ask people around the hagerstown area that beau. i'd heard of him
for years, people always spoke well of him.
Don't doubt it a bit. But that's small and localized. The east coast is a big place and just a part of it is small and localized as well. That's just a fact. I'm not saying anything bad about Amick and certainly do not wish to discredit or disrespect him in anyway. I'm just saying most people hadn't heard of him until the PS article came out. That's why the rifle that was on here either never sold or sold for significantly less than was asked even though it was supposed to be worth double that.
In 1992, I think it was, I went to a match in Lexington, KY. First BR match I ever went to. I was carrying, although I didn't shoot, a nice custom 10/22. I asked somebody there who built the nice rigs that were on the benches. They pointed at this big tall guy and said "ask him, he's the best .22 gunsmith in country" (now you can argue that all you want but those were the exact words). I found out his name, which was Bill Calfee, kinda assessed him and pretty much decided 1)he didn't look like he could build a doghouse to me, 2) I had never heard of him and I pretty much read every gun magazine known to man. I pretty much dismissed it as BS. Turns out the guy had a heavy following in Indiana and parts of Kentucky and especially in the silhouette area, which I had also shot. Still, I hadn't heard of him. Anyway,the point is his following was heavy in the area but small in reality; just localized to appear heavy (people tend to see things from their own perspective). Now, did he do a good job marketing himself? Yes he did, but he never shied from a sanctioned match and he pretty much traveled the country shooting and winning (for all you guys that say he can't or doesn't shoot); he built guns for others for sanctioned matches and he wanted his guns shot in the most competitive arena possible. So, yeah he marketed himself but apparently he had something to market because I have the feeling the shamwow won't be around twenty years from now. And his following or notoriety,as it may be, is not small and localized.
Truth is, and I realized this years ago, the best gunsmith is the one that is good enough to do the job, close enough for you to get to to you, and willing to do the work. There are several good gunsmiths out there and most of their names are well known but it's only for two reasons and it takes both these days. 1) The internet, and 2)They either shot, shoot or have people using their rifles in sanctioned matches. Otherwise, their following is small and localized. Think about it. Would you have yet to here about Roger Brock or Richard Gorham if there was not internet and they only made guns for themselves that they shot locally. I doubt it, yet they've prove themselves to be among the elite rimfire gunsmiths.
I understand that you guys had strong feelings for Chet Amick. That's great. Unfortunately, probably more so for us than him, he never did enter the real competitive arena. He chose to do what he did in a small local area and he built a name but there was no real proof of his work (and no I'm not questioning what he did). If everything you guys have said about him and what was written about him in PS is true, (and I'm not saying it's not) and people had known it, the rifle would have brought $10,000. As it is, it didn't. Now he may later become famous, but it will be a long time. I had never heard of a Womack action, and I've only seen one, but I regularly get beat by it. I've researched that and found this guy was quite the gunsmith a long time ago. Of course, there again, his guns were built for the
competitive arena and not just for him or not just to shoot locally.
With that, I've said all I have to say about Chet Amick. He deserves respect.
