Thoughts from the SHOT show:
Les Baer are very nice to deal with, and seem like the best guys for overall experience on a custom 1911 -- also, the most willing to guarentee accuracy -- felt pretty good in my hands -- didn't fit quite as nice as a Kimber
Detonics (1911) are great guys, and they're guns feel WONDERFUL -- and they have a very nice mirror polish stainless -- not my thing, but I think that a really nice blued finish could be applied over it.
Wild West guns are decent guys, once you talk to them a bit in person -- they're really more custom gunsmiths than a manufacturing company -- I already have one of their triggers, and an over-sized loop on my Marlin -- I picked up an aluminum follower, and a beefed up ejector at the show - the ejector is about twice the size of Marlins, one piece, and of better metal.
Christensen arms are also great guys who build very nice guns.
Merkel double rifles feel like firewood -- I really think this has to be a custom made item -- some Limey gunsmith was complaining about Searcys, but every Limey gunsmith hates everything that isn't an English Double -- understandable, but not all of us want our guns to start at 25K.
Beretta builds BEAUTIFUL double rifles -- didn't even ask the price, didn't really need to, far beyond my means.
There is incredible wood available from Turkey, and the Marlin, if she does well in Africa, is getting a custom stock -- I'm going to try to get American Walnut, or maybe some type of African wood.
Dakota was impolite, at least to me -- didn't see why I was worth their time -- don't know why, since their bolt actions aren't that expensive, but I strongly suggest anyone deal w. Christensen instead -- it's also a considerably shorter wait for a Christensen gun.
Night Hawk and Yost-Bonitz are OK -- neither did much for me, nor did they seem really pleasant -- Les Baer focused more on how accurate/nice their guns were, as did Detonics -- Night Hawk was pushing how much money the shop could make out of them -- didn't like that attitude -- Wild West tries to push how much money a smith can make on installing their parts -- but it's really "Our parts are great, we only let the dealers make 10% on the cost of the part, but your customers will all want them installed, because they're so nice -- esp. the triggers, I'm really ecstatic about my trigger -- the loop is only needed because the bolt locks up tighter, and it has some more room in it -- good for my Russian Bear trip at a later date. The ejector and follower just seemed like decent ideas, and they don't cost much.
Yost Bonitz, in all honesty, I barely get to the counter, didn't really seem worth it.
Leica Ultravids are the finest optics I've ever seen.
Pentax has a new Lightsaver scope, made in the US, good optics, great warranty, and, relatively inexpensive.
Everyone else, assuming you're talking about a wholesale 500+ is close to the same -- the guys at a thousand are a little better, and Zeiss is a little better at ~1200, but Leica were the only guys with an impressive difference above everyone else, including Zeiss.
