November 2015 Newsletter

Inside Information
Page 2-3 World According to Me
Page 4-5 DeVault Perazzi Gun Raffle
Page 6-7 DeVault Rifle & Pistol Raffle
Page 8-11 Kirby Schupp
Page 12 DeVault Winners Box
Page 13 Cindy’s Corner
Page 14 Closing Page
November 1, 2015
Well another month has come and gone. The days are getting very short now and the leaves
are all but off the trees in my area. The mornings are getting colder and the days are brisk.
The hurricane was fun with all the rain and wind galore. Turkey day will be coming up soon
and time to set around the table and visit with dear friends and family. I am very lucky to still
have both my parents with me. My dad is 86 and my Mom will be 86 in December. My mom is
amazing, she keeps herself busy going to the Y several times a week to work out and she still
does a fair amount of baking. She bakes for the church and brings goodies in to Pete’s Restaurant on Fridays for the owner and staff to enjoy. A couple Fridays ago Pete sent me a text
with a photo of a hugh spread of Chocolate Chip cookies, Lemon Bars and thick gooey
chocolate Brownies. Pete teases me that mom likes him better than me and that he is the favorite son. He is not related but still calls her mom. Mom always liked to bake and enjoys doing this for other people just to see them smile. All the treats were gone in about an hour and
they did not save me one crumb. Oh well I hope they enjoyed the treats.
T h e W o r l d A c c o r d i n g t o Me ~ “ D e n n i s D e Va u l t ”
Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone!!!
I want to write a bit this month about custom gunstocks and what they mean to shooting. First
let me say that a custom stock is not a magic wand. Number two it is not cheap but in the long run it
is the smallest investment that you can make in this sport.
When you look at shells, targets, cost of the gun and travel the stock is the least expensive of
all but returns the biggest benefit.
The goal of a custom stock is to allow the person to shoot in comfort, reduced pain in the
wrist, shoulder & face area and obtain the best view of the target around the barrel. This takes time
to do and it is very important to achieve all of the requirements listed above. Someone called me this
month and asked why I install an adjustable comb on all of our custom fitted stocks. Weight gain or
weight loss is the reason for the adjustability. Going from personal experience during the summer
months when the humidity is high I tend to hold water and that causes my face to swell just a bit.
When that happens I am able to adjust the comb ever so slightly to line me back up on the barrel
properly. No need to cram my face into the stock, just make the adjustment and move on. Conversely the winter weather dries me out and my face becomes thinner and often times the comb has
to be moved into my face to maintain proper alignment.
Another item that I find interesting is the way custom stocks are marketed and how they are
purchased. Over the last two years I have had dozens of shooters come into our facility here in Canton and at the Cardinal Center. Most of those visits are spent trying to fit the person to the so called
custom stock they purchased in the spur of the moment. As shooters everyone wants and expects
instant gratification and that is fine if the purchase you make is made to fit you properly. Two or three
shots at a patterning board or a couple of targets in the back yard are not the proper approach.
In all the years of doing this work the only way I found to be fool proof is to make a pattern
stock for a shooter that fits him or her, shoot that pattern stock at the club for a minimum of 100 targets. Have the fitter monitor your target breaks, check your hand position for consistency and see if
the stock is comfortable to shoot. The recoil should not be excessive, hit the face or damage the
shoulder. If all this is done at the fitting and you still want a bit more time then the pattern stock
should be taken home and shot until you are satisfied that the fit is correct. The toughest area for me
to fit properly is the grip and hand position. To me the grip is the most important area of the stock
and critical to shooting in comfort and consistent target breaking. It is the steering wheel that drives
the car.
I am not saying that the style of stock that we build at our company is for everybody, but it has
been a proven product for over 25 years. I have been asked why I do not take the shop on the road
and the simple answer is economics. The cost of putting a rig on the road and going to shoots just
does not add up financially. Also, trying to fit a shooter at a major event ends up like many do, now it
turns into a rush job to obtain that instant gratification and not enough time or available practice
traps to test the work out that you have done. Big clubs frown on someone tying up a field for demo
purposes because it shuts the field down for other shooters, this is unfair to the club, other shooters
and a huge disadvantage to the person trying to fit the stock to the customer. The kiss of death is a
person attempting to shoot a pattern stock for the first time during a major event. The shooters will
expect an unrealistic result during the event and that is not the time or place to demo a new fit stock.
Taking a pattern stock home for awhile to shoot is not a bad idea. It allows you to get in a
more relaxed atmosphere and take time to evaluate what has been done. Remember it is always
easier to remove or add bondo putty to a stock before the real wood is carved. It is also less expensive than buying a stock and realizing it is wrong and having to do it all over again.
Another big advantage to shooting a pattern stock fit to you for a short time is the ability to
play with pitch angles at the back of the stock. Getting the proper pitch is very important for recoil to
the face. Reducing the recoil to the face is all part of shooting in comfort. Many times how a person
mounts the gun in the shop is different then when they are actually shooting targets. If a custom
stock is something that is in your future give us a call and see about having your dream fit done for
your gun. Experience the DeVault Engineered Shooting Solution first hand.
A little update on the new gun. We are now in production on the over under as well as the
combo gun. We have been shooting and fitting the gun to people all month long. The gun has many
new features that will be appreciated by shooters. This is a gun that has been designed by shooters
for the sole purpose of shooting a tournament clay target. It can be set up for Sporting Clays, Trap,
Skeet & Bunker. All guns will come with the ability to convert the pull trigger into a release trigger by
changing one part . All guns will come standard with this feature from the start.
In the December newsletter we should have photos of the gun. I am very excited about
this new gun and I hope the shooting public is ready for a new concept as well. 100% American
made, all domestic tool steel material, home grown labor and produced with the highest quality available. No castings on any parts, the production models are machined from billet stock only. Parts are
heat treated to provide maximum longevity for many years of trouble free shooting. Our gun will not
require an annual maintenance program. Hammer springs are produced in a coil spring fashion of
the best material we can acquire. High cycle life is what we are trying to achieve and I think we have
accomplished this task. Adjustable ribs are included in both the un-single and over under barrels.
We also intend to manufacturer a sub gauge set for Sporting Clays and Skeet. Same rib and set up
with balance weight equal to your 12 gauge barrel set. If there was ever a shotgun that will shoot reliably this is the one. Thank you for reading this months newsletter and God Bless everyone, Happy
Thanksgiving until we meet again next month.
Rodeo Man Out
Dennis R. DeVault
DeVault Perazzi Gun Raffle
To benefit UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital Injury Prevention Center
The raffle prizes consist of the following:
1. First prize drawn, Perazzi MX-2000-S Sporting over under. New in the box a right or left
hand model (the winner's choice of one gun.)
2. Second prize drawn, (5 flats of Rio Elite Ammunition.)
3. Third prize drawn, One set of Brunson Leather items. In Burgundy Gator. This set consist
of (2) Clip- on low profile shell box holders, (1) clip on empty shell bag holder and (1) 4-box
shell holder
Employees and agents of DeVault Industries will not be eligible to purchase tickets.
There will be a limit of (275) $ 50.00 tickets offered. All tickets can be purchased at our on-line store and the stub will be
sent to you via e-mail.
You are permitted to purchase as many tickets as you like.
The drawing will be held as soon as all the tickets have been sold.
You do not have to be present to win. If the gun is won from an out of State person we will ship the item to an FFL license dealer in your state for you to pick-up.
If the shells are won by a person out of the state of Ohio we will arrange for them to be purchased and picked up from
your closest dealer.
Both guns have 32" fixed choke barrels with the low rib configuration. Oil finished wood in satin.
Please help us to support a great charity program. Purchase Perazzi Raffle Tickets.
www.devaultind.com/DeVault%20Pictures/Newsletters/2015/Raffle_newsletter.pdf
DeVault Rifle & Pistol Gun Raffle
To benefit UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital Injury Prevention Center
The raffle prizes consist of the following:
1. First prize drawn, Custom Stocked Savage .243 caliber Rifle, rifle was custom created,
barrel, bolt and trigger housing done in Hot Salt bath Nitride finish. No rusting, Wood is
Burl Maple. Supplied with Hard Case
2. Second prize drawn Colt Commander 4” Bbl. 1911 ~ Slide, barrel done in Hot Salt Bath Nitride, all accent parts done in TiN nitride gold finish, supplied with hard case & 4 magazines
Employees and agents of DeVault Industries will not be eligible to purchase tickets.
There will be a limit of (100) $ 50.00 tickets offered. All tickets can be purchased at our on-line store and the stub will be
sent to you via e-mail.
You are permitted to purchase as many tickets as you like.
The drawing will be held as soon as all the tickets have been sold.
You do not have to be present to win. If the gun is won from an out of State person we will ship the item to an FFL license dealer in your state for you to pick-up.
Please help us to support a great charity program. Purchase Rifle and Pistol raffle Tickets.
www.devaultind.com/DeVault%20Pictures/Newsletters/2015/Raffle_newsletter.pdf
DeVault Industries LLC
Rifle & Pistol Raffle for 2015
Date Purchased: 08/12/2015
Ticket Holder’s name:_____________________________________________________
Address: _______________________________________________________________
Phone # __________________ E-mail: _______________________________________
Ticket # 001
Price per Ticket $ 50.00 Winner Need not be present
to win
The Shotgun Shop, P.O. Box 212, Arnold MO 63010 (636)-282-4379
Kirby’s November 2015 article
http://theshotgunshop.net
11.5 years published in the Adventure Sports Outdoors Magazine
Gun Shopper Misadventures or How to Avoid Getting Burned
Searching for the (almost) perfect gun is sometimes a seemingly never-ending task, or adventure,
or quest – depending on the personal viewpoint. Sometimes the looking is for looking’s sake, but the
end result will eventually be a new (to you) item in your mitts. Browsing the local establishments will
soon be seen to have overall limited choices present, and sometimes seems a bit too picked over
and pricey. However, the local stuff has one particular advantage: the potential buyer can handle,
examine, and verify certain details of fact that may not be evident in pictures and limited descriptions
common in advertisements online. The buyer is somewhat at the mercy of the seller (and company)
for an honest and comprehensive description.
Sellers have been known to note that the pictures are part of the description, but the clarity, lighting, and angles all play a part in getting a complete view – or if one side is not seen – can you bet
where some crack in the wood was repaired? Lighting and flash on shiny surfaces may also be in
play for concealment of defects from the view of buyers, so seeing a surface with heavy glare in the
only view present for that area might be one spot that would need questions directed to the seller to
either provide additional views or relate what was present during further exam.
One detail for long guns that may be of importance is the length of the stock or any changes from
factory dimensions. If a recoil pad is in place, rather than a butt plate, there may also have been
some wood cut to shorten for the elimination of the length addition from pad thickness, or at the
same time, some alteration in total length was accomplished. Either way, in hand exam can easily
detect that something is obviously altered to short or long, but in pictures, not always so. (By the
way, a stock can also be shortened and have a plate refit, so plate presence is no indicator of originality) The buyer is being made responsible to ask about alterations (and probably with specific areas each needing their own query) that any responsible seller would have had to notice during their
own gun buying session or when handling to note what needed to be placed in the ad description.
Having few relevant details in any description is due to lack of concern for the purchaser’s benefit,
and all for the rushing toward the next ad on the side of the seller. Notice that any glowingly positive
details are never missed, but a downgrade somehow slips through the cracks. So, if the seller is too
busy to do a proper job of describing each individual item, is it right to claim that they can’t always
get the negative details listed because they process a large number of guns? Does that relieve them
of due diligence any more than a doctor rushing an operation should be given a pass for having too
many patients waiting to do a proper job on your relative? Sellers may allow the option of return of
something not as described, but there is the time spent on the buyer end to unpack, inspect and realize and protest the error, and re-pack, that never will be recovered due to slipshod seller efforts, so
even the refund of postage fees fails to make the buyer whole from their personal loss. Sellers that
are pragmatic will realize that paying for a return (especially postage both ways) will have costs that
cannot be expected to be recovered if and when a repeat sale is made of the item, and the buyer
that got skunked for the time lost is less certain to be a repeat customer after such treatment. Are
they bending even a bit to keep a buyer from being disappointed, or is there no regard for the slap to
the buyer’s attitude from slipshod treatment?
Here is a comparison of stock length and contour using a trio of examples. The first has a shortened stock pull length even with the pad attached (trace line at the red arrow - final view), second is
a typical length with the original factory butt plate (green arrow), and third is a stock with the pad
added to the end of the original wood (blue arrow). The dotted line is of the contour of the last example to provide evidence of the differences around the periphery – such as the longer grip section and
more drop of the comb line. That may have been a shotgun stock or early variant with no thought of
telescope sight use being considered at the time of production.
One such example of neglect or omission of detail concerned a rifle that had several pictures and
minimal description, and the one side of the forend failing to appear (coincidentally?!?) was the
lower face that had suffered a full length split repair that is adjacent to the blue bracket. This downgrade would have been about a $50 reduction in the selling price, but the seller, rather than making
an adjustment for the buyer in good faith, chose to take a hard line and refused any recourse to the
buyer except a return that would cost both – even though the buyer had no hand in creating the
Another chance to neglect picturing the underside of a forend left the buyer being responsible for
noting the line of the wood (differing where the green arrow indicates good, and red as the chipped
out edge) and was all the evidence the seller provided and claimed was sufficient to make them be
free of blame for failing to note any such defect. No mention of wood damage except a slight difference in edge contour visible in a picture shows a seller unconcerned with the buyer being left holding the loss, when one picture of the underside or any mention of edge loss should be the minimum
provided by any seller attempting to be fair. Another loss on this item was the lack of a magazine,
and no mention in the description of the magazine not being included (but was pictured as minus the
magazine) was sufficient reason to place a call to have the seller’s employee verify whether there
was a magazine included or not, and said employee said a magazine was included. Arriving without
a magazine, a subsequent call to enquire found the buyer uncertain of the specific name of the employee that would have had to remember making such a statement. Normal business practice would
be to mention any normal item required for function to be mentioned if absent (as almost all other
sellers seemed to mention the presence, as well as absence, showing some fair diligence to any potential buyer), since any add-on that might boost value never seems to be there without some mention of a value-added bit, like a telescopic sight or fancy sling strap. Here is a comparison underside
view of the previous forend pair for the readers to note whether an obvious condition existed for the
seller to embrace, rather than to brush off as unworthy of mention; the blue bracketed area being
typical, the red bracketed area shows both sides to be chipped away.
Some might conclude that being burned is a possibility - and it is, but attention to areas of detail such as what has been recounted here will place the potential buyer in an improved position when
making the great online search. One point to take to the bank is to have any details discussed about
defects being absent and any normal parts being altered, missing, or substituted to be confirmed in
an email directly from the seller to have as confirmation in writing. Sellers confronted by the information previously supplied may be less likely to conveniently forget what can benefit them and cost
you.
See you next month
Kirby Schupp
The DeVault Winners Box
This is the area that I display everyone that has one of
our products. We post their scores and personal accomplishments whenever we receive reports. If you
have taken lessons, got a custom stock or own one of
our fine shotguns, then let me know how you are doing
so we can post the results in the Winners box. I look
forward to hearing from all of you.
Jo Maasberg ~ DeVault Custom wood ~ Missouri Fall Handicap ~ Event # 5 Lady 2 Doubles Champion 87 x 100 ~ Event # 8 Lady 2 Doubles Champion 83 x 100 Event # 10 ~ Lady 2 HDCP 2nd
place 91 x 100 ~ Event #12 Lady 2 Singles Runner-up 89 x 100 ~ HOA Campion Lady 2 1033 x
1100
Bob Maasberg ~ Krieghoff K-80 Custom stock by DeVault ~ Missouri Fall Handicap ~ Event # 7 Vet
HDCP Champion 96 x 100 ~ Event # 8 Vet Doubles Champion 95 x 100 ~ Event # 12 2nd place 99
x 100 ~ Event # 15 Singles Vet 3rd 197 x 200
Bill McGuire ~ Blaser Luxus Sporting ~ Custom Stock & Rib by DeVault ~ In the 5 Regional Sporting Clays Championship events for 2015 Bill Won 4 of the 5 events. Congratulations to you Bill I
hope for a better 2016.
Cindy’s Corner
for 2015
Here I am again, hi everyone, Happy Thanksgiving !!
Just don’t know where these days are going and why they are just flying by but I just feel right now
that my life is in a whirlwind. The holidays are coming up and I still have those packs of seeds that I
wanted to plant for my little herb garden. Well I suppose I will just have to put them away for next
spring. The problem is I will probably forget all about them and where I stashed them by then. We
are very busy at the shop, our O/U gun is in production Yay, Yippee and Hurray. It is beautiful I am
very proud of Dennis and what he has accomplished.
Has anybody started his or her Christmas shopping yet? I have and have a lot of it done already.
Who doesn’t love casseroles? Right? This is yummy with baked chicken or a good side dish for that
turkey.
Spinach Stuffing Casserole
1 cup melted butter
1-1/2 cups chicken broth
6 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. thyme
2 tblsp garlic salt
Grated black pepper
2 cups grated Cheddar cheese
1 large onion, chopped
2 tblsp butter
1 cup chopped pecans
2 pkgs frozen chopped spinach, cooked and drained
4 cups bread crumbs
2 cups Pepperidge Farm Herb Stuffing Mix
Mix together melted butter, broth, eggs, thyme, garlic salt, pepper, and cheese. Sauté onion in the 2
tblsp butter. Add onion and pecans to broth mixture, spinach, bread crumbs, and stuffing mix. Pour
into 11x14 inch casserole and bake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes or until set. Serve hot or cold.
Can be cut into squares and freezes well.
Wishing Everybody a very Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving.
Cindy
The last load of hay coming into the barn Hopefully it will
last until the spring.
DeVault Industries LLC
3500 12th Street NW
Canton, Ohio 44708
Voice 330-456-6070
Cell 330-936-5102
e-mail: [email protected]
on the web: http://www.devaultind.com