Need Some Info

[Hoosier Gun Coat]

on a Jack Childress. Gunsmith from Bloomington. I got a call from a local auctioneer who has 4 rifles that are stamped "Jack Childress, Custom Gunsmith, Bloomington, IN". I found THIS on the internet. It appears as though Jack Childress rebarreled guns????

 

[ghitch75]

i have heard of him i think the last i knew he was out in the Unionville area till his death...him and Warren Trinkle where buddys.....bought a lot of gun off Warren.....thats all i know...

 

[Mr. Habib]

I worked with his son, Butch, at IU for many years. He was and still is a machinist and gunsmith. If Jack was as good as his son, then his stuff is first rate. He did do some rebarreling. I know that Butch had at one time a Boys antitank rifle that his dad converted to .50 BMG.

 

[Hoosier Gun Coat]

Did Jack ever build firearms from scratch? Or did he just make existing guns better. The reason I ask is because, from the way the auctioneer explained it, it appears that Jack had built the entire gun rather than taking say a Remington action and adding a custom barrel. Bottom line is the auctioneer doesn't know what to value the firearms at.

 

[IndyGunworks]

Look at the serial numbers on the reciever, might be a good indication. If its a really short, or a super low number ie 001 or something of that nature, the the action was probably scratch built. if its more of a random number than chances are its a rebarrel. for what its worth, its VERY UNCOMMON for recievers to be scratch built. lots of laws and such and no money in it. if you would like send me a few pics of the recievers and i can take a gander at them and might be able to get an idea if the action was scratch built, as he probably followed one of the poplular scratch designs of his time.

 

[IndyGunworks]

Forgot to add, being scratch built does NOT in any way increase the value unless it comes from a world recognized gunsmith like cooper or someone else who started out from scratch.

 

[Mr. Habib]

Did Jack ever build firearms from scratch? Or did he just make existing guns better. The reason I ask is because, from the way the auctioneer explained it, it appears that Jack had built the entire gun rather than taking say a Remington action and adding a custom barrel. Bottom line is the auctioneer doesn't know what to value the firearms at.

If you want to PM me with your contact info, I will forward it to his son. He will know the answer. He my even have some old records.

 

[Mr. Habib]

Email sent to Jack's son.

 

[Chilidwg]

I am a grandson of Jack Childress....Hoosier Gun Coat...I might be able to answer some of the questions or find out from Butch (his son/my dad). I was wondering if you might be able to provide me with the details of the auction? are there Photo's or descriptions of the guns? When and where is the auction? Is the auction online? Thank you for posting. It is always cool to see stuff about him online.