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Practical art: Las Vegas resident has been engraving guns for over 40 years

Leaning over, his eyes protected by goggles, Charles “Chuck” E. McManis’ hands move smoothly and in sync, a chisel in one hand and a gun in the other.

He guides the humming chisel across the gun’s metal surface. The buzzing of the electric-powered sculpting tool drowns out any background noise. When the buzzing stops, he straightens.

What’s left is a design that is his own, a pattern of swirls and lines. After 42 years of learning and practicing the art of gun engraving, the white-haired man has perfected his practical approach.

The easty valley resident doesn’t know how many guns he’s branded with his designs, but he knows that he only has two more to go.

The 83-year-old began engraving guns when he was 41, an art form he stumbled upon by accident. He declined to tell how many guns he had in his possession.

“I can’t tell you because somebody might hear me,” he said, giving Pat, his wife, a glance.

“You know what Baptist heaven is? Baptist heaven is a place where Baptists actually drink alcohol in front of each other. McManis heaven is when Pat knows how many guns Chuck really has,” he said with a laugh.

Pat eyed himand estimated that he’s engraved at least 250. She said there were times when he would lock himself up in his workroom.

“When he’s in the zone, I don’t see him for hours and hours,” she said. “He can just go on and on and on.”

McManis’ workbench is covered in scattered tools and boxes. A large microscope — made especially for engravers — looms over the tiny tools. He said it helps when he has to make smaller designs.

But whether an engraving is good is relative to whomever the gun is made for, he said.

“It’s art,” he said simply. “You like it? It’s good. You don’t like it? It’s bad.”

His path to becoming a gun engraver came after he met George Sherwood, a popular gun engraver, who convinced him to give it a try.

“I started out making practice plates, and I would cut ’em, send ’em to George, and he would send them back saying, ‘This is terrible; this is what you should’ve done,’ ” McManis recalled. “He’d put the way to do them on the back.”

Eventually, he graduated from practice plates, to knives, to guns. The first one he ever engraved was a .32 Colt 1903, which quickly became his favorite.

McManis never aspired to be an artistic engraver. He said he wanted to create practical art that people could afford but still appreciate.

When he describes his process, he moves his hands in an arc. His right hand grasps an imaginary hammer chisel, while the other holds an invisible gun. His hands are steady as he describes how to cut grooves into the barrel to weave in 24-karat gold.

If done right, he said, anyone who wanted that gold would have to dig it out.

There have been times when he wakes up and can’t work up the energy to engrave. When those days happen, he refuses to try.

“I don’t engrave if I’m not in the mood,” he said. “Even when I know I need to get this done, if I wake up and say, ‘Not today,’ I don’t do it.”

His friend and customer, Fred Kingman, knows this well.

“You need to be willing to let him do it at his own pace,” the 73-year-old said.

Kingman’s had at least six guns engraved by McManis, and he’s waited over a year for one more. But he’s patient because he knows McManis needs to feel inspired to work.

“If you were to look at his pieces, they’re very distinctive. There’s a distinctive ‘McManis’ look to them,” he said.

Kingman said McManis’ own hands are getting in the way of him officially retiring.

“I think he should be better known, but at the same, being a good friend, I know he’s trying to retire, and his talent’s getting in his way,” Kingman said.

When McManis sits on his leather stool, he said everything fades away. He concentrates on the patterns and swirls he’s created over the years. He doesn’t let his mind wander — that would lead to a bad line, or worse, a chip in his tool.

But after more than 40 years, the job took a toll on his health. The back of his neck aches from spending hundreds of hours hunched over, and his hands become sore after many hours chiseling away.

A year ago, he had to stop because he developed cataracts in his eyes. He had surgery six months ago, and now he can see again.

But he’s the type of person who can hardly say no to a customer or friend, his wife insists. There have been times when friends of his have pushed their guns onto him, asking him to mark them with his tools.

That’s why she said he couldn’t keep it up. If he wanted to finish off his other hobbies — he does wood work, metal work, he collects trains and makes model boats from scratch — he had to put aside the engraving.

“He’s just one of those people; he’s got to keep his hands busy,” she said.

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