All:

For those of you who are interested, here is an update on what Bill Soverns did with my son's .30-06 project. Here is a link to the original thread:

http://forums.accuratereloadin.../3221043/m/706108626

Now, when Bill finally returned my barreled action, this is the condition it was received in. I ask you, having received it back from Bill, do you think he had ANY plans on ever working on this?

























I used some gun oil and 0000 steel wool to start arresting the rusting. The barreled action is being returned to Roger Ferrel for his professional evaluation and fix (if possible). The worst rusting is up on the quarter rib. I'm hoping that some metal polishing will save 90% of the areas with issues, but will reserve judgement until Roger has had a chance to review it. I'm thining the rear sight needs replacing, and maybe the ammo box and maybe the bottom metal; I hope the action and barrel can be saved.

Please post your opinions, thoughts, rants and raves about this.

I am sick to my stomach that this happened. This rifle is not for me; it is for my son. It is a project of love as I share my heritage with a future generation. And for this to happen, man, it just really upsets.

That is just terrible.

I can see how a fella might have problems in his personal life, but I just do not see how a fella could leave a barreled action in the white unprotected.. And let it rust that bad.

I have some foulweather,keep handy all the time guns that I have been using for over 20 years that do not look that bad.

I hope it can be refinished back to 100%.

Tony:

I miss you, my friend! Hopefully we can get together again soon!

Yeah, I'm pretty livid about this project. It is evident after seeing the condition of my barreled action, that Mr. Soverns had NO plans on working on my project, even after accepting Money as a deposit.

That totally sucks.

That stinks! I would be sick also.

But the good news is that it should all be fixable. I am sure as hell not going to stick up for Bill, but surface rust does form pretty quickly on unprotected metal. My guess is Bill's shop was left closed up and unheated.

Not to add insult to injury, but how is the bore?

My guess is that your barreled action is not the only one that got rusty. I would also bet that this is part of the reason Bill has been dragging his feet about sending his customer's projects back.

What a mess!

Geez! There can be no excuse for this! I am so sorry to see the condition of the barreled action. Hopefully it can be saved.

Shameful!

shameful

Terrible, letting that happen is a crime.

BigB

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:
That stinks! I would be sick also.

But the good news is that it should all be fixable. I am sure as hell not going to stick up for Bill, but surface rust does form pretty on unprotected metal. My guess is Bill's shop was left closed up and unheated.

Not to add insult to injury, but how is the bore?

My guess is that your barreled action is not the only one that got rusty. I would also bet that this is part of the reason Bill has been dragging his feet about sending his customer's projects back.

What a mess!

Looks like more than just surface rust to me.

Obviously, something very, very wrong went down with Bill. The fact is we all get emotional about these projects and to see this is a real heartbreaker.

I hope it can be fixed.

we all know how things in the white will "flash rust" I made the mistake of leaving my shop (the 2 car roll up side) door open overnight on a cold and foggy night, next day everything metal that wasn't finished in some way had rust on it, including some very important pieces of a project that were left out and were in the white. (hammers, saws, every frickin thing). I was really pissed at myself.

BUT this degree of rust was neglect, I've had stuff in the white for a while that might show a partial print here and there starting to rust, but nothing that deep.

I honestly am surprised he had the cojones to send it back that way. man, I can understand being upset. I really hope your boy is younger or not aware of what's going on. my first gun project suffered inept work and it really soured me and left me with bad feelings for a long time.

Red

Terrible. If he really cared about his customers' possessions, he would at the very least wrap the metal work in the white with plastic or something until he got to work on it.

The action does not look like a total loss, at least to my untrained eyes. I have seen some military mausers in worse than that condition turn out pretty nice.

The quarter rib however looks pretty badly damaged. I hope you get to salvage the project and I for one would love to see the finished product when Roger gets done with it.

Makes me sick to my stomach to tell the truth. I hope it can be salvaged... probably much easier than salvaging a reputation at this point.

Paul,

Very sorry you are having to deal with all this dissappointment, we can only hope that it can be fixed.

What Sovern's has done is a crime in so many ways...what an ass...

quote:

I used some gun oil and 0000 steel wool to start arresting the rusting.

I'd try either "naval jelly" or wrapping in a paraffin (I think you call it kerosene in US) soaked rag for a week to remove the rust before resorting to removing metal. But if it does have pitting in it then its value is now greatly reduced.

About the ONLY benefit here in UK of our gun law is that if this sort of thing happens in the UK you can ask the police to investigate to see if the guy still actually has the rifle or has had it lost or stolen.

Had to do this once with a gunsmith in Birmingham, England and got the gun back with all the work done and no charge within ONE WEEK of contacting his police force. This after he had had it to work on for THREE YEARS and always the answer that "it needed a special shaped file" or some other delay.

I hope that the bore is OK. It really is odd how behaviour that we would not tolerate from a garage working on our cars we accept from a gunsmith.

A stocking job should be at most two weeks from start to finish.

Here in UK good gunsmiths will quote how long the work will take AND start date when they will be able to begin that work on it. It is then up to you if you want to leave it with them or drop it off the week before the start date given.

577, what happen to the blank? Did he return it and in what shape?

That is a real crime! I would cry a little bit and then it would be ugly. A lot of us has gone through both financial problems and maybe family problems, but that does not excuse what Bill did.
Butch

Everyone:

Thanks for your comments.

Regarding the blank, that is fine and was returned with the barreled action. Thank God he didn't use that for firewood.

I'll keep you updated regarding what Roger says about the action.

The bore looks fine to me, but I don't have a bore scope.

HOLLY SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That didn't happen just over night.

Did you get that recently?

I was told my 3-4 weeks ago actions, blanks and wood would be in the mail. He said he couldn't ship em all together b/c of $. Still haven't received them. I still offered him to pay for shipping.

I'm hoping this is a good sign and that it is indeed a $ issue and that he shipped to you first and I'd get my stuff soon. Frank

That is just wrong and you have a right to be livid.

Sorry something like this happened to you, Maybe a beadblast finish will take care of it?

577Nitro,

Damn, Id be livid too

That is Inexcusable

I am so glad I was warned about him about a year ago when I almost sent him a couple stocks to checker.

I remember the blank and that would be a shame if it disappeared. I hope you can save this project. I had a project with John Ricks that required a lawyer to get back. Tip Burns finished the project in a timely fashion but still to this day I can't look at that rifle and not get annoyed.

That SUCKS!!! Hopefully it isn't too deep and can be cleaned up.

Paul,

Sorry this happened. I hope you can salvage the project without too much hassle, and get over the mental anguish.

Please keep us updated.

I have a Remington single shot 22LR that was given to me in 1972. It had been lost while on a hunt for several years, and then found.

The stock was badly weathered and the metal was seriously rusted, and badly pitted, especially at the end of the barrel.

Suprisingly the bore was still OK.

I had a buddy polish the metal, barrel and action with a wire brush in a "grinder" in his garage.

I refinished the stock, but I have never reblued the metal.

To this day it has never even rusted one bit.

Not a single spot.

I use it now at my place as a quick grab rifle for turtles, etc.

Once in a while I "rub" it with my RIG rag.

It would seem to me that as a CUSTOM GUNSMITH the first thing I would do when recieving someone elses "metal stuff" I would "rub it down with something"...

Paul, a product called Corrosion-X (carried at marine supply shops) will arrest the rust and protect the metal until you're ready to start work on the rifle again. This entire fiasco is a crying shame. I hope you'll find a suitable combination of satisfaction and sweet revenge by the time your son's rifle is complete.

Paul

Sorry for your loss.

What damage Bill allowed to happen to this rifle is inexcusable. I know that you conveyed the importance of this rifle to him and he still let it happen. I have been seeing more and more of this type of disregard lately.

If there is a bright side to this, you did get it back. As far as I can tell from the pictures all of it can be repaired. The only questionable area is at the rib and barrel taper transition point.
How is the rib attached?

James

Sorry to see this, but glad you got it back. Hopefully it can be made right.

Paul,
I am so sorry to see this happen to you,it is an unforgivable crime,the lack of respect shown for your property is downright criminal,whatever you can do to this guy,he's got it coming to him!!!
this guy is not only an insult to common decency,he is also a stain on his profession.

srtrax,

I don't think bead blasting him will help. My preference would be to have him horsewhipped instead.

Rich

I couldn't agree with you more. What a miserable thing to do.

quote:

I don't think bead blasting him will help. My preference would be to have him horsewhipped instead.

Rich

You can do beadblasting with a shotgun...

Paul,

I'm very sorry to see this. I would be pissed!

I hope this all turns out ok.

That's really sad to see. I've had some excellent results with Eezox as a rust preventative oil.

Bill ought to have his ass kicked.

I second the Corrosion-X suggestion. NAPA Auto parts also carries it in most places. If you can;t find it, I can send you some.

Heat the barreled action with a hair dryer, then spray it liberally all over. After it cools, wipe off the excess and it will be good to go for quite a while.

Bill could have easily saved the heartache by spending 5 minutes and 20¢ doing the same thing.

quote:

Originally posted by 577NitroExpress:

I'll keep you updated regarding what Roger says about the action.

Please do keep us updated. I am hoping(and believe) that Roger will get back to you to tell you that it took some stoning and polishing, but that it is as good as new.

Sorry to see you going through the pain Paul. It does not look to me that he did anything more than stick it in a dark corner of the wet garage. Seeing other work by Mr. Farrel I know it will be a masterpiece.
Frank

I looked at the original thread that you posted and the metal work on the barreled action is just beautiful. It is really just criminal for someone to allow that to happen to a customer's property.

I think I would be calling a good attorney, that barreled action has some coin invested in it.