The Way of the Sword

The Way of the Sword:

There are innumerable references in the Asian martial arts to the way of the sword, but few to firearms. One of my favorite firearms quotes comes from Kensei Musashi Miyamoto. "From within castle walls the gun is unexcelled, but once swords cross, it is of no use at all."
Another of my favorite quotes comes from Chairman Mao, who said, "Power flows from the muzzle of a gun." So you might ask, if I like these quotes why did I stop practicing with guns and their associated power. I cannot explain why I fell out of infatuation with firearms, it just happened.

Almost twenty years ago I eschewed the way of the gun for the way of the sword. It is hard for me to believe that it has been that long. Sorting through old files in our garage I came across targets marked: "40-90 @100 yards for group," "45-70 @ 200 yards, duplex load," and "28-30 breech-seated." Reading these semi-cryptic notes brought back fond memories of shooting with the ASSRA (American Single Shot Rifle Assoc.). Most of the targets are dated from 1987 to 1990.
In a more genteel era during the 1880-90s men spent Sunday afternoons at local ranges shooting guns like these. Dressed in three piece suits with tweed vests they enjoyed comparing rifles and shooting off hand at 100 and 200 yards. Schuetzen matches were popular during this renaissance of shooting sports in this great country. The shooters were not considered some lunatic fringe element, who posed a threat to our national security. They were not criminals or drug dealers. They were wealthy gentlemen and professionals, and everyday blue-collar workers. Shooting was a sport that appealed to men and boys of all ages. This was a day and age where boys 12-13 years old went out back with single shot 22 rifles and plinked at tin cans or targets and maybe shot rats in the local dump. This Golden Age of firearms manufacturing lasted from the late 1880s until WW-I. The competition for market presence was as strong as the competition on the shooting range. Firms like Remington, Sharps, Ballard, Maynard, Stevens, and Winchester built specialized off-hand and bench-rest target rifles. The designs were elegant, uniquely distinctive, and highly innovative. Many were destined to become timeless classics. Today some of these rifles have been lovingly reproduced in very small quantities.

Following the Great War, strong anti-German sentiment, and an overwhelming distaste for anything related to shooting or killing, spelled the end of what was known as the Schuetzen era. Those Schuetzen rifles, designed for and used solely in target matches, are for many gun aficionados, incomparable examples of the rifle builder’s art. No matter how precisely they shoot, modern rifles with their shapeless synthetic stocks will never satisfy the basic aesthetic needs and desire for beauty that figured woods and case colored actions fulfill. Because of my daughter’s interest in shooting I have reconnected with shooting.

Thanks Gwynne for giving back to me the pleasure that owning and shooting a finely-made rifle offers. Thank you to those long departed makers of single shot rifles for creating the best rifles possible, regardless of the cost or time it took to build them. I hope you will enjoy the photos of these classic rifles descended from a distant and golden age.

Steven Tedford, Custom Knifemaker:

A couple years ago I bought two custom knives from a fairly new Canadian knifemaker. Steven Tedford was just getting his business, Fireborne Swords, established when I saw one of his Bowies on Ebay. No sooner had I won the bid on that knife than I found another of Steven’s knives up for bid. I liked the looks of that knife even better. I ended up owning both of them. The Bowie was a nice knife. The other knife, that he called the Willow Leaf Fighter, resembles a small kukri. It is more graceful than many kukri and It quickly became a permanent part of my collection. In fact, once our second book is finished, you will find both of these knives and the new ones illustrated in it.
The real reason for writing this blog is that recently Steven sent out an emailing with photos of three new knives he had for sale. They instantly caught my attention! I emailed him and he made me a generous offer if I bought them as a set. I thought about it for a day or two and decided to buy them. Based on the photos I was confident they would be of equal quality to the previous knives.

When they arrived I tore into the package and discovered that I was wrong about the quality. These knives were visibly superior in fit and finish to his earlier knives. The first thing I noted was his signature on the blades. It is prominent and in a very artistic script. In fact that was only the first indication of his new level of artistry. Steven’s past knives had nice lines, these have perfect lines! The design elements of blade curvature and handle shape, the ratio of blade length to width, and handle to blade all seemed to flow effortlessly, creating an integrated piece of art. Having built many custom rifles I know that the difference between nice lines and perfect lines was not guaranteed by just putting in a few man hours. It is a long hard road of trial and error. This sort of artistry demands many late nights with cups of coffee and pencil in hand. It often results in nothing more than wads of sketches tossed into a wastebasket or littering the floor. Despite all the hard work, if you do not have that spark of artist in you, you may never create knives like this.
So now I have a conundrum, a real dilemma. I told my wife that I bought these knives to sell. Now that I’ve seen and held them I’m not sure that I will be able to do that. You see a collector is just another type of merchant, one who can’t or won’t sell anything. He’s also a man who spends a lot of time in the doghouse. Do you have a knife you would like built? Check out Steven’s website and contact him with your ideas. Talk to him, send him a sketch. Go ahead, I’ve got some room left in the dog house. We’ll compare knives, drink whisky, and stay up late barking at the moon. Check his work out at: http://www.tedfordknivesandswords.com/

Boker Plus Rampage

Boker Rampage™

The Boker Rampage is the inexpensive commercial version of the RJ Martin knife of the same name. The Boker version does not have the grooved blade that has become an RJ Martin hallmark. The 4 ¾ inch blade is nicely ground from 5mm thick 440-C stainless and it is razor sharp. As you know, I reserve this title for only those knives that truly are razor sharp, not every knife that simply cuts paper. The overall blade shape reminds me of a Rhino with its nose out of joint. There are few blade profiles that are more aggressive than this one. It is a complex grind and Boker has done a nice job.
The handle is less inspiring. Hogged out of micarta, it has the distinct look of a Cub Scout project carved with a dull jack knife in ten minutes or less. It has the potential to be ergonomic but whoever designed it was apparently unfamiliar with how the human hand is shaped. It fits my hand like the new airplane seats fit my body. The grooved thumb ramp should have been higher, so that the thumb rested naturally on it rather than having to be pressed down onto it. The notches roughed out for your forefinger are left too clunky and there are sharp corners just dying to be rounded off. The handle is barely long enough to accommodate my rather small hand. Anyone with big hands need not apply.
The sheath is your typical, thermo-plastic, kydex wanna-be, construct with the ubiquitous Tech-Lok. For some reason there is no retention capacity with this particular sheath. Maybe mine is unusually loose in the sheath, but right now, if I tip it up the knife will fall right out.
Overall the knife is a Plus in the Boker™ line despite the awful handles. I had similar complaints with my Boker Smatchet too. I have to wonder if Boker’s design folks don’t know how a knife is supposed to be held. If the Rampage were scaled up just a bit, like a 7inch blade and 4.5 inch handle, it would be a fantastic fighting knife! I am sure that before too long my Rampage is going to have the handles reshaped or replaced. It is too nice a blade to leave the handles as they are. A little research will find one of these knives for a hundred dollars or less. In that price range it is worth buying.