That is one handsome Ballard, Watchwind!  WHO did the woodwork and what caliber is it?
Bruce

Is it a Cody Ballard? Looks to be done very nicely, and I bet it's a great shooter! I never really looked at the Cody Ballards much until I bought a Schoyen style Cody Ballard in .22LR not long ago.

I don't buy the expensive ammo, as I'm afraid it might shoot so well I'd never go back! I have about 4000 rds. left in a case of PMC target I bought in the 90's, and never used when Is topped shooting adult smallbore. 
I've tried the PMC, plus CCI standard velocity, and some Russian Jr. I used to shoot bullseye with. My Schoyen has a Badger barrel and a match chamber. It seems to shoot everything very well, but the PMC is slightly better. I'm getting groups under 1.5" at 100 yds. with my 12x Fecker scope on it. (when the wind cooperates!) With the MVA tang sight, and Baldwin globe they open up quite a bit. My eyes aren't what I'd like them to be.
Haven't fired it much offhand, as it's got a very heavy 30" full round barrel, and I can't hold it long offhand.
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I hesitated to purchase my Cody Ballard, as I wasn't interested in another .22 schuetzen rifle, and have no new schuetzen replicas. But I had this one in my safe for over a month, while I was selling off my friend's estate and couldn't keep my hands off it. Eventually it was the last one left to sell, and I just wasn't able to part with it. Partially because it was my good friend's favorite, but mostly because they are such a finely made rifle.
I almost hesitate to say they're better than my favorite Marlin Ballard, but they really are. The craftsmanship of the men involved in the Ballard rifles built in Cody is as good as it gets. So many talented people all involved in producing a copy that is better than the original it emulates.

I don't think any Marlin Ballard, or other Marlin repeating rifle was ever done in a "custom shop". I'd bet the same craftsmen who built standard models, also assembled the special order guns. When John Marlin agreed to take on and build the Ballard rifles, he received all of Brown Manufacturing's equipment, and parts. He also hired on a great number of employees that worked at Brown to continue assembling Ballards under his oversight. 
There were things like engraving that were sent outside the factory to "factory engravers" to embellish. These engravers were not necessarily Marlin hourly employees, but piece meal contract employees who got paid per job. 
Considering the lack of metallurgy technology in the late 1800's, I'm pleasantly surprised by the quality that all the major manufacturers put out! The amount of hand work, and seat of the pants engineering was amazing. Especially considering the equipment, and lighting levels most factories had in that era. I wish I could find the CD I have hidden from myself here somewhere! It is an old silent movie made in the Marlin factory just after WWI, and shows the entire process of building Marlin rifles at different stages. One thing that really jumps out is the amount of hand work, and the very poor lighting the workers did their jobs under!

watchthewind wrote on Jun 5^th, 2016 at 6:20pm:

Are you sleeping with her?     A friend's wife told me he was sleeping with his new Sharps several years back 

Schuetzenmiester wrote on Jun 7^th, 2016 at 2:05am:


My wife has gotten used to it after nearly 4 decades! Never slept with a new old gun, but rarely let them sit long in the first month of finding one! Been known to watch TV with one in my lap, but my wife makes me watch in another room as she dislikes being bumped by a barrel.