Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Western Colorado Gunsmiths

I moved to the west slope back in February, but in my wandering and brief searches I haven't come across any gunsmiths.

I need some basic chambering work and Mauser sporterizing work. Not looking for the tactical plastic type of gunsmith.

Anyone have any recommendations?

Greg Tannel is located north of Rifle:

Gre-Tan Rifles

Oh, I thought he was out east of Denver....
Thank you

Tannel is a good year out. Where are you located now?

I'm in Delta and Tannel seems to do more if the precision/tactical/Remington stuff than I'm looking for. Coulda sworn there was someone in Gunnison. Old man Stengel recommended Aaron Miller in Paonia. Anyone know of him?

Is Ray Montgomery still working out of Grand Junction?

dunno,
according to this thread he was having some major health issues:
http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/5915913/1

Maybe I'll see if Tanner ever got a hold of him

Don't know if Colorado Springs is East or West but Earl Hickman there does very nice work. He does it quickly and reasonably as well.

I've used him to rechamber a rifle and to fit a new barrel (nutless Savage) on another.

He worked with me on the chamber/throat specs of my 6-284 and after we decided on what specs to go for he ordered a brand new reamer from Kiff incorporating these specs.

Super easy to work with and a nice guy to boot.

http://www.hickmanrifles.com/

Thats about 5 hours east of here, but I may have to head that way if I can't find anyone between Durango and Craig with any kind of a recommendation.

I used Ray Montgomery from Clifton in the past, and he did great work. I believe he works on most makes. Dan Dowling only works on M700's these days and he is in Palisade.

Just had Tannel build my 6.5-06 on a Savage action. I believe he will work on most rifles, just no shotguns and pistols. He is expensive and a year out though.

I would really try and get a hold of Ray.

Tanner had no luck getting a hold of a year or two ago, but most gunsmiths can be impossible to reach by phone.

Ex,
I know my Dad stopped by Ray Montgomery's place a few weeks ago to talk with him. Not sure if Dad took Ray anything to work on or if he just stopped to chat. I'll talk to my Dad and see if he knows what's going on with him and then let you know. Ray is a very good gunsmith and would be worth talking to if he is still taking work.

I don't know if Red Hawk Rifles in Grand Junction does the kind of work you want but if not they might be able to direct you to someone.

Isn't Dan Dowling in that area?

Dan Dowling is a great gunsmith.

Call Barry Davis in Bayfield Colorado. He is fast and one of the best in the business.

Probably a little out of your area, but the guys at Valley Gun Service in Monte Vista do good work.

My Dad talked to Ray Montgomery just last weekend. Apparently he did have more heart problems and his hand "wasn't working" but his hand has improved and he is still taking gunsmith work. He's probably just cut back on the amount of work he is doing and isn't spending as much time in his shop as before, thus the trouble with contacting him by phone. I've got a phone number for him if you send me a PM.

I was wondering whether the guy was still among the living. He did a Ruger #1 rechamber job for me something like 20 years ago. Impeccable workmanship. Wasn't he an Ackley disciple?

I'm sure there are people here that know of and about Ray more than me and could answer that question much better than me. I cannot. I only ever talked to Ray once or twice on the phone when he did some work on a Model 70 for me. My folks travel over to Grand Junction fairly often, so my Dad took the rifle to Ray for me and then we just conducted business over the phone. I know Ray has done a few jobs for my Dad, but nothing serious. However, my Dad has told me about the many different rifles he's seen at Ray's shop and it sounds like he does an amazing variety of differnt builds, from Mauser actions from the ground up to Ruger #1's, to cheap Marlin 22s. The guy has an amazing reputation and everything I've ever seen that he's done has been excellent.

Ray is/was very good and I felt very comfortable telling him to do what was necessary as far as truing the action and he typically just trued the bolt face and action face and recut the threads. My last rifle took awhile, but I wasn't too worried about it. It finally came with a handwritten note inticating he had had a heart attack and was out of commission for 1-1/2 months before he could completely finish my rifle. This was in July, 2011.

Last rifle he built for me was a M700 358 Win carbine. He also built a 6mm/250 and a 416 Taylor for me on Rem 700 actions. All are perfect and shoot very well.

I have never talked to him, but I think a lot of the guy.