Thank you all for your questions and comments!!! The truth is that my wife and I are working on a book about building custom rifles, gunsmithing, rifles and hunting. We really want it to be a book that is fun to read and enjoyably.
Your comments and questions are very helpful to us and Please keep them coming. I really enjoy being able to share what I know with others out there who also love custom rifles or at least have an intrest in them.
Now to your questions then back to checkering and finishing up the rifle.
In order to lay out the master lines along a curved surface I use both clear plastic templates of the angles for a 3.5 to 1 diamond with a center line running from the point and a clear scale, (ruler) marked out in inches. Either one will conform to most any curve and allow you to use them as a guide when scribing out the master lines. I will get a picture of the lines all layed out and the pattern ready when I do my next checkering job as I am finished with the double rifle and do not have any close ups of that part of the checkering.
How long it takes to build a custom rifle depends on the type of rifle and the details. In general a custom rifle will take around 160 hours or more, for double rifles at least double that. Turn around time is usually about 2 mounths from when I start and again doubles more. This time frame is longer then the actual hours due to drying time during glass bedding, finishing and just plane interuptions.
As far as how to judge the quality of a custom rifle, look at the over all rifle. The inletting should be tight, wood to metal fit should be smooth with the metal never above the wood. Some stock makers will leave some areas of the wood a bit higher then the metal, like about 1/32", this gives some room for refinishing down the road if sanding is required. This is actually a very long winded question and I have a chapter in the book on just this. I will try to post an article I wrote about this, if it does not come out it is on our web site, http://www.customguns.us/ Well I tried but do not know how to get it here. If you go to the site click on Services and FAQ then scroll down, and thank you again for all of your intrest and input.