Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only Will I ever get my gun back?

This past January I sent a pre war super grade Winchester model 70 in 375 to J. Sip & Sons in Toquerville UT for work.

Communication was not great, but finally I was able to get through on may 7th where they informed me my rifle was complete. I then sent PayPal payment immediately and was told my rifle would ship the next week.

I have since heard nothing from this company, my rifle never shipped. The voice mail box is full, emails and texts go unanswered. I found online where this operation is currently in the middle of multiple lawsuits. A friend of mine was able to get through a few weeks ago where they told him ATF had suspended their FFL. I called the ATF branch in Salt Lake City where I was informed their license was being reapplied for but that they could still send me back my property.

I’ve run out of options and don’t know what to do, I have left messages with a local detective at the sheriffs office. My attorney is sending a certified letter this week.

If anyone has anyway of contacting J. Sip & Sons it would be greatly appreciated. I just want my gun back, no matter what state it may be in. Is that really too much to ask? I spent a whole year having this rifle imported from germany(it had belonged to a ph in Tanzania).

This is the rifle I had planned on bringing back to Africa next year.

Thank You

What a crappy deal! Thank you for posting. Although this is an appeal for help, it should serve as general warning to others.

This is one of MANY reasons, I try and avoid any gunsmith services. The first is unreasonable & long delays that appear to be a deliberate part of gunsmiths business models. They put themselves first over the customer. They keep this backlog on hand for their own JOB SECURITY.

The natural consequence of the first problem is when crap happens more customers effected. That crap maybe death, but; also lawsuits abound in this business. Problem 2.

That same goes for deposits. How many times I have read of 1/3 down, gone forever. At an emotional level, I rather loose cash than a gun.

If at all possible buy as good a gun as you can afford and live with it. And if you really need a barrel chop, etc find a local guy, It will be slow and EXPENSIVE. Problem 3.

Man, you don't know how much I hate hearing this!

My Father in Law, who's been gone several yrs. now, who was a well known and respected Gunsmith would never, ever even think about doing any thing even close to that!

It's a dying Art, like everything else in this Country, as we've lowered OUR, standards to accommodate the Inefficient, the weak, the Lazy, and the Dis Honest! etc.................

Sad!

Good Luck!

sad to hear about this, i sent a Redfield scope to the manufacture who are suppose to fix used Redfield scopes they had no problem cashing the check but never got my scope back and they don`t answer their phones either. people that pull this crap should be put in jail ! its FRAUD

I would be taking a trip to Utah to personally darken their doorstep.

^^^^^^^^^^ THIS ^^^^^^^^^ memtb

Good riddance....hope they wind up in prison.

Did the OP ever get their gun back?

Yeh I know the OP and he recently got it back (with a ton of pressure from outside sources) with several issues requiring it to be sent off again to a well known shop for repair.

Great, Sometimes you have to take hold and hang on until you get some results.
I know I have a couple guns that if that happened I would be camping on their doorstep
one is a S&W 1917 US army 45 ACP revolver my grand father carried in Germany during
WWI it doesn't get far from home.

Take care and be safe,
garyw

Good deal. Caveat emptor seems to be the first thought when sending a gun for work.

Stories like these cause me to be thankful that I have two gunsmiths within an hour of me. I can take mine in to them, go over the work needed and know the work will get done properly and in reasonable time.

Glad it worked out.

Two cautionary stories in my life.

When I moved from my farm, I had five guns at a local gunshop/smith that he was selling on consignment. He went bankrupt. I didn't get my guns or any reimbursement. Big debt holders took all the asset value. I later found out he sold them on GB. A couple were collectors and I lost a couple grand. So began the begining of the end of my gun trading and slow disposition of my collection.

I worked for a few weeks in a gunshop where I had a gut feeling that things were a little off in the book work. I left and found another job. ATF and LEO'S arrested two guys who were doing blackmarket off the books sales.
The gun and hunting world is no different than any other business, there are just some less than trustworthy folks.
Be careful!
Bfly

81 yrs old and have never had a bad experience, have had several customs

A friend had the same experience. He even got the BBB and police involved. Sipp said it was a "misunderstanding". Someone need to shut that place down.

I’m just about to the point where I’ll never send guns anywhere except back to the factory, and maybe won’t buy any except locally. I have a top-grade smith 20 minutes away, and multiple dealers within an hour or two.

Makes me nervous to take or send in a gun.

Sheesh.

The only gunsmiths I use are (a) local guys who (b) I personally know or (c) are recommended by friends who have used them for a long time. I would never use one I couldn't go visit.

Bradley955: I am so sorry to hear of your tale of woe.
I am happy the Rifle was returned but again saddened that you had to have the "work" redone.
Damn!
My close friend here in SW Montana was a military "lifer" and was stationed in Alaska for some time. He had bought a double barrel Rifle in caliber 375 H&H specifically to Hunt Bison, Bears and Moose with it while he was stationed there in Alaska.
He harvested a wild Bison and then took his double Rifle to a gunsmith in Fairbanks, Alaska for some minor extraction issue.
Time went by with no notice and finally he tried to call the "gunsmith" who he found out after a while had gone out of business and he never saw his double Rifle again!
His efforts to recover and rectify the situation all failed.
So I am glad YOU at least got your Rifle back.
Sad.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy