Gunsmith Rant

[Waynzee]

I was trying to decide if I wanted to post this because of all the Remington guys here. Here goes anyway, a while ago I had a Savage 30/06 I wanted my local gun smith (whom I thought I was pretty good friends with) to swap out the 30/06 to 338/06 barrel. After about 3 months going back and forth he finally said it's not a Remington I don't want to work on it. ***. So, gunsmiths can pick and choose I guess. Anyway I don't really need a 338/06 I was just doing it for something different and in the process I found out what a ***** this guy was.

 

[Deleted member 48126]

I was trying to decide if I wanted to post this because of all the Remington guys here. Here goes anyway, a while ago I had a Savage 30/06 I wanted my local gun smith (whom I thought I was pretty good friends with) to swap out the 30/06 to 338/06 barrel. After about 3 months going back and forth he finally said it's not a Remington I don't want to work on it. ***. So, gunsmiths can pick and choose I guess. Anyway I don't really need a 338/06 I was just doing it for something different and in the process I found out what a ***** this guy was.

My smith doesn't work on savages either. He told me right up front though. He doesn't like the bolt. He said there are to many pieces in it that could fail. I appreciate his honesty. Sucks it took your guy 3 months to make that decision.

 

[Korhil78]

I was trying to decide if I wanted to post this because of all the Remington guys here. Here goes anyway, a while ago I had a Savage 30/06 I wanted my local gun smith (whom I thought I was pretty good friends with) to swap out the 30/06 to 338/06 barrel. After about 3 months going back and forth he finally said it's not a Remington I don't want to work on it. ***. So, gunsmiths can pick and choose I guess. Anyway I don't really need a 338/06 I was just doing it for something different and in the process I found out what a ***** this guy was.

Well of course he can choose what he wants to work on. He is the one providing the service. Just because you are going to pay him doesnt make him enslaved to you. Now it's would be kinda messed up if he had your rifle for three months and then decided to not work on it. He should have been upfront about it if that happened.

 

[FEENIX]

My smith doesn't work on savages either. He told me right up front though. He doesn't like the bolt. He said there are to many pieces in it that could fail. I appreciate his honesty. Sucks it took your guy 3 months to make that decision.

LL! Those parts he's referring to that can fail can be fixed by the end-user at home without a gunsmith's service. No bolt design is safe from Murphy, it's just a matter if time when that day comes. I had 25+ rifle that the pin securing the bolt face finally gave in after those successful years of service; it costs me $2 to fix it myself.

[ame]https://youtu.be/RZ7AoOGYbcs?t=103[/ame]

Savage's floating bolt design is ahead of its time and some of the custom action manufacturer's like Big Horn Arms and Mausingfield are finally realizing and slowly adapting their own design. In addition, their actions are Remington 700 compatible.

[ame]https://youtu.be/x51SwCZCHCA?t=57[/ame]

My gunsmith admits he prefers working on Remington actions because most of of his customers prefers them and it brings him more revenue. But he will work any actions.

I agree that expectations should be clearly sorted out before any work is started to prevent any surprises with flexibility in mind. On the last project build my gunsmith worked on, I dropped off $2500 worth of parts, tag them with notes, we shook on the price (payment is due upon completion) and delivery date of 8 weeks (no it does not take him that long but that's he's back log at the time). He's been my go to gunsmith since 2003 and has been extremely pleased with all of his work.

Cheers!

 

[J E Custom]

I've used 6 different gunsmiths since I was able to legally purchase and own my own firearms. I've been burned by three. What is the deal with this profession? It's either all or nothing. I'm pretty annoyed right now since I went with a pretty famous smith to get a barrel for a rifle thinking it was a safe bet. When we were talking money he answered all my emails right away. As soon as he received his money not a word. I was told a 8-12 week turn around on the barrel that I ordered in mid February. Well now it's August and my last email correspondence was March 15th. ***?! Chris Matthews, some goon in Austin Texas, and now this BS...the only smiths I trust now are ones that I can physically drive to their shop to see the progress. I'm tired of being burned with firearms. Maybe it's me, and I'm just a sucker, but this garbage has to stop. Rant over. Sorry had to vent.

I know this won't help, but in my opinion any profession/business can have this problem if the owner does not have the knowledge, compassion and skill plus the business sense of how to deal
with customers.

Being a good smith does not make you a good businessman, and being a good businessman does not make you a good smith. most successful gun smiths have all of these skills.

Reading a customers wants and needs is just one of the things a Gunsmith should be good at because some customers can be as difficult as some smiths to deal with.

I agree that your experiences have been bad 50% of the time and understand your frustration. most
of us have been burned once or twice and have learned to ask as many questions as possible to hopefully prevent this from happening again. No profession is free of unscrupulous people that will
screw you if they get a chance, so be careful and if you find a good one stick with him and build a rapport with him.

Don't worry, Venting is good sometimes.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Deleted member 48126]

Feenix, yeah not bashing savages at all. I have a .260AI build or .308 if the **** barrel ever comes in, hence me posting this thread that I am doing. I really like how easy it is to get a nice rifle built in your garage for under a grand. So far I'm only 600 into my build on a savage 110 long action. I just need to ceracoat it once it's assembled and mount all the scope hardware. I asked my go to smith if he would work on it and he said "NOOOOO!" I was laughing pretty hard. He's a good guy just set in his ways.

JE, yes I agree. Most the smiths I know work by themselves. If they hired a part time secretary I'm sure they would not be as back logged. Easier said than done though of course.

 

[FEENIX]

Feenix, yeah not bashing savages at all. I have a .260AI build or .308 if the **** barrel ever comes in, hence me posting this thread that I am doing. I really like how easy it is to get a nice rifle built in your garage for under a grand. So far I'm only 600 into my build on a savage 110 long action. I just need to ceracoat it once it's assembled and mount all the scope hardware. I asked my go to smith if he would work on it and he said "NOOOOO!" I was laughing pretty hard. He's a good guy just set in his ways.

No problem, I never took it as such. Good luck and I hope it works out for you. Cheers!

 

[RMulhern]

I've used a guy in Gould, Oklahoma but won't give his name because if you called him he'd take an order from you but tell you quick....."I'm booked up for at least a year!" Any RIFLE-BUILDER worth his salt these days and time is generally booked solid. So if one has a particular item wanted made....it won't pay to not have patience enough to wait! This guy has built at least 7 rifles for my family and all are extremely accurate!

 

[Win.308Stealth]

My younger brother sent off a rifle to a smith in Illinois last summer. Upfront the smith asks my brother if he is in a hurry to get the rifle back, if he is in a hurry he wouldn't do it. My brother tells him he is not in a hurry as long as he gets it before this summer ('16), the smith says that will be fine, it should be done by March. My brother calls him in June and he goes he forgot about it, but will get it done in a couple of weeks. End of July, my brother calls him again, the smith goes off at him, actually yells at my brother. I was in the truck during that call and could hear the yelling. He says that if my brother would stop calling him and taking him away from his work he might be able to get something done. Its almost September, still no rifle. My brother was planning to take the rifle on a Nebraska Mule Deer hunt this year, but will have to take something else.

 

[Dr. Vette]

Its almost September, still no rifle. My brother was planning to take the rifle on a Nebraska Mule Deer hunt this year, but will have to take something else.

I'd make one more call, and it would be asking for my rifle and parts back, finished or not.

 

[HRstretch]

I still have a gun at gunsmith and hesitant to say much because I am near the end of this build, as I say with fingers crossed. Suppose to be 7 weeks chamber ,headspace and muzzle break, cusum FL die. That was end of march and still waiting. If the gunsmith would just communicate better it would have been a better ordeal. All communication has been initiated from my end and I only get simple answer with no details and no forcast as to completion time.

I guess 5 months for a 7 week project sounds more like the norm and that is a sad statement for this industry.

 

[FEENIX]

I'd make one more call, and it would be asking for my rifle and parts back, finished or not.

I would probably do the same.

 

[Deleted member 48126]

Update...after asking for my money back. The smith finally got back to me and said my barrel was shipped this Monday. I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[Deleted member 48126]

Well I finally got my barrel. It was 3 months late but no big deal now that I finally have it. I'm building a savage so I can finally bolt it together myself.

I'm excited to get the rifle built, 1. Since it's my first savage and 2. When I finally do shoot it I can tell FEENIX how much superior Remington's really are!