Thoughts from the pro's

Susquatch said:

Me too. The only differences are that I always wondered how they could be so cheap, and I build rifles for a huge army of friends, family, and the odd shooter that I take a liking to. But I don't make money either. I'm too much of a perfectionist.

When I die, I sure hope my wife doesn't sell all my stuff for what she thinks I paid for it.......

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LOL!! That's the truth! I have a friend who is really into expensive guns, the likes of Knight's Armament and H&K. He has several safes full. He always says he needs to make a list of guns and their values so if he dies, his wife will know what they are worth. BUT, he always says he's afraid to because if she sees it, he may die sooner than he expects!

Edd said:

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Show off!! That's the way to do it if you have the skill and lots and lots of cash. He wins, his rifle would cost more than mine. Good thing he earns money doing it.

Daveog said:

Show off!! That's the way to do it if you have the skill and lots and lots of cash. He wins, his rifle would cost more than mine. Good thing he earns money doing it.

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The price to have him true an action might be less than you think.

Edd said:

The price to have him true an action might be less than you think.

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No, I'm not saying that he charges a lot. I'm saying that for a hobby gunsmith like me, his method and machines would result in an overall rifle cost that would be astronomical.

Fantastic piece of machinery. Many of my most prized possessions were made just for me by men like him at the top of their profession with the best resources possible. Exceeding those things is a certain refrigerator door covered with many things made just for me by young children with crayons to the best of their abilities. Cheers gentlemen

Daveog said:

Show off!! That's the way to do it if you have the skill and lots and lots of cash. He wins, his rifle would cost more than mine. Good thing he earns money doing it.

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You win. Best toys. That's amazing.
You taking orders?

25WSM said:

Learn from the best and don't look back. I will save you the frustration right now. Watch all the Gretan video series. Greg Tannel is a master at this and teaches very well also. He's a great guy and will help you in any way possible. I've been a custom Smith for 30 yrs and do all my action blueprints using his methods. And yes everything must be indicated from the center of the race way longitudinal not just at one point. Good luck if you try it any other way. Viper makes a great jig to hold your action when dialing it in. If you come to my shop I will show you how. Newcastle PA
Shep

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Where do I find a Gretan video on action blueprinting?

I was a pioneer and developer in the modern world of CAD CAM & Robotics. At its core, a CNC Mill is basically a robotic multi-axis mill. They are fantastic machines in every respect of the word. They are fast and accurate, and they are the best way to do high quality volume work at the lowest cost. Modern Engineering Technology at its very finest.

As the video author in the video above stated, this particular CNC Mill trued a complete action in about 7 minutes after initial programming and setup. The very best machinist with the best possible lathe might be able to do one in an hour or two.

However, it is a mistake to believe that the precision of the final result would be significantly different. There is nothing inherently superior about either approach.

The biggest difference is the cost/productivity equation. The simplistic version of that equation is total units completed multiplied by the cost of equipment plus cost of labour over total life of the equipment in years. The result is that low volume shops buy a manual lathe and have a skilled machinist operating them, and high volume shops have CNC equipment that is lsetup by a skilled operator and usually operated by much lower cost labour.

I would ALWAYS recommend that anyone interested in having a receiver trued make their decision about where to have the work done based on the reputation and results of the shop doing the work and the price they charge. And as EDD said earlier, you might be surprised at how cost effective the CNC method might be. If they do enough work, their cost might be significantly LESS than a small shop might charge, and the turnaround time might be much faster too!

However, nobody should expect superior results just because a robot does the work instead of a skilled machinist.

I guess I should also point out that there are things that a robot can do that a human can't, and there are things that a human can do that a robot can't. But that gap is closing fast. Before I retired, I was an advisor on a team working on a robotic system that could do surgery on a beating heart without stopping the heart and without opening the patient's chest. That is only possible because a robot can be smaller and faster than a surgeon's hand and fingers.

What a wonderful time we live in!

Susquatch said:

However, nobody should expect superior results just because a robot does the work instead of a skilled machinist.

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Absolutely 100% correct

I have had to follow some CNC trued actions and while they are pretty they can suffer from the same issues as any other method. Looks WAY cooler though.
I have put a lot into my action trueing system, work holding and tooling while it's not nearly as fast as using a UMC it's no where near an hour job but I may run a couple three of mostly the average guy will perfect one at a time, not the best business model for the average rate but the quality can be maintained at a high level.

If you simply square the receiver face to the threads, you run the risk of the scope mount screws being out of alignment with the center of the bore. I've seen this a few times where the scope now needs to be cranked way over left or right to even have a chance of working well. And then you will only be "on target" at one point in space.
Everything needs to be aligned with the bore of the receiver and this means the scope mounting holes.
In my smithing, if I face the front of the receiver to the bolt bore, and then cut a very accurate shank on the barrel, in most cases everything lines up. If the scope mounting holes were not drilled accurately at the factory (and most are not) , then I use Millet rings that allow both front and rear scope ring to be aligned to the bore of the barrel.
Once this is accomplished, when you "click" up for a long distance target, your windage will remain perpendicular to the bore, no matter the distance.

This is why I bed my scope rings anymore, no misalignment or binding of scopes