for the best articles they could find in order to justify their own salary. Heres where I got into trouble, when a gun writer would get his gun back from me and fell in love with it, he would then tell me about his wifes gun that needs work and then it would lead to his sons gun and his daughters gun and his brothers gun and his sisters gun and the list goes on and on and on. I could not win for love of money. NOW "NOT" ALL WRITERS ARE LIKE THIS, Mr. TAFFIN FOR ONE ALWAYS ASKS, WHAT DO I OWE YOU. But hes a breed apart and last of the old guard.


There are so many editors and writers in my past that would just give you a paragraph of ink and they had no trouble taking 500 dollars worth of work. I could never do that and live with that on my mind. The internet has changed all that. What would we have done if Mr. Gore had not invented the information super hiway ??


I think what bothered me the most is when a vendor I would buy from and pay him and or her would ask me for free work, because they were free loaders, pure and simple. What was there claim to fame in the gun business ?? nothing but to be in a position to take my order and then I paid for my supplies anyway. These people had no claim to fame they were trying to make them selves feel very important because they worked for a supplier in the gun business. Remember I still have a 1989 Truck with 24,000 original miles in my garage. These people not only made more money than I did but they drove very expensive cars and lived very well. So what gave them the out right gall to ask for free work ?? I still do not know. Did I do the free work ?? Yes on many ocassions but I got nothing in return but BS. Today they can not even talk with me on the phone about anything much less their guns.


I have always been very decent and kind to people that were nice. I remember a local security guard whose revolver broke and he had no money, of course I fixed his handgun at no charge. I always helped the real people in need but the damn primadonas are out of my life forever. If they call me they can state their business on my phone answering service. I will play their game also. I have never and will never charge to speak with anyone, I help a great many people that call me which includes professional gunsmiths. If they are nice I will always try and help them.


I very recentely received an envelope which contained a new article that is being printed about me and my work. I had no idea this was being written. I do not want any more articles because the era of Actions by "T" is coming to an end. I am no fool and I never lie to myself, my days or rather weeks of working like an animal doing 13 guns a week are over in this world. I have wonderful memories of my work and the people I have met and have become my friends. I also have the free loaders etched it my mind and I will never forget who they are. I recentely had a conversation with another man in the gun business and he told me he felt the same way I did about the free loaders and when he sees their name on caller I.D. he never answers the phone. So that is the truth and like it or not its the reality of human greed.


TO SUM IT ALL UP I have had a wonderful experience that has taught me lessons both good and bad in this life. I am very lucky or should say gifted to have lived in the very best of times and have known some of the best people I could ever dream of knowing. I live a quiet life know, I am always here and its usually me and my 2 dawgs. My wife is always working and I very seldom see anyone. Yes my 89 truck is still in the garage and if I want to use it tomorrow I will have to put the battery charger on it today. I have not used it in the past 4 months. I do not mind talking to people that are nice and for those that think they are big shots in this world they need some humility cause when you leave this world you go alone and when you go to the food store to pay your bill you pay alone. Everyone want to go to heaven but no one wants to die. THIS WOULD BE A MUCH BETTER WORLD IF WE HAD MORE PEOPLE LIKE, JOHN TAFFIN, TERRY MURBACH, STEPHEN CAMP, GILA HAYES, LOU ALESSI, ANTHONY TAYLOR, ETC, ETC, ETC, (the reason I have not mentioned more names is because I do not know if they want their names mentioned in public)



AUTHORS PERSONAL NOTATION:
This commentary as well as all my previous commentaries are my personal opinion and my personal viewpoint only.


Teddy Jacobson / Pistolsmith (semi retired)
www.actionsbyt.com
281 277 4008
tjacobson@houston.rr.com
jaj45f@alltel.net
www.actionsbyt.blogspot.com