Posted 7:21 pm Thursday, October 04, 2007
ET Gun Builder Mixes Work With Pleasure
By STEVE KNIGHT
Outdoor Writer
Todd Ramirez is one of those rare people who transformed a passion into a career.
As a teenager in the Rio Grande Valley town of McAllen, Ramirez was looking for his future. He enjoyed working on guns, so he enrolled at the Colorado School of Trades to learn the craft.
He returned to the Valley in 1978 and began working in a shop with a master gunsmith. Much of the work included mundane repairs that are the bread and butter of any gun shop.
"I just started out doing general gunsmithing. I tried to learn the whole trade. That is what he did, so that is what I did," Ramirez recalled.
Because the shop was established with the wealthy in South Texas, the apprentice also found himself thrown into a more demanding challenge - custom rifle building.
"That started right off the bat. That was already established in the shop," Ramirez said.
Outdoor Writer
Todd Ramirez is one of those rare people who transformed a passion into a career.
As a teenager in the Rio Grande Valley town of McAllen, Ramirez was looking for his future. He enjoyed working on guns, so he enrolled at the Colorado School of Trades to learn the craft.
He returned to the Valley in 1978 and began working in a shop with a master gunsmith. Much of the work included mundane repairs that are the bread and butter of any gun shop.
"I just started out doing general gunsmithing. I tried to learn the whole trade. That is what he did, so that is what I did," Ramirez recalled.
Because the shop was established with the wealthy in South Texas, the apprentice also found himself thrown into a more demanding challenge - custom rifle building.
"That started right off the bat. That was already established in the shop," Ramirez said.
Eventually Ramirez bought the shop, but he continued to learn from his mentor. However, in 1996 he sold out and moved north of Mineola so he and his wife, Tammy, could be closer to family members who had previously settled in the area.
Working out of a shop at his house, Ramirez immediately opened up shop doing both the mundane and the exciting. He became the licensed gunsmith for Beretta, going to Italy for training and sharing time between the Dallas store and East Texas.
In March, armed with a nationwide client list, Ramirez struck out on his own. He continues to offer the simplest of service, such as cleaning a rifle, but it is the custom work, building rifles that sell for upward of $30,000 and can take as long as a year to complete, that keeps him excited.
"I enjoy a combination of having the customer come in and showing me what he wants, then getting it right, and giving him something he couldn't foresee how it would come out. Something that is going to wow him," the 49-year-old explained.
His gun building has run the gamut from the smallest of centerfire calibers to a massive 500 Jefferies used recently by a Texas hunter to drop an Africa elephant with a massive 93 pounds of ivory.
Working out of a shop at his house, Ramirez immediately opened up shop doing both the mundane and the exciting. He became the licensed gunsmith for Beretta, going to Italy for training and sharing time between the Dallas store and East Texas.
In March, armed with a nationwide client list, Ramirez struck out on his own. He continues to offer the simplest of service, such as cleaning a rifle, but it is the custom work, building rifles that sell for upward of $30,000 and can take as long as a year to complete, that keeps him excited.
"I enjoy a combination of having the customer come in and showing me what he wants, then getting it right, and giving him something he couldn't foresee how it would come out. Something that is going to wow him," the 49-year-old explained.
His gun building has run the gamut from the smallest of centerfire calibers to a massive 500 Jefferies used recently by a Texas hunter to drop an Africa elephant with a massive 93 pounds of ivory.
"There is a .470 Nitro and a .500 Nitro, but energy- and power-wise that .500 Jefferies pretty much takes it," Ramirez said of the big rifle.
From beginning of construction to the end, the wait on a Ramirez rifle can be a year. However, if someone were to order one today, construction wouldn't begin for another six months, making delivery 18 months out. He currently has a backlog of nine rifles and seven shotguns, something else he customizes.
The process starts with a meeting with the client to determine what they want and for a fitting. In some cases the meeting may take only a matter of hours. In other cases it may take multiple meetings. Working with author and television host Craig Boddington on a 7X57 Mauser, Ramirez said the two met twice for three or four hours.
"The last client I worked with it took three or four weeks to get everything pinned down," he noted.
Typically on a rifle, Ramirez said he might not see the client again until the end of the project. With a shotgun it helps if the client comes for a second fitting and shooting with the shotgun stock still in a raw state.
Unlike the rifles, Ramirez customizes shotguns using a shotgun purchased by the client. By the time the process is complete, a $3,000 shotgun can cost $6,000 to $8,000.
With a rifle it is a time-consuming job just to order components.
"I allow myself four to six months just to get the materials lined up, the barrel I want, the action set up, and another three months for metal work," Ramirez said.
And the components are not cheap. Having once worked with a variety of woods, Ramirez today offers options of walnut, English, Turkish and French. A stock blank may cost him as much as $2,700.
While Ramirez does all the wood work and some metal work in house, fancy engraving on any metal requires the rifle be sent to a tradesman. One that Ramirez works with has his own time frame of 18 to 36 months to get started.
Along with bolt action, wood stock rifles, Ramirez also custom builds double rifles for African hunting and works with rugged synthetic stocks as well.
For most hunters, today's off-the-rack rifles offer enough quality to hunt big game on almost any level. There are those, however, who seek not only something that is one-of-a-kind, they also want something that performs like a Rolls Royce in the field.
"Most want something that is unique and pretty. For me, a lot of customers say they want their gun to look different from anything else out there," said Ramirez, who, based on repeat business, must be getting things right.
To Ramirez his satisfaction with building a rifle is akin to what a parent feels when seeing a child grow into an accomplished adult.
"What I like is, after all the metal work is down and you have laid out the stock, is probably seeing both of them come together," Ramirez said. After a pause, however, he added, "But what is better is that once all the components are finished and you see them put together, that is when it is the prettiest - the finished product."
Ramirez isn't embarrassed by the price of his wood rifles, which start at $20,000.
"I think it is the quality. I know these guns, what they do and what they are. When I first started I wondered how good my work is. How it compares to others. I have gotten to see over the years," he said.
For more information on Ramirez' gun work, visit his Web site at www.customgun.com.
From beginning of construction to the end, the wait on a Ramirez rifle can be a year. However, if someone were to order one today, construction wouldn't begin for another six months, making delivery 18 months out. He currently has a backlog of nine rifles and seven shotguns, something else he customizes.
The process starts with a meeting with the client to determine what they want and for a fitting. In some cases the meeting may take only a matter of hours. In other cases it may take multiple meetings. Working with author and television host Craig Boddington on a 7X57 Mauser, Ramirez said the two met twice for three or four hours.
"The last client I worked with it took three or four weeks to get everything pinned down," he noted.
Typically on a rifle, Ramirez said he might not see the client again until the end of the project. With a shotgun it helps if the client comes for a second fitting and shooting with the shotgun stock still in a raw state.
Unlike the rifles, Ramirez customizes shotguns using a shotgun purchased by the client. By the time the process is complete, a $3,000 shotgun can cost $6,000 to $8,000.
With a rifle it is a time-consuming job just to order components.
"I allow myself four to six months just to get the materials lined up, the barrel I want, the action set up, and another three months for metal work," Ramirez said.
And the components are not cheap. Having once worked with a variety of woods, Ramirez today offers options of walnut, English, Turkish and French. A stock blank may cost him as much as $2,700.
While Ramirez does all the wood work and some metal work in house, fancy engraving on any metal requires the rifle be sent to a tradesman. One that Ramirez works with has his own time frame of 18 to 36 months to get started.
Along with bolt action, wood stock rifles, Ramirez also custom builds double rifles for African hunting and works with rugged synthetic stocks as well.
For most hunters, today's off-the-rack rifles offer enough quality to hunt big game on almost any level. There are those, however, who seek not only something that is one-of-a-kind, they also want something that performs like a Rolls Royce in the field.
"Most want something that is unique and pretty. For me, a lot of customers say they want their gun to look different from anything else out there," said Ramirez, who, based on repeat business, must be getting things right.
To Ramirez his satisfaction with building a rifle is akin to what a parent feels when seeing a child grow into an accomplished adult.
"What I like is, after all the metal work is down and you have laid out the stock, is probably seeing both of them come together," Ramirez said. After a pause, however, he added, "But what is better is that once all the components are finished and you see them put together, that is when it is the prettiest - the finished product."
Ramirez isn't embarrassed by the price of his wood rifles, which start at $20,000.
"I think it is the quality. I know these guns, what they do and what they are. When I first started I wondered how good my work is. How it compares to others. I have gotten to see over the years," he said.
For more information on Ramirez' gun work, visit his Web site at www.customgun.com.
