Author Topic: New Turnbull Single Action  (Read 28671 times)

Offline Old Doc

  • Top Active Citizen
  • *
  • Posts: 543
  • Liked:
  • Likes Given: 0
New Turnbull Single Action
« on: June 16, 2009, 12:38:37 PM »
Anyone have an opinion on these guns? I have a lot of respect for Turnbull but with new Colts and Turnbull-finished USFA's both cheaper than Turnbull's announced $1600 MSRP, I'm not sure what he thinks his market is.

Offline Charlie Bison

  • Top Active Citizen
  • *
  • Posts: 154
  • Liked:
  • Likes Given: 0
Re: New Turnbull Single Action
« Reply #1 on: June 17, 2009, 04:44:08 PM »
I absolutely agree with you on that. I was thinking the same thing when I saw it on his site.

Offline Old Doc

  • Top Active Citizen
  • *
  • Posts: 543
  • Liked:
  • Likes Given: 0
Re: New Turnbull Single Action
« Reply #2 on: June 17, 2009, 10:10:50 PM »
I agree that there are companies out there who have done very well for themselves by playing to the perception of the public that if it's the most expensive, it must be the best. In the world of sporting equipment, two that come to mind are Filson and Galco. Whenever I see one of their price lists, I feel I am being invited to bend over.

Advertising

  • Guest
Re: New Turnbull Single Action
« Reply #3 on: Today at 05:49:56 PM »

Offline Shadow Catcher

  • Citizen
  • *
  • Posts: 23
  • Liked:
  • Likes Given: 0
Re: New Turnbull Single Action
« Reply #3 on: June 19, 2009, 07:19:56 AM »
Anyone have an opinion on these guns? I have a lot of respect for Turnbull but with new Colts and Turnbull-finished USFA's both cheaper than Turnbull's announced $1600 MSRP, I'm not sure what he thinks his market is.
Well - I'd say his market is the same one that looks to buy his $15,000 - $20,000 rifle restorations and other products.

He's established himself as a very high if not highest quality restoration and customization shop, and apparently is
making a living doing this work, as well as continuing to build stuff that some cowboys appreciate and can afford.

If a guy can buy a $1,200 Colt .45 and send it off to his favorite smith for a little tuning, and be out the door ready to play
for $1,400 or so - then a few dollars more for one made by these folks and already set to go is not unreasonable.

Not everyone is in a race to become a WalMart or provider of Blue Light specials. 

It's not much different than race guns in the other games - some folks like using a $400 Colt 1911 clone and others use a
$2,500 full on race gun, custom built and ready to go.  If you can afford to shop in Turnbull's store you can do what you want.

I've never met a Ferrari owner who argued from a cost analysis perspective, nor from his ability to use what he bought as
justification for having it.  You buy it because it appeals and because you can!

I wish I could buy a pair and a rifle from him - and pay cash!

Shadow Catcher


Offline Shadow Catcher

  • Citizen
  • *
  • Posts: 23
  • Liked:
  • Likes Given: 0
Re: New Turnbull Single Action
« Reply #4 on: June 19, 2009, 07:28:53 AM »
I agree that there are companies out there who have done very well for themselves by playing to the perception of the public that if it's the most expensive, it must be the best. In the world of sporting equipment, two that come to mind are Filson and Galco. Whenever I see one of their price lists, I feel I am being invited to bend over.

Likewise  there are companies out there that produce the best, and charge accordingly.  I don't always shop
there - can't afford it - but I'm glad that they exist and make money - that's the way we do things in this country.

I've never bought anything from Turnbull, can't afford it - but I've got no reason to make any disparaging remarks or
imply that they're anything less than what they seem to be - folks who make and sell the most exquisite versions
of certain rifles and pistols, and like all of us - feel they are entitled to be paid what they're worth, not what someone
else feels they want to spend.

I don't have a dog in this - I don't shop there - but I'm surprised at folks feeling anything other than awe and
appreciation for folks who are doing such beautiful work.  Are there folks out there claiming that Doug doesn't
do what he advertises - that would be grounds for having an issue with them - but not because they charge full price
for doing high quality work . . . . .

I'm just a bit  . . surprised  . . . at the tone here . . . .

Shadow Catcher

Offline Deadeye Don

  • SASS # 76281
  • NCOWS Member
  • Top Active Citizen
  • ***
  • Posts: 2398
  • DeadeyeDon
  • Liked:
  • Likes Given: 1
Re: New Turnbull Single Action
« Reply #5 on: June 19, 2009, 08:15:00 AM »
So what is the difference in quality between the USFAs that Turnbull sells and the guns that USFA sells that are case colored by Turnbull?    If there is a quality difference then it might be worth the extra money.  However, if there is not then all you are doing is contributing to Doug Turnbulls retirement fund.  Shadow Catcher,  I think my above comment fairly characterizes what the other posters have stated.  I dont think anyone is disparaging Mr. Turnbulls work at all.
Great Lakes Freight and Mining Company

Offline Old Doc

  • Top Active Citizen
  • *
  • Posts: 543
  • Liked:
  • Likes Given: 0
Re: New Turnbull Single Action
« Reply #6 on: June 19, 2009, 10:21:19 AM »
Turnbull has previously used guns by USFA to make his Cowboy Classic, which sold in the $1000 range, so the implication in his ads is that these new guns are made by him from scratch and somehow worth $1600. I just wonder if he is indeed making them from scratch and if not, who is making the base gun?

Offline Shadow Catcher

  • Citizen
  • *
  • Posts: 23
  • Liked:
  • Likes Given: 0
Re: New Turnbull Single Action
« Reply #7 on: June 20, 2009, 12:31:35 AM »
So what is the difference in quality between the USFAs that Turnbull sells and the guns that USFA sells that are case colored by Turnbull?    If there is a quality difference then it might be worth the extra money.  However, if there is not then all you are doing is contributing to Doug Turnbulls retirement fund.  Shadow Catcher,  I think my above comment fairly characterizes what the other posters have stated.  I dont think anyone is disparaging Mr. Turnbulls work at all.

I have no idea what differences there might be - and would love to hear from anyone who has hands on data - or knowledge.

I started from the assumption that everyone who has heaped praise on his work might be justified, and have never heard
anyone say anything but such praise.  I also don't find anything wrong with contributing to his retirement fund, or any
other gunsmith and supporter of this game and various other games that I play and support.  That's not a bad thing at all.

Many folks who support a strong national defense support my retirement fund, and I try to earn that.  There are some
who probably think I'm overpaid - but like I remind my employer - "You're buying my years of skill and knowledge - not
my soul, and that's why you pay so much!"

What I was reacting to was that there were "sour grape" type comments at least implied (ie. overpriced stuff such
as Galco holsters, playing to a public perception . . . ) and I wondered what might justify even raising the spectre of
such a doubt - is there any reason to suspect that his quality is less than what he charges for his work? 

Perhaps I was reading more into the comments than were intended, I just reacted as if there were doubts being cast  . . . .

I personally think that guns he is producing from someone else's base firearm, finishing and doing action work on, might
sell for more than a gun that he just did the case coloring on, and were otherwise factory finished and assembled, although
I don't know that either.  I'd be curious to know how his guns stack up - and how they compare to the someday
available STI Texican too!

Heck - If he's making a prettified Uberti for that price I'd howl too - but I don't start from a position of doubt - maybe
because I'm an incurable optimist, I start from a position of - "What cool thing is this? - is it as cool as it looks? - and wait
to be proven that it's not cool . . . . .

Or maybe I just had too much coffee this morning . . .

Shadow Catcher

Offline Curley Cole

  • Top Active Citizen
  • *
  • Posts: 2129
  • Liked:
  • Likes Given: 0
Re: New Turnbull Single Action
« Reply #8 on: June 20, 2009, 01:16:48 AM »
My understanding is that Turnbull takes the gun and does it from the inside out...It runs as good as it looks.

I have a pair of GW's with the Turnbull cch, and them colors are just dynamite. 

anyways that is what I heard and what I know



curley
Scars are tatoos with better stories.
The Cowboys
Silver Queen Mine Regulators
dammit gang

Offline Deadeye Don

  • SASS # 76281
  • NCOWS Member
  • Top Active Citizen
  • ***
  • Posts: 2398
  • DeadeyeDon
  • Liked:
  • Likes Given: 1
Re: New Turnbull Single Action
« Reply #9 on: June 20, 2009, 06:55:40 AM »
Curley,   Do you have any idea whose base gun he is actually reworking?  I had assumed he was using USFAs in the white,  but that might not be correct.
Great Lakes Freight and Mining Company

Offline Stillwater

  • Top Active Citizen
  • *
  • Posts: 564
  • Liked:
  • Likes Given: 0
Re: New Turnbull Single Action
« Reply #10 on: June 20, 2009, 12:15:16 PM »

<Deleted>

What I was reacting to was that there were "sour grape" type comments at least implied (ie. overpriced stuff such
as Galco holsters, playing to a public perception . . . ) and I wondered what might justify even raising the spectre of
such a doubt - is there any reason to suspect that his quality is less than what he charges for his work? 

Perhaps I was reading more into the comments than were intended, I just reacted as if there were doubts being cast  . . . .

<Deleted>

Shadow Catcher

It's human nature, that you are reacting too.

It's just human nature to try to tear down a successful person... It's jealousy... It's also a liberal, political, failing...

I'm not jealouse, of covetous, of what anybody has, that is better than what I have. I would like to have the better products, and I do try to get them. I save my bucks until I can get what I want.

Bill

Offline Arcey

  • Underlord of Soot
  • Top Active Citizen
  • *
  • Posts: 6701
  • Liked:
  • Likes Given: 0
Re: New Turnbull Single Action
« Reply #11 on: June 20, 2009, 12:57:01 PM »
Let’s keep the conversation on the hardware, not one another.
Honorary Life Member of the Pungo Posse. Badge #1. An honor bestowed by the posse. Couldn’t be more proud or humbled.

All I did was name it ‘n get it started. The posse made it great. A debt I can never repay. Thank you, mi amigos.

Offline Curley Cole

  • Top Active Citizen
  • *
  • Posts: 2129
  • Liked:
  • Likes Given: 0
Re: New Turnbull Single Action
« Reply #12 on: June 20, 2009, 01:19:34 PM »
Don

I have read a little of what he is doing, and I would assume (which usually gets me in trouble) that he is working on a basic USFA gun probably in the white. I think that is what is done with the EMF guns, they send them to him to cch and finish bluing, and they have another artist here in CA doing the nickel who I met one time at a gunshow, he saw my gun across the room and came over and told me all about it. Anyway back to Doug, Essentially it is what Longhunter does but to the extreme. The gun is taken down and all parts are replaced if needed and finished as in a true action job.

People are always saying that ya buy a gun and send it right out for an action job. And if you look at the price lists of even the lesser refinishers a good cch and blue job is gonna cost you $200-300. So put all that together and you have the price of a Turnbull gun.
I don't have any of them and so I don't have a bone in the this thread but I do have two GW's that were CCH and Blued by him, and it is the finest finish you will ever see.

http://www.turnbullrestoration.com/store.asp?pid=20180

here is a link to Turnbull's price lists, you might wander his site and look at some of the other stuff...WOW

hope that gives some info to the situation
good shootin
curley
Scars are tatoos with better stories.
The Cowboys
Silver Queen Mine Regulators
dammit gang

Offline Old Doc

  • Top Active Citizen
  • *
  • Posts: 543
  • Liked:
  • Likes Given: 0
Re: New Turnbull Single Action
« Reply #13 on: June 20, 2009, 08:35:28 PM »
To reiterate:
1: No argument that Mr. Turnbull does excellent work however, to my knowledge he has not, so far, built any guns fron scratch. He re-works an existing gun be it a USFA, a Colt or a Winchester. When he built his Cowboy Classic, he made clear that he was starting with a USFA in the white. The fact that there is no mention of the source of these new guns costing $1600 implies that he is building them from the ground up. If that is true, what can he do to surpass the quality of current Colts or USFA's to justify the additional money. There are many folks making 1911 frames and components for the custom builders but who is making 1873 frames that could be supplying them to Turnbull. Certainly if he is getting them from the Italians, I don't care what he does to them you still have an Italian clone. My point is, how does he hope to sell a copy of the original, when you can buy the original for less money?
2. My comments about Galco and Filson are not "sour grapes" but based on comparison shopping. Why should a Filson cloth ball cap cost $30 when a Beretta ball cap costs $20? Compare side by side, as I have, a Galco leather 4 box shotshell carrier at $175 to the same item made by Triple k leather for $77. They are virtually identical. I stand by my opinion.

Offline Curley Cole

  • Top Active Citizen
  • *
  • Posts: 2129
  • Liked:
  • Likes Given: 0
Re: New Turnbull Single Action
« Reply #14 on: June 20, 2009, 11:54:05 PM »
Here is a quote from Turnbulls web page:

Turnbull Manufacturing Company is pleased to announce our newest project.  The new “Open Range” Single Action Revolver.  Building on the success of the Cowboy Classic Revolvers, Turnbull Manufacturing Co. has begun production of our own line of Single Action Revolvers. 

Each revolver is hand assembled and polished to the exacting standards our customers have come to expect.  Initial production will be limited to revolvers chambered in 45 Colt with either 4-3/4” or 5-1/2” barrels.  Additional calibers and barrel lengths can be special ordered as production supply allows. 

The standard grips on these revolvers will be one piece walnut.  Each set of grips is hand fit and shaped for a perfect fit.  Other grip materials such as fancy wood, stag and ivory are available at an additional cost.  Price for these revolvers as pictured will be $1,650, plus shipping.

http://www.turnbullrestoration.com/client_images/catalog19872/pages/files/OpenRange_Ldetail.jpg

And what ever it is it is DANG PURTY. thing of it is, some folks will pay $500-2000 for a Bianchi rig. If ya got the money and it suits yer fancy, then what the hey, go for it.

 It sure sounds like he is building his own guns...

curley
 
Scars are tatoos with better stories.
The Cowboys
Silver Queen Mine Regulators
dammit gang

Offline Hedley Lamarr

  • Top Active Citizen
  • *
  • Posts: 224
  • ~Aggravator Emeritus~
  • Liked:
  • Likes Given: 0
Re: New Turnbull Single Action
« Reply #15 on: June 21, 2009, 12:05:05 AM »
This is a pic of the revolvers in question.
Don't that look like the Colt pony on the frame?  ???

Hedley Lamarr
SASS #14478 ROII
~Aggravator Emeritus~
"Dashingly Corrupt"

Offline Curley Cole

  • Top Active Citizen
  • *
  • Posts: 2129
  • Liked:
  • Likes Given: 0
Re: New Turnbull Single Action
« Reply #16 on: June 21, 2009, 12:38:34 AM »
I believe it is the "Turnbull" stamp.

Also have been reading his web site...(would inform folks to do so) anyways, his "Cowboy Classic" is a USFA gun re done by him and has variations, including the CUSTOM Cowboy Classic. The gun pictured above is a different gun and is called The Open Range.

They all are still dang pretty guns. I like just going thru his photo gallery.

curley
Scars are tatoos with better stories.
The Cowboys
Silver Queen Mine Regulators
dammit gang

Offline Deadeye Don

  • SASS # 76281
  • NCOWS Member
  • Top Active Citizen
  • ***
  • Posts: 2398
  • DeadeyeDon
  • Liked:
  • Likes Given: 1
Re: New Turnbull Single Action
« Reply #17 on: June 21, 2009, 09:42:41 AM »
This is a pic of the revolvers in question.
Don't that look like the Colt pony on the frame?  ???



Lord,  that is one pretty gun. 
Great Lakes Freight and Mining Company

Offline Skinny Preacher 66418

  • Top Active Citizen
  • *
  • Posts: 224
  • Liked:
  • Likes Given: 0
Re: New Turnbull Single Action
« Reply #18 on: June 30, 2009, 03:28:24 PM »
I'd imagine Colt or USFA (probably USFA) is supplying him with a bag of 80% finished parts. He does the final touches, makes sure it is dead nuts correct, and does a world class finish to it. He doesn't have college kids or immigrants doing this, and that is why the price is high.
Smoke em if ya got em.

Offline Old Doc

  • Top Active Citizen
  • *
  • Posts: 543
  • Liked:
  • Likes Given: 0
Re: New Turnbull Single Action
« Reply #19 on: July 02, 2009, 10:26:12 PM »
Maybe they are seeing the light. I got an e-mail flyer from Turnbull that the gun is now "on sale" for $1495.

 

SMF spam blocked by CleanTalk

© 1995 - 2023 CAScity.com