Where are the good gunsmiths at?

[hunter966]

I went to a local gunsmith in OKC “once”, it was H&H.

Took him a new Browning with about 100 rounds down the barrel and it cam back scratched all to crap. Once was all it took.

 

[adamsredlines]

I don't have anything helpful to offer on how to avoid this, but my observation between the great gunsmiths are inline with a great engine builder or great paint and body guy. I have never had the work completed in the initial quoted timeline. I just always assume double the quoted time would be fast and 3-4x the quoted time is realistic. For myself, when it comes to engine assembly, gunsmithing, etc. I have to be in the right headspace to get the work done right. I can't count how many times I walk out into the garage to do something on the fun car, gather the tools I need on the cart and realize I have too much stuff on my mind to concentrate on the task at hand and put everything back up and go back to the house. That is why I don't do that kind of work for other people. It would be prohibitively expensive for my time and entirely unfair to the customer to put up with my OCD on that kind of work.

The engine builder for the V was similar to the way I work. He was going through evaluations for a fire department and would hit me up to let me know he just wasn't in the right place to sit down and work on the engine. He always was honest about his time and updates on the engine so I didnt worry about it. Also, I planned on putting the engine through the ringer so I wanted him to be at 100% when he was working on it. Communication was key to my satisfaction with the amount of time it took him to complete the rotating assembly and block machining.

Had a friend tow his truck from Arkansas to Minnesota to have work done on it. They, once again, gave a time frame and when that date was near...he confirmed pickup and they reassured. We head to Minnesota and get there and the truck is still torn into pieces. 12hrs there, turn around and 12hrs home without a truck. They finally finish it a few months later, so 12hrs back to pick it up. Scheduled a track day with the builder before we left and on the first pass with the builder driving the truck he melted the motor down. Back to the shop it goes, and once again 12hrs home without a truck. They said the fuel system was insufficient for the modifications done, but...BUT...they spec'd and installed the system and cashed the truck owners check. Round two of rebuild took another year so he was without his truck for almost two years to get a driveline upgrade (04 Hemi Ram getting a 6.1 based 426, built 4L80, procharger, nitrous). Transmission was sold to him as a built trans but appeared to be a junkyard pull that shockingly didnt last and we wont even get into the components that showed up missing from his truck when it was finally delivered.

It's all a racket, performance shops and gunsmiths. My experiences with both are largely on the negative side which they shouldnt be.

 

[MacFromOK]

Silencerco sells a spacer for this instance since I guess it happens alot? Get two spacers (I had two guns threaded) and guess what...not enough relief against the shoulder for the spacers to thread down all the way anyways. So now I pissed away $150 to get two barrels threaded and 7 months of waiting on my can to arrive for my annual Prairie Dog hunt and I guess I dont get to use the can this year.

You might find a thin nut at a hardware store or nut/bolt supply (or even hacksaw a thicker one). If so, that would allow you to lock it against the can. Any change of cutting/grinding the spacer you have?

Not ideal, but might enable ya to use it on the hunt.

Just a thought. Luck.

 

[SPDguns]

Had a friend tow his truck from Arkansas to Minnesota to have work done on it. They, once again, gave a time frame and when that date was near...he confirmed pickup and they reassured. We head to Minnesota and get there and the truck is still torn into pieces. 12hrs there, turn around and 12hrs home without a truck. They finally finish it a few months later, so 12hrs back to pick it up. Scheduled a track day with the builder before we left and on the first pass with the builder driving the truck he melted the motor down. Back to the shop it goes, and once again 12hrs home without a truck. They said the fuel system was insufficient for the modifications done, but...BUT...they spec'd and installed the system and cashed the truck owners check. Round two of rebuild took another year so he was without his truck for almost two years to get a driveline upgrade (04 Hemi Ram getting a 6.1 based 426, built 4L80, procharger, nitrous). Transmission was sold to him as a built trans but appeared to be a junkyard pull that shockingly didnt last and we wont even get into the components that showed up missing from his truck when it was finally delivered.

It's all a racket, performance shops and gunsmiths. My experiences with both are largely on the negative side which they shouldnt be.

This is EXACTLY why I learned to work on my own cars, guns, house etc.

 

[El Pablo]

This is EXACTLY why I learned to work on my own cars, guns, house etc.

I started to do that. Luckily I realized the client was an idiot before I got too invested.

 

[dennishoddy]

So what do you do when you go through the process of seeking out people specific to their craft, that are highly recommended by forums specific to that gun, and they still come up short?

And as far as timeframe...I can appreciate that they're busy. I'm not an unreasonable man here, either. They say 5-7 days...I'm not on the phone on day 4 asking when I can pick up my gun the next day. Nor am I on the phone at any point in the timeframe estimated. I'd THINK though, that the only person who knows how much backlog a Gunsmith has, is themselves, and they should be able to at least somewhat reasonably guess a timeframe. They say 5-7 days...I think its safe to expect a phone call within two weeks or hell even a month...but no....that's not how this goes.
If you're backlogged 8 months, tell people that. Lying and saying a week only makes the situation worse as now you have additional work piled up that you'll eventually get to.

I agree. What I have found out that some local smiths are overwhelmed by phone calls and don't have the time to work on customer projects because of the phone traffic or just don't answer the phones at all which makes the customer mad.
I typically do my own smithing for small projects with lathes and milling here at the house. I don't do it for anybody else.
Dtech built the uppers for my beloved .243 WSSM's as I didn't have the machining capabilities nor knowledge/specs to do them myself.
They build lots of custom uppers in different calibers so they actually hired a phone person. They pick up on a couple of rings, give an update of the work progress and everyone is happy. Still a 6 month wait.
You have to be at a higher level of production for custom stuff to do that. The average great smith is all alone in his shop and can't afford the phone person.
I understand your position, but wanted to add some comments.

 

[dennishoddy]

You might find a thin nut at a hardware store or nut/bolt supply (or even hacksaw a thicker one). If so, that would allow you to lock it against the can. Any change of cutting/grinding the spacer you have?

Not ideal, but might enable ya to use it on the hunt.

Just a thought. Luck.

Washers not recommended for use on cans. The bullet travelling through the baffles has a critical measurement. Any deviation will result in a baffle strike and destruction of the can.

 

[Blue Heeler]

For my SIGs (P220 & P225A1), Robert Burke (The Sig Armorer) did a FANTASTIC job. My Browning HI Power was tuned by Austin Behlert and it took 13 months ... Well worth the wait.

 

[MacFromOK]

Washers not recommended for use on cans. The bullet travelling through the baffles has a critical measurement. Any deviation will result in a baffle strike and destruction of the can.

I didn't mention a washer... I was talking about locking a thin nut (or the threaded spacer he has) against the threaded part of the can to prevent the barrel from bottoming out on the first baffle.

 

[bambihunter]

I've had nothing but bad experiences from OK based 'smiths too. Thankfully, most of them are out of business so no need in naming them. The things I want done now are largely simple things, but will take refinishing after they are finished with the actual work.

I'm with you though. I don't care if you tell me it will take a year. But, I expect that it will be close to that barring some type of COVID-19 2020 year that blows that time table all to &$*#.