Usually about 9 months to do a complete rifle with synthetic stock supplying only the complete action.

One time the regular gunsmith was so backed up, I went to another, recommended gunsmith. In the usual amount of time all he managed to complete was the barreled action, and without a commitment to a completion deadline. I went and paid him off, gathered up the work in progress and then handed everything to the regular gunsmith who finished it pronto. He did mention that the barreled action work was superb.

Now as he edges his way into retirement, he's stopped taking in 'gunsmithing' work and only builds rifles from scratch.


It's you and the bullet, and all the rest is secondary.