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I have over 20 years experience as a systems engineer in information technologies operations and have also made a living as a teacher and a detailer/draftsman; but I have always considered myself an artist with interests in all types of arts and crafts. Very early, however, I fell in love with antique firearms, particularly the American longrifle. I was captivated by the artistry and craftsmanship of these guns. The variety of skills required to create one appealed to me as well as its integral part in the history of our nation. Consequently, I have spent a good bit of my spare time , what little there was of it, over the last 30 some odd years learning to build the American longrifle.
I started my gun building with a CVA pistol kit when I was in the seventh grade. When I was in high school and college I built a longrifle from a blank with a Douglas swamped barrel and a Doc Haddaway lock. It was a pretty awful mismash of styles with some really bad carving. Fortunately, I have learned a lot since then, and the parts have long since been recycled.
Due to the demands of a burgeoning career in information systems, I didn't start another rifle for 15 years. Eventually, tired of working with computers day in and day out, I started working on my second rifle in 1995. It was an iron mounted, southern style rifle, made using a Green Mountain barrel, a small Siler lock that I made to look like a late English lock, and a very plain piece of black walnut. That rifle won a Judges Choice award at Dixon's Gunmakers Fair in 1999, and provided the encouragement for me to keep building. I have been studying and building seriously since 2003.
In an effort to continually improve my gun building skills, I regularly attend the Dixon's Gunmakers Fair and have attended the Armsmakers Workshop at Conner Prairie, and the N.M.L.R.A. Gunsmithing Workshop in Bowling Green, Kentucky. I also take every opportunity to study original guns, making appointments as necessary to view both public and private collections.
I have a particular fondness for iron mounted southern rifles; particularly the guns made in the region from Augusta County Virginia southwest into East Tennessee. I am currently concentrating on building and collecting rifles from Virginia.
I am currently working on a number of projects of interest to me. They are listed in the "Current Projects" section. The planned projects are in, you guessed it, the "Planned Projects" section of this website. As I am always making something new to strike my fancy, the previous items need to find a good home. These are offered for sale in the "For Sale" sections. Nothing I make is mine forever; just until I make something I like better or somebody else wants it more. If you are interested in anything I have up for sale, are planning to make, or made in the past; I would love to hear from you.
If you would like to contact me, please e-mail me at melliott@valongrifles.com.
As important as collecting and building longrifles is to me, I strive to make Christ the most important thing in my life because he died so that sinners like you and I might be forgiven our sins and gain eternal life. I have had, and continue to have, some very difficult times with my health. It is only through faith and the power of the Holy Spirit that I manage to make it through many days. LIfe isn't easy, and Christians aren't perfect. However, as a Christian, you are forgiven and striving to get better in every way each day. As a sinner needing forgiveness; just ask Christ into your life; sincerely repent of your sins; rejoice in the fact that your sins, past, present, and future are forgiven and forgotten; and let the Lord help you each day to become the person he wants you to be. It is a life long journey, but the end of the journey is eternal life. Don't wait, start your journey today! Jesus loves you and is waiting for you to ask him into your life. Once you do, you will also find that he will lift your burdens and make things possible that are far beyond your capabilities.
May God bless you every day,
Mark E. Elliott
This page was last updated on 5/15/10 .