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

I don't know, but if Redneck doesn't find fault in someone building a disfunctional rifle, and chalks it up to human error, then I cannot say he is marketing himself very well either.

Your words, not mine - don't put words in my posts...

Yeah, I wonder if DC got the scars removed..

Yeah, I wonder if DC got the scars removed..

Yes..

I've been a full-time smith for nearly 13 years - ten of which have been more dedicated to specializing in Winch M70 builds.. My first big-game rifle was (well, is..) a M70 in .264WM.. I've built a couple .264WMs and other calibers/chamberings from .204R to .416R..

From the ensuing diatribe from DC, I just should have kept my mouth shut.. But M. Coleman has been building rifles a long time and has a steady clientele. Yet, one admission of a failure caused DC to go off on a rant that indicated by his posts that he cannot tolerate a single mistake - ever... If he's looking for pure perfection in everything in life he's going to be miserably disappointed..

If you wish to discuss a build never hesitate to send me a pm.. I've done work for probably close to a hundred members of the 'fire..

and he'll do work with more of them, me included when I get my funds sorted out....

The thing that scares me the most about gunsmiths is that some of them disappear with the guns in their shop. Twice, I've had guns worked on by a smith that disappeared. I was very lucky, the work was done well and I picked up my guns just before they disappeared. The police tried to find them without success. I know a few guys that never did get their guns back.

I think Mr. Coleman's candid response is to be commended. I have never had him build something but his response - together with an obvious large number of very happy clients - would make me very comfortable to build.

My profession is one with the lawyers circling waiting for a mistake, so I might be a little sensitive to the imperfect nature of all us - a mistake is always lurking around the corner. It is to bad that our society wants to find someone to blame for everything - it makes is hard to say "I goofed". This typically brings in the vultures.

By the way - Redneck is a great guy and a great smith.

Thanks for your reply pm sent.

and he'll do work with more of them, me included when I get my funds sorted out....

+1

Lee's got my bottom metal, the stock is on order, and as soon as I see a touch more daylight he'll have my action, some money, and a directive to order the barrel for my .264WM build. Started this a few weeks ago and put it on hold for fear of work disappearing for a while. Think maybe, just maybe, we could be seeing a slight upswing. Hope that doesn't jinx it.

Bottom line, Redneck, Mickey, Jim Kobe, Eddie F... they could all do work for me in the future. I hope I have opportunity to work with them all.

David

I expect perfection in a custom rifle. If it doesn't function, it isn't a mistake, it is a failure. Might as well use it to hold up tomatoes.

So does everybody else when they order a custom rifle.

The difference is that sometimes it doesn't work out that way and when it doesn't you have a right to be angry. Nobody is saying anything different.

But mistakes are made by everybody in every line of work.
Mickey manned up and admitted he screwed up this one rather than lawyering up or making excuses.
That honesty and integrity counts for something in most peoples book.
Looking at the entire body of Mr. Colemans work we find that his track record is almost universally satisfactory.
Folks here have seen both the mistake and the admission of guilt, and most have concluded that Mr. Coleman is an accomplished gunsmith as well as a man of great integrity.

I can't disagree with that, but perfection isn't something one can just assume. If I read the story right, it sounds to me like the mistake made was sending the rifle out without test firing first.

Exact same mistake the customer made, I might add.

So, sending an untested rifle to a customer, or taking an untested rifle into the field?

Hard to say which one shows the greatest lapse in judgement.

Sometimes the simplest things can cause the greatest cluster when not double checked.

TC

Hats off to Mickey....tons of respect for admitting fault.

ANY time you are talking high performance stuff mistakes can and WILL happen....it's those that can admit it and fix it that seperate the men from the boys.

And above all else....if its got tires, wires, boobs, or shoots....sooner or later there's gonna be some trouble.

A bolt gun is high performance?

There are only 2 kind of people that don't make mistakes.

A) Liars
B) People that do nothing

yep

The salesman at Gander Mountain told me my rifle is a "High Performance" model.

The rifle was tested(shot) before going out when I shoot from a bench IE: zeroing, load developement etc. I don't put ammo. in the magazine I load one by one. Your right I should have tested the magazine upon receiving or while shooting at the bench, actually it should have been a no brainer being that upon receiving the rifle it was NOT fluted as stated on build sheet, stock was cut to short, ADL trigger guard was bent in and stock scratched due to being shipped in a card board box with bubble wrap. As per perfection I expect it to as well ESPECIALLY for a 3200.00 build.

Marcus; You have a right to be upset if the rifle was not built the way you ordered it. I'd be upset if that happened to me, too. But I'd have looked beyond my own personal tragedy, at the guy's reputation, before I implied on this forum that he does lousy work because that takes into consideration alot more rifles than just yours. It does appear that your rifle is an exception rather than the rule, as far as the quality of work Mickey does.
As far as the bent and scratched parts from shipping, next time do what I did with a build from Redneck: Order a $130 SKB hard rifle case and have it drop shipped to the gunsmith. He can use it to ship your rifle to you and you're personally ensuring the safe arrival of your rifle.

If Marcus was out $3200.00 and was forced to pay additional $$$ for another builder to fix it properly, then a labor refund should be returned.

You have your truck engine rebuilt, and the mechanic realizes he cannot build it properly, should he keep your money? I know chit happens sometimes, but never give up unless you give up what the customer gave you.