Mark Wheland – Riflemaker

October 2010 – vol.4, Larry Pletcher, editor

I think I first met Mark at Dixon’s a few years ago and was impressed with his work. Since then I have admired his rifles at the CLA shows in Lexington. Mark’s gun making started as a hobby, but now is a full time occupation. He won a “Best of Show” at Dixons in 2005.

I remember a conversation with Mark a few years ago at CLA when I mentioned that I had a nice stock and was worried that I would not stop carving before I exposed my inabilities. His reply was, ” I remember getting over that.”

In a field with so many aging builders, it is great to see the prominence of a younger generation of gun makers. I look forward to seeing Mark’s work for many years. In fact I will get to see his work this week at his carving class at Conner Prairie.  These photos came from that class:

Mark’s web site and contact information is found below:

http://www.markwhelandrifles.com/index.html