Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Ever had poor service with gunsmiths?

glad I came across this from a member here... "dakota blues"Assembled by GA Precision

Lessons learned: For other newbies, make sure you do your homework and push back is something doesn't sound right. I was not after a light rifle to begin with (just wanted a pleasant shooter that would steady nice). I specified that the rifle was to weigh no more than 7.5 pounds clean (it was on the order sheet, typed by George himself), it came in at closer to 8. I voiced my concern with George during the spec'ing of this rifle that I thought the #4 Rock at 24" would come in heavy. He was quick to say that the weights displayed on Rock's website were only rough estimates and to trust him. In addition, I requested a 2.5 lb. trigger pull. not a 3 lb. as it turned out. I can live with the trigger and don't feel like debating this with George after a 6 month wait. BTW, the McMillan flame did not turn out even remotely like a flame.

Having said all that, I can't wait to take it hunting next season. I might ultimately have the barrel fluted if I get tired of the weight (assuming I can have this #4 fluted). I wanted 24" vs. 22" for maybe a little more velocity, but most would probably argue 22" would be better. I realize a lighter scope and Talley Lightweights would also bring it down.

///////// I remember trying to choose a gunsmith a month ago & when speaking with ga precision,it was the most unpleasant conversation I had with the 2-3 gunsmith's I spoke with. Glad i did not hire ga precision after reading this post. Ever had any bad service with gunsmith's?

Nope

Yep. My gun stock came back with teeth marks where it had been clamped in a vise. Had the barrel hard chromed and it came back with rust on it. I was NOT a happy camper.

Hill Country Rifles built a .280 Improved for me ten years ago that was improperly headspaced and would not fix it. Then they broke the bottom metal on a customer's(that I mailed under protest) Mountain Riflery(Bolliger) rifle and it became a giant struggle to have it repaired.

Yep. Had one in Albany, Oregon 24 years ago who rebarreled a rifle and blued it. There were machining "rings" the whole length of the barrel and he never even polished them out. You could run your fingernail up and down that barrel and play a tune.
At the same time he reblued a Colt DA revolver for me and he didn't even bother to polish some light pitting out of it.
I never let him touch anything again.
Other than that one guy, I've always found the ones I've used to be real gentlemen, and very patient when explaining things to me. I've learned it's all in the details...work them out ahead of time.

I've only ever used three gunsmiths, two local and one out of state. The two local ones have handled easier jobs for me like recoil pads, crowns, and other similar work. My main guy (out of state) has done good work for me, although I once had to send a rifle back due to a crooked recoil lug. On one of my earlier projects, I forgot to specify throat length and it turned out to be a bit long. It shoots, so I'm not sending it back.

We have a smith around here thats been here for years and he does pretty fair work but he is now older than dirt and if you take any kind of serious project out to him hell tell ya right up front that it will probably take 8 months to get your weapon back,this ol fart is slower than Molasses in January..............

I went to a gunsmith/shop to buy a 700 mountain LSS rifle in 270 or 30-06 then have it rebarreled to 280 (before Rem made them). I then got yelled at and called stupid for wanting a 280 when the 30-06 and 270 were soooo much better. He was willing to do it but thought it was a waste of money. I walked away and haven't bought anything there since.

RH

I had one move to Mexico on me and never say a word to me about it. Does that count? BTW, his name is Scott Green. He is a very talented gunsmith but a real POS of a person and a drunk. I got my parts back from his soon to be exwife. The whole thing was very ugly. I almost lost everything.


Terry

There is a gunsmith in town around here that is opinionated on everything and if it aint to his liking or line of thinking he wont touch your project.
I've had friends take stuff to him and request something like "I would like you to rebarrel this rifle to a different cartridge for me" well if it isnt a cartridge he approves of he wont even touch it and will tell you right away...saying some things like "why would you want to get rid of that cartridge? it will do just as well as the one you are requesting." you answer him to your reasoning and if its not good enough to him......forget it!
He has lost alot of work from me and my friends because of his attitude, not to mention he is hard to talk to.

Man Terry! I'm sure happy that you got your stuff back.
Butch

I've only had a couple bad experiences, but many more that were good.

You can't go far wrong if you work with Ray Montgomery, Grand Junction CO, for rifle work and Ahlman's, Morristown MN, for pistol work. Ray will do whatever you ask, within reason, and if he doesn't think that its a good idea, he'll tell you what and why. If you don't agree with his assessment, he'll still do the work to his usual very high standards.

Jeff

I had a local "gunsmith" ruin the barrel on a rifle installing one of his "custom muzzlebrakes".

I wouldn't let that stupid SOB change the oil in a bicycle

Only tried once.

Had a gun I wanted reworked. It had feeding problems,and a safety lever problem. I had a McMillan stock for it to be bedded and painted and some other improvements.
I spoke on the phone with a well known gunsmith who had a good reputation. We hashed out the details on the phone and I put it all in writing on an enclosed letter. boxed it up and shipped it off.

The time line was not a surprise to me. I realize that most smiths tend to run long.

About a year later I contacted the smith and asked if he needed some of the funds for the project. He sent a note back saying it was not necessary.
several months later I noticed that some other people had sent guns to the same smith and gotten them back while I was still waiting. Final straw was when I saw on the net a custom gun come from his shop from assorted loose parts to in the customers hands in less than three months, and I still had nothing.

I contacted the smith and asked that my gun be returned in whatever condition it was in, and asked what I owed him so far.
He asked for $40 to ship the gun back. I sent it and back it came The hard case I shipped in was covered in dust and dog hair. It has been on the floor a long time.
The original letter I sent is still in the box.
The bolt and Williams floor plate I sent were never unwrapped.

So 19 months and $200 later, My rifle got a trip to Alabama.

Oh well cheap enough lesson learned. But I doubt I will ever try it again.

tacos, beans and rice

When ever I go to a different Mexican restrant I always order a beef taco, beans and rice; because if they can't fix that dish they can't fix anything.

My suggestion when using a new gunsmith is to first have him crown, bed and adjust the trigger on a Reminton 700. If he screws that up then forget about it!

Once. Jim Pig who was living in VA at the time was going to build my 6.5/285, he said he was moving to WY and would take a few months to get back to work out there. So 6 months later I tried calling and emailing, did this for another 4 months with out one response. I then had a friend who is a cop get a hold of the cops out there and after they went and talked to him twice he got back to me. He did send everything back to me plus a check for the cost of the barrel. About a year ago9 I saw his name popping up on different sites as he started a trigger business and he was back to his same stuff.

Yes. Initial poor quality work and amateurish attempts to camouflage it from a "custom" shop. I shall soon see if this is satisfactorily corrected. The word "custom" should be added to the most over used and meaningless word list.

More times than I care to remember, and this is over a period of more than 50 years.

As an example, I sent my LH M700 to a well known gunsmith to be rebarreled to .338-06. I specified that the barrel should weigh no more than the factory .30-06 barrel. When I unpacked it, I thought it had become a varminter. He had installed a #4 barrel on it. When I called him on it he was condescending and rude. I also asked him to pin the recoil lug. He said he did, but he lied. In other cases the gunsmith hasn't followed a simple work order like any craftsman should do. Recent case in point, a local guy used the wrong spacing drilling scope base holes. Read his DRO wrong.

Recently I ordered a single shot costing nearly $3000 from a well known maker. The fit and finish were crap, looked like it had been done by an amateur or junior apprentice. I returned it, but they pretty much stonewalled me, and I ended up having to go through the credit card bank to get a refund, and still lost $300 plus shipping.

From my own experience and that of friends, I have become convinced that some of the better known gunsmiths have one set of standards for "high rollers" like known competitive shooters, and another for "Joe Six Pack". A friend has a rifle rebarreled by one of the top names in the single shot niche. You can see a what is probably a chip gouge in the throat. He has another rifle in the $4000 range that was inaccurate due to crooked barrel threads. Beautiful to look at, though.

I'm fairly sure that in several cases it has been my luck to catch the gunsmith when he is going through personal or business problems. I'm just now contemplating a new project, and when I checked the guy out I found that he has been having the same sort of issues. It's uncanny.

None of this is intended to cast aspersions on the many honest, competent gunsmiths out there. May they prosper and their tribes increase.

Paul

Right next to "professional". Another word that is so vastly overused that it has become meaningless, and not just in the firearms business.

Paul

Wonder what 'smith this was? Is he mentioned on 6mmbr?