[Jeff Higgins]

Funny, everybody I've ever met has had trouble with John Schofstall, myself included. He got my first rifle to me in less than half the quoted time, so I was impressed. He more than doubled the time on the second; it took almost five years to get it and several lame excuses from him. I'll vouch for the rifles, not the man building them. I understand C. Sharps is for sale, and that delivery is down to a couple of months now. I've heard of trouble at Axtel, but I never heard the quality had slipped. Oh well, it is kind of a tiny niche market, so that does leave us at the mercy of the few that venture into the business end of it. Good luck on your quest for the Gibbs and the '77. Both are beautiful rifles. Now that we have the long range cartridge game figured out once again, it would be fun to go after long range muzzle loading with something like a Gibbs, Rigby, Parker-Hale or whatever. I understand the relatively cheap Pedersoli Whitworths can shoot very well, but I'm not aware of anyone, other than the custom 'smiths, making any here. I've never heard of Brown; interesting that he is very close to where I live.