Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Shady Gunsmith

I wouldn't say bad gunsmiths are the problem. There are definitely some real hacks out there plus a lot of times these days any guy who can put together an AR-15 calls himself a "Gunsmith", but the more prevalent issue I've seen is people who are really good at their craft but absolutely suck at running a small business.

They can't plan their time, there's no boss telling them to get to work so they waste half of each day BS'ing with customers, all kinds of things. So they get into a hole and their customers start complaining about missed deadlines or work done poorly since it was rushed at the last minute. They get flustered or their egos won't let them believe it's their fault so they just make more and more promises to get past the immediate irate phone call, or some will dig their heels in and get more and more obstinate.

With some rare exceptions the best gunsmithing operations I've seen are where a front person takes the orders and handles customers and the skilled craftsmen are in the back turning out 8 hours of quality work each day.



Added: or they marry a good woman and let their wives handle the business while they work. My cousin went to school to be a diesel mechanic and opened his own shop. He hired a couple of guys as helpers but all he did was work in the shop. His wife ran the front desk and did all of the bookkeeping, scheduling, billing and such. Didn't take that long and they had a thriving business with lots of referrals and repeat customers.

Jim in Idaho is right, when I had my shop my wife handled the customers. Being that she was pretty good looking didn't hurt either.

Was the smith in OZ Bill Hambly-Clark by any chance?

Jim in Idaho is spot on in my book.
I have also seen where the smiths ego got him into a mess. He may be good at metal finishing but sucks at stock work but takes on the work anyway.

i had a similiar problem with a holster maker in Tennessee. got all the excuses you could imagine. i ended up doing some internet research and found out where his wife worked and the name of the local sheriff and DA. i called his wife and told her the next calls were to the law. he started answering my calls and shipped the holster within a week. but it took a year.

I never dealt with Bill, the fellow I had the best run with was Peter from Pro-cal trading at Bannockburn...Peter's word was gold.

Still waiting for the name of the gunsmith, the company name, and the shipping address you said that you have.

In what way is that information beneficial to you Sir?

Maybe he wants to avoid doing business with the gentleman.

Put up or shut up.

A two-week turnaround time is lightning fast for a top-quality smith. Even the two months that you've waited thus far is still very fast. If I got a rifle back from a good smith that quickly, then I'd go out and buy Powerball tickets. A lot of smiths have also gotten covered up with work during the pandemic, so he might have a line of work out the door these days even if he was turning around good work in two weeks before.

I'd be inclined to wait a bit and see what happens. Every minute he spends on the phone or texting is a minute that he's not working on rifles.


Okie John

Folks I started this thread to ask for useful information on what I can do to recover my property nothing more and nothing less.
I hired the guy based on what he sold me on.
If someone makes a commitment and tells you whatever you want to hear to get your property and then has not fulfilled what you were told and just keeps telling you the same thing week after week.
Where do you draw the line?
If he would just be honest and tell me it’s not possible to be completed in said time frame then he should state that and I can and will accept that.
Clearly this has not been the case!
I ran a business for 30 years but I didn’t lie to my customers or mislead them just to obtain their property for an indefinite amount of time!

If you want your stuff back so bad, and right now, you have 2 options. Fly/drive/walk over to his shop and go get it yourself or hire somebody to go get it for you. And Id think it's going to have to be an FFL because he can't turn over a serialized part to just anyone.

A few years ago, I sent some shotgun barrels to a smith renown in quality and reputation. Most of the work was just opening up the chokes. I would email and call and sometimes he would respond, sometimes not. The typical turn around for this individual is less than a month and he told me the same. Two years later, I got my barrels back...no discount. Personally, I was just glad to have the barrels back in my hands again. I never got nasty with the guy and I always spoke to him with respect and courtesy. Needless to say, he will not be getting my business again, but I don't think he was a scheister or a scam artist. Just a man who didnt deliver what was promised. I'm not saying that the same applies to your case, but you may have to wait. I've been told that if you want to request your gun back, to send a certified letter to the smith and ensure they sign for it. Take pictures of the letter and envelope and everything before you send it. Then you at least have some physical evidence if you would like to pursue the law enforcement route. I just hoped and prayed and eventually received my items back. All I'm saying is that I feel for you. If you're concerned that this individual may be scamming you, I would at least list his general location so that you can warn some of the local guys in PM (if you do not want to list his name publicly) and they can avoid using his services. Just my two cents...as I said, I feel for your predicament.

go back to the old adage. if it sounds to good to be true, most likely its not. what I am getting at, any GOOD gunsmith is not going to deliver in the amount of time specified. period. I just got back a full blown custom, 7 1/2 months, when we talked, he thought it would be sooner, covid affected a lot of people in different ways, the guy lost one tech to the covid, the barrel took longer than expected ect., I got really frustrated, that did not help, I just told my self cool down. it was worth the wait., I had hem do a really simple job before every thing went smooth, thats why I used him on the custom build.

I’ve dealt with 3 different smiths so far. Two have been excellent (Shaen and APR). The third who I won’t name publicly took 6 months to deliver on a quoted 5 week rebarrel of a pre 64 model 70. The original action got destroyed in the truing process and the owner replaced my factory magnum action body with a clip slotted target action body off an older 30-06 or similar rifle. Now it functions fine but that’s not how I’d have wanted the situation to be handled. The smith to be a model 70 guru every time I spoke to him on the phone. I should have just sent it to Redneck…

fe1,
My only comment, being in the Memphis area if this smith is indeed in Memphis, It would help to at least know who to avoid. I understand things can get in the way and out of hand with small businesses. Time and lack of communication seems to be endemic. No idea why. I am amused by folks suggesting contacting the ATF as if they care what issues gun owners have. Wish you luck in resolving this.
Pavementends

Two sides to every story, only two people who know the details, and any problems are best sorted out by/between those same two people.

2 months? That's nothing.... my last gunsmith debacle took 2 years. I bought a new gun in the meantime.

So true! -Al

Had a well recommended diesel shop bullet proof my truck recently with an expressed 2 week turn around. Turned into 2 months, and in the following 2 weeks, the rig had to be towed back to the shop 4 times. Three from my driveway and 1 from 60 miles out. Seems they were extremely poor at getting the various electronics plugged back in. Rig runs great now, but mechanics and smiths don't need any certifications or credentials to become professionals in this state.