The custom rifle business is a not an easy way to make a living. One must certainly be motivated by something more than money. If the government isn't regulating us out of business, they're confiscating our potential customers' disposable income via taxation increases. It's sad every time a good man has to move on to some other employment because the money just isn't there.

A friend of mine called me the other day to tell me about a conversation he had with an accountant and a financial advisor a couple of weeks ago. He has been a builder of first class rifles for 35 years, and they were discussing the prices of handmade rifles.

He gave them a detailed description of all the expenses associated with running his one man business and the cost of materials that go into each rifle, and the time spent on each. They were both asked to go and independently calculate the how much he should charge for each rifle, based upon the wages and benefits from the UPS driver pay scale.

They both came back with the same answer. He should be charging $35,000 for his rifles.

He asked them how many they wanted to order.

One said, "I see your point".

All the best Alex.