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Why do gunsmith take so long on build?
- Thread starter LR3
- Start date
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WOW, that's a long waiting period!
I do my own part acquisition so all my gunsmith has to worry about is putting it together. This way I know exactly where the delay is; awaiting parts or awaiting work.
My gunsmith is a one man operation and can only do one tasking at a time and has to prioritize his workload.
maninthemaze
Well-Known Member
I have had one custom rifle built so my opinion is based on my limited experience. I think the gunsmiths order their parts straight from the manufacturer. As such they get a discount on ordering more parts per year than you and me. They still charge the full price to customers though. I know Stiller offers $50 off if you order 3-5 per year and $100 off if you buy 50 or more. So the gunsmith is willing to wait, and make you wait for it. I'm sure barrel manufacturers do the same thing. The gunsmiths end up being in competition with all the other gunsmiths and vendors for the limited number of parts the manufacturer makes per year.
When my gunsmith was running past his deadline, I told him to just ship me the parts and I would find another gunsmith. They kept assuring me that they had the parts in hand, they didnt. So, they ended up having to purchase the parts from another vendor, so there wasn't any profit on the parts. The ended up purchasing the parts from bugholes.com . Anyways, a year is in my opinion WAY WAY to long to wait on a rifle. What are they doing forging their own steel?
When my gunsmith was running past his deadline, I told him to just ship me the parts and I would find another gunsmith. They kept assuring me that they had the parts in hand, they didnt. So, they ended up having to purchase the parts from another vendor, so there wasn't any profit on the parts. The ended up purchasing the parts from bugholes.com . Anyways, a year is in my opinion WAY WAY to long to wait on a rifle. What are they doing forging their own steel?
That's insane!
My next build will be as Feenix stated, gather my own parts. For two reasons, that way I know what/where problems really lie and so I know I get what I asked for. Last build the smith ordered the wrong barrel length with the wrong twist and the reamer & go/no-go gauges were totally incorrect and unusable for what I wanted. I ended up taking it elsewhere and ordering my own reamer, which added another 4 months.
MudRunner2005
Well-Known Member
I gather all my own parts, take them to my smith (who is also a 1-man operation) that lives 15 minutes down the road. He's a machinist by-trade, and so depending on his job workload vs. his spare time to build rifles, he calls me when it's done, which is usually no more than 2 weeks. Once it took a month or 2, but he was out of town for work, so he got backed-up on his rifle builds.
No way in hell I would wait 6 years for a rifle to be built.
No way in hell I would wait 6 years for a rifle to be built.
J E Custom
Well-Known Member
Normally it is work load or just poor management of time.
Once a smith has "All" the components, 14 to 30 days is plenty of time if he has it scheduled.
The main thing he needs to give you is his completion date and stick to it.
Gathering all the components works well if you know what to buy. if you make a mistake,
your schedule will suffer so be sure you and your smith are on the same page.
never pay all the money up front because you take away all of his incentive to meet your completion date. (Pay for all parts and hold the Labor until completion).
J E CUSTOM
Once a smith has "All" the components, 14 to 30 days is plenty of time if he has it scheduled.
The main thing he needs to give you is his completion date and stick to it.
Gathering all the components works well if you know what to buy. if you make a mistake,
your schedule will suffer so be sure you and your smith are on the same page.
never pay all the money up front because you take away all of his incentive to meet your completion date. (Pay for all parts and hold the Labor until completion).
J E CUSTOM
dah605
Well-Known Member
I had Hart rebarrel one of my rifles. I put in a deposit to get in line and I was able to shoot the rifle for about 9 more months. Once my turn was getting close, they called and I sent in the rifle and new Manners stock. They trued the action, rebarreled, and had the works coated inside of 2 weeks.
I've got a custom lightweight build in the works. At this point, the longest delay is the stock from Manners. I fully expect Pierce to have the action built and ready for bedding when the stock arrives.
-David
I've got a custom lightweight build in the works. At this point, the longest delay is the stock from Manners. I fully expect Pierce to have the action built and ready for bedding when the stock arrives.
-David
Yep, I'm fortunate to have access to 5 gunsmiths in an hours drive one of which only 2 miles from my home.
4xforfun
Well-Known Member
The gun smithing I need anymore has been restricted to getting new BBLs chamberd up for one of my BAT's of my Pinned 700"s. I ship my smith the parts and within a week it is being shipped back!!
Does he have the name recognition of , say, Jim Borden or Clay Spencer? NO. But his work is every bit as good IMHO!!
Tod
Does he have the name recognition of , say, Jim Borden or Clay Spencer? NO. But his work is every bit as good IMHO!!
Tod
westcliffe01
Well-Known Member
I would be concerned if the parts for the 6, 4 and 2.5 year projects even exist or whether the smith sold them to someone else in the intervening period ? I don't think you have anything to lose to pull those projects and get someone else working on them for you.
I wasted 9 months on a name brand barrel maker who had a blank in stock that they needed to chamber and thread the shank on and they messed up the chamber and didn't want to confess to doing so. For probably 8.5 of the 9 months they did absolutely nothing, which included not re-ordering a new blank (made by themselves) and just left me hanging. I figured out that the receptionist had a standing order to not transfer me to the guy responsible for the builds (you could not reach him by phone or email Mon-Fri). It was her who finally told me that getting another blank made was going to take more than 6 months (after waiting more than 8 months by that time), so I told her to box up my rifle and send it back. As it turned out, they had not even unpacked it to remove the old sporter barrel after all that time. I got my money refunded and that is the last time I will ever have anything to do with them again.
I wasted 9 months on a name brand barrel maker who had a blank in stock that they needed to chamber and thread the shank on and they messed up the chamber and didn't want to confess to doing so. For probably 8.5 of the 9 months they did absolutely nothing, which included not re-ordering a new blank (made by themselves) and just left me hanging. I figured out that the receptionist had a standing order to not transfer me to the guy responsible for the builds (you could not reach him by phone or email Mon-Fri). It was her who finally told me that getting another blank made was going to take more than 6 months (after waiting more than 8 months by that time), so I told her to box up my rifle and send it back. As it turned out, they had not even unpacked it to remove the old sporter barrel after all that time. I got my money refunded and that is the last time I will ever have anything to do with them again.
TXAoudadKlr
Well-Known Member
I waited 26 months for one (one man shop) and 18 months for another by a different smith. Around the 15 month mark with the first smith I almost said to hell with it. I don't need it that bad...glad I didn't. He had a massive work load ahead of him at the time I ordered mine. The other there was some delay with getting their actions in. 4 and 6 years??? I'm a patient guy but that's ridiculous in anyone's book. I'd cancel and move on to someone who can get what I want done in a more reasonable amount of time.
mightyman
Well-Known Member
I have had just 2 custom rifles built...
Much of what the others have said here are true..however in no way would I wait 4-6 years.
My gunsmith is in PA and I am in GA. He is very well known and I asked him the time frame.
He said it all depends on the particular parts I speck as to the timing of the rifle...barrel, Stock, action etc.
I provided the action...he got the trigger, barrel, stock other items...I ordered in Late January 2014..it was in my hand complete in June of 2014. The two late components were the McMillan LH stock, and the Bartlein barell....still I was very happy with time frame.
The other custom rifle was within the same time period...even though I provided nothing on this build....and I was kept in the loop all the way on both rifles...
The key challenge was that I was left handed...and there is limited supplies for us Lefties
Mighty Man
Much of what the others have said here are true..however in no way would I wait 4-6 years.
My gunsmith is in PA and I am in GA. He is very well known and I asked him the time frame.
He said it all depends on the particular parts I speck as to the timing of the rifle...barrel, Stock, action etc.
I provided the action...he got the trigger, barrel, stock other items...I ordered in Late January 2014..it was in my hand complete in June of 2014. The two late components were the McMillan LH stock, and the Bartlein barell....still I was very happy with time frame.
The other custom rifle was within the same time period...even though I provided nothing on this build....and I was kept in the loop all the way on both rifles...
The key challenge was that I was left handed...and there is limited supplies for us Lefties
Mighty Man
Lead time on parts is never the builder's fault (so long as he/she isn't lying to you about availability). Lead time on the build itself should be controlled by the gunsmith through controlling the orders they take. They can always take a reserve list of potential customers and when they see gaps, they can call the reserve list until they find customers who are still waiting. They just need to let the potential customer know that they have filled their schedule and aren't taking an order, they're just reserving a first-come-first-served slot when they get their backlog down.
One thing to think about with one-man operations, is that every time somebody calls them with their dream list and has a million questions, it takes the smithy off the lathe and nothing's getting done. Jus' sayin'. I've tried to contact mine via email almost exclusively so he can sort through it at the end of the day after he's done in the shop.
One thing to think about with one-man operations, is that every time somebody calls them with their dream list and has a million questions, it takes the smithy off the lathe and nothing's getting done. Jus' sayin'. I've tried to contact mine via email almost exclusively so he can sort through it at the end of the day after he's done in the shop.
