AusVarmint

Gunsmiths

andrewk wrote:Gunsmiths

I wish I aged at the same rate as the gunsmiths clock and calendar. I'd still be in my teens as a few weeks turns into fucking months.

Also why do gunsmiths have the worst luck with manufactures, customs and postal losses???

I hate not being able to go shooting often!

But gunsmiths seem unreliable in Aus for sure. Too many 1 man operations and poor work practices.

Keith, not being able to shoot for a period only makes me hungrier for it. Gunsmiths rooting me around makes me want to give up and sell my custom guns for off the shelf gear or buy my own machines and build my own custom guns the way i want them when i want them. sick of hearing "should be done by tomorrow" then "call me next week" then a month later the same record plays again and the job is still sitting there.

andrewk wrote:Keith, not being able to shoot for a period only makes me hungrier for it. Gunsmiths rooting me around makes me want to give up and sell my custom guns for off the shelf gear or buy my own machines and build my own custom guns the way i want them when i want them. sick of hearing "should be done by tomorrow" then "call me next week" then a month later the same record plays again and the job is still sitting there.

Oh, its crazy for sure mate and not right. I don't know what the issue is and why it takes so long.
With all the issues surrounding custom guns I wouldn't bother. For what I do, hunting factory firearms are more than good enough for me. I can't shoot to my T3's potential and its a sub $1500 rifle. Why spend thousands on custom rifles when you are just going to get dicked around and screwed over when a factory rifle will do what 95% of what a custom rifle could do. Sure I do understand the appeal of it, getting non-factory cartridges, components that are EXACTLY what you want and probably the most desirable thing about a custom rifle is the fact that it is custom. I just don't see them being worth the pain of building and owning a custom rifle.

Hell from Lowndsie's Experience it makes me never want to take a rifle to a gunsmith again. Lucky for minor stuff I know a good one that does the job quickly. <less than 2 weeks.

Bit of a thought from the other side of the fence, is there a gunsmith forum and the reverse question has been asked, "Know what I hate about shooting"? blokes who cant wait till I get the job done?? Cant understand why they arent prepared to wait for two and a half years for a new barrel in their 22lr, and dont understand that Ive got to do my mates guns before theirs, even though they dropped them in six months later..

Couldn't agree more with the above comments! Although I'm going to get flamed for saying it, I think gunsmiths need to be held more accountable for their work. How a gunsmith can re-sell a firearm that has been marked as needing to be destroyed is beyond me. Even though the rego papers were signed in the destroyed section, apparently they can change that without question!!

My advice is the same as what was given to me on this forum, and that's to chase it up with fair trading! They were fantastic with my issues and they ensured that I received a new rifle! There's a reasonable work quality expectation and there is also a reasonable time frame expectation. Fair trading will get you what is considered fair and in my case they offered to chase more than what I was asking!

The shonky gunsmiths need to know that people aren't going to put up with crap work and bullshit any more. I'm a pretty reasonable person and an honest answer (whether good or bad) is enough to keep me happy.

No matter how nice the bloke may seem or how long you have know him, it's still a business and if your not happy then you need to let him know!

Obviously I have no time for being stuffed around these days and a lot of that is due to being lied too.

Where do you reckon they rate on the ethical scale.........the way you blokes are talking they would appear to be right down there with real estate agents, used car salesmen and lawyers

never deal with one but by the sounds of it Politicians

lol... I think they are in a league of their own mate!

I do want to stress though that not all of them are a like and I'm sure there's a few good ones about....

Nope they are not all alike. Took 3 months for my chamber, fit crown etc, but he showed me a list of guys before me and he is "retired" A bloke dropped eight or nine barrels in the day before I dropped my gear of, they were all chambered the same he was just checking to see which were the keepers etc

Also I have got time frames from James Kent in Toowoomba of approx 2 weeks, this was due to he only blues every second week.

Anyway for every good story there does seem to be either a horror story or just plain poor communication. Some are very stuck in their ways and will not chamber outside what they are used too etc either. Funny lot it seems.

Ryan

G"day,
I rang a gunsmith in Sydney yesterday to inquire about a tactical bolt knob fitment and was told 4-6 weeks, hence I said forget about it.!!
Ive had jobs done in days and also some have taken a few weeks so I suppose Im a bit spoilt.
Regards
Native

Guys,

Just take a leaf out of my book, talked the wife into letting me buy a lathe, next will be a small mill, now she's telling me I should make my own 30 cal match bullets. Just need to talk the boss into giving me a pay rise to make it happen faster.
I don't do my own barrels yet, but in time. In the meantime, I can recrown, make dies and all the other fiddly stuff that takes ages to get done elsewhere.

Jeff

Don't get me wrong my gunsmith produces excellent work but Fark sometimes its like if he's not interested in the project it hits mothballs in his safe. I've paid him in full and in advance at times when i need things done in 2 weeks to a month for ag shoot or a comp and still its a battle to get it done and usually its not even finished and i have to shoot it without blueing done or trigger jobs done or things not the way i wanted or no serial number

I'm over it

I think the biggest problem is that many gunsmiths are highly skilled machinists(and artists really). That doesn't really make them good business men as they don't have the skill set and organization needed to make things run smoothly.

Things like ordering parts, filling out paperwork etc don't need to be performed by the person trueing an action. Nor should they be, as it doesn't make them money.

The timelines often quoted seem to come about through woeful organization , time management and poor process. If I ever decide I must have a custom gun, I will discuss with them my objectives, determine every part required and expected timelines to "screw it all together". From there I would order everything in myself and provide them with the components. That's not to say I don't trust them, but if I'm going to get dicked around by a manufacturer I would like to deal with them personally, not have my smith spend time chasing it up when he gets time.

This is not meant to be an attack on the gunsmiths of oz, just my opinion based on reading people's experiences, and steps I would take to try and improve that from my perspective.