I sent a rifle to a gunsmith 8 months ago to get it rebarreled, he said it would take about 8 weeks, I've called him 4 times each time he has an excuse for not haveing it done. The last time I talked to him he said he had it done and just needed to test fire it, that was 1 month ago. I have been very patient but would sure like to get it back soon. Could someone in the gunsmithing business please let me know if I should start pushing him or should I keep waiting , I don't want to P--s him off, just want my gun back. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Trapper

I am curious too.

My brother waited over a year to get a Mauser rebarreled, and I waited around a year for my rebarrel. Both of us are not satisfied with this guys work. I had to send my rifle back and my brother did too. Now we have them back, and my brother may send his back to this guy again so this guy can get it right. Don't want to wait another year though.

My turn-around time AFTER I have the barrel is between 6 to 8 weeks tops.


[ 12-22-2002, 07:37: Message edited by: Bear Claw ]

Timley thread. Ive been waiting for two months and my Smith says he is still just waiting on 3 bbls from ER Shaw. He told me that if you want a Shilen bbl that the wait could be very long as their steel supplier went out of business. Anyone else heard that one?

Trapper,

8 months is a little long. I would ratchet it up a touch. If the work is completed and all he is waiting for is to test fire it, be generous, tell him he has 1 week to return it, or it will start to cost him...

Wstrnhuntr,

I just received a batch of barrels from Shilen. I didn't have to wait too long. I have a couple of special orders coming from them that should take about 4 - 6 weeks. Just curious, who's your smith?

Malm

Yep, that's way too long. A year is ludicrous. Changing a barrel takes an hour maybe two at most. I'd give the guy a week to send it back even if it isn't finished.
Hi, G.Malmborg, not every smithy has a good business relationship with his suppliers, as I'm sure you know. Could be the guy doesn't pay his bills so he has to pay up front. Sounds like he works out of his basement and doesn't smith full time to me.

[ 12-22-2002, 09:49: Message edited by: sunray ]

I think I've used the same Smith I generally don't even ask for a time frame. But after three months or so I'll ask for one. If it's going to take longer than that he should tell you before accepting the work. Once you find a good one stick with him. I send most of my rebarrels directly to krieger and have been nothing but pleased .

I waited for a bedding job and a recrown for 9 months. When I started to bug the gunsmith, it took another 2 months to get the gun back, without the bedding job. On the other end of the spectrum, I just got a rebarrel back from Pac-Nor in 4 weeks. They'll get more business from me.

I think that's definitely too long. I had an M1 barrel installed by Orion 7 and I had the rifle back in a week.
Top gunsmiths are usually pretty backed up though. There is a custom gunsmith near me that has a five year backlog on custom rifles.

It also matters what kind of action it is your rebarreling. Almost anybody can rebarrel a Mauser with very little problems. The hard part is finishing the chamber(If you buy a short chambered pre threaded barrel) The whole process is only a couple hours work, tops.
Now before everybody starts flaming me, I'm talking about screwing off the old barrel, screwing on the new barrel and finishing the Chamber. Lapping the lugs, true-ing the action or cutting the threads and tapering a barrel blank is something else altogether different, but either way, if he said 8 weeks, and he's now at 8 months you have waited way too long. Sue the prick.

Tell someone that hangs on to a gun that much over what he tells that you will report the gun stolen if he doesn't return it. Then send it to someone else. Find a diffeerent gunsmith!

chuck

Gents,
I can fully understand where you are coming from..I am so glad I moved to and found another 'smith. Very happy now I have a relationship with a professional in every respect.
But if you want a horror story I have one for ya.
In '92 I lived on the North Oregon Coast,there was/is a 'smith located in the basement of a sporting goods store in Astoria...I had a friend that sold me a '98 Mauser basket case for 50 bucks,,,I dropped it off in Astoria telling the "smith" I wanted a 308 barrel,bolt bent,buehler safety and D&T'd. Pretty basic stuff there..well after a month he called and told me my rifle was ready...eagerly went over and picked it up,bedded the action in a Ramline Syntech stock,scoped it and By Golly it was swell ! I was impressed..went back with a Tanfoglio TA90 that decided to be a prick and destroyed its own extractor..waited 2 months and finally called,,he tells me he hasn't been able to find the part,,if I wanted the gun back he could make me one,,,,Well sheesh..why didn't he just do that after a month? 2 weeks later finally picked up the pistol,looked like crap basically. Had no further faith in the pistol and sent it down the road....here's where I gave him his final chance to fortune,,,I aquired a semi-decent No1mk3 SMLE 303..good wood,metal furniture was in nice shape but the bore was,well a sewer pipe. I looked over my options and my eyes fell upon a 303 sitting on my bench,,,next to it was a 45-70...Hmmmm thought I.could it be done? I approached this guy and he said "well I have been wanting to do that myself" ok great!
I dropped it off and waited,and waited,called and waited....this lasted THREE YEARS ! in the meantime I had moved to central oregon so everytime I called it was long distance ! Excuses....excuses..My oh My he came up with some doozies...the barrel,,I screwed up the first on he says,gotta get a second,,the magazine wont work he says,,,waiting on Gibbs Rifle to release theirs,,,still redoing the barrel,,Finally I said Hey just send me the damn rifle,I don't care anymore whether you think you can do the job or not but as I have spent a fortune on the phone you just send me what you have. I have a better chance of getting a smith over here to try it for awhile. THREE YEARS FOLKS !!! We haggled over the price and settled on 150,due my expenses and his...got the rifle,,,well it does look dandy,full military trim,,looks just like any one of my other SMLE's til you look at the muzzle.
And its a 2 shooter at best,never have been able to correctly modify a mag to do any better,,And Gibbs ? Still waiting there too,,,,,,ten years and counting there.... so when you reflect on a lil 6-8 month wait,,,realize it could be much worse.........45nut

I know the problem with slow gunsmithing and I think I know where the problem comes from. I've watched it in action and you can too. Just visit your local gunsmith and watch for a bit.

What does he do all day? Talks bullshit with everyone who walks in the door. All of us have some questions. All of us have a tale to tell or a joke to laugh at.

Pretty soon, most gunsmiths aren't gunsmiths. They are closer to bartenders, marriage counselors and priests. They don't have time to actually work on guns.

And it's as much OUR FAULT as it is theirs. Probably the best gunsmith situation is where customers walk in and talk to a "front guy" about their problem or whatever...and they never actually lay eyes on the real gunsmith because he is in the back doing what he is supposed to do, i.e. work on guns. JMHO