With gunsmiths disappearing in Australia and few filling their shoes ,who are the best gunsmiths from your experience? some years ago Peter Davern was probably one of the most capable and talented and Bill hambly Clark

Bob De'Vries of Kudu Services would beone of the best in this country.

I also see a lot of advretisment from David Stendall of Kopje Custom Rifles, Peter Grisel spent some time with David and I think he is fairly skilled, nice guy to talk to as well.

Depends what area of gunsmithing you're talking about . Some specialise in a particular field or type of firearm .

Rob Blomfield from Sunshine Coast Gunsmithing is also very good and I believe, one of the few who can do the metalwork and also woodwork to a really good standard.

Its a shame to think its basically a dying trade in this country. Hopefully there will be some young budding "smiths" out there to carry on when the current ones are no more.

quote:

Bill hambly Clark

Bill jnr is working out of Brokenhill I'm led to belive! But I do'nt have a adress at the presant time! I always deal through Sprinter arms& have done so for years!The Son ( David)Took over from his father Hector some years ago & unlike his Father has'nt got the same bad temper!He is a very compotent "smith"! to say nothing of produceing terrific barrels!

I,ll throw the hat in by nominating Gabe Gatti if you are into higher quality custom rifles. Can you think of anyone who does higher quality work?

quote:

Originally posted by velodog:
With gunsmiths disappearing in Australia and few filling their shoes

This is the direct result of the intentional neglecting of the traditional trades in favour of "sexy" new technologies, primarily IT.
Proper training in machining and fitting haven't been undertaken for around 20yrs in this country IMHO.
There are plenty of "operators" out there who can run a lathe or drive a CNC machine but sadly few real skilled tradesman knowledgeable in the old ways anymore. And gunsmithing is one of these.
It just ain't cool to make things anymore, ask any young graduate out of uni about it and they look at you like you're some kind of dinosaur.....they look at me in total awe when I say "no worries, we'll just drill out that stripped thread there and re-tap it to, oh, 4-40 UNC or maybe we'll just helicoil it, free running, whatdyareckon?"....jeeez and I'm not even that old.

It's gonna come back to bite us........

Depends on the kind of work you want done... but I agree with PC that Bob DeVries is one of the best if your after a hunting rifle.... that's his bread and butter. He can do stockwork too (but prefers not too), and is near to completing a .22RF double that if I had the cash I'd be commisioning him to build another... If he was in the States, you'd be booking him years in advance.
Cheers...
Con

Like the rest of us gunsmiths have their preferred areas of expertise so it depends what you want done and what you want to spend.

I can recommend Keith Hills (Canberra) or Peter Kay (Dubbo). Peter does good work but is as slow as a wet week.

I havent had David Stendell smith anything for me yet but he has provided lots of good advice and is a really friedly bloke. I will probably ask him to do my next custom job.

Scott

Scott Sharman. Can you name any gunsmith in Australia who Isnt slow as a wet week. Jeeze I wish my boss was so understanding if my work out put was the same. Gotta say though ,the quality of work by these slow gunsmiths has been outstanding. I have had work done by Dave Stendell and will do so again. Come to think about it ,his turn around was pretty quick.
For these specialties ,these are who I have picked.
Best gun quality custom gun making-Gabe Gatti
Benchrest rifles -John Giles
Long range/ F class rifles -Phil Mastin
Shot guns (comp or best guns) -Mialls

Kevin Grinter, Ballarat.

Welcome to the forums Greybeardbushman, now as your moderator you are required to send me $10 per month.....no just kidding Welcome