Just this year, I had my first custom built rifle made from a W70 30-06. I had it converted to a 6.5-06, with HS stock, 29 inch Kreiger tube, new LRT scope, etc.

This may be a stupid question to some, but when you receive a rifle such as the one I had built, wouldn't there also be some type of written statement from the gunsmith as to what was done, itemized cost of different things done, rate of twist, barrel maker, trigger manufacturer, just all the dirty details of why you just spent 4 figures to throw chunks of lead at high velocity? A reciept, maybe?

He did provide me a small scrap book of technical photos of the processes, but it is extremely technical in nature and doesn't really tell a story of the gun and why it is special.

When you receive your custom guns, what does your gunny provide to you as testament that something took place at his shop Thanks for your patience, Jim R

When I had my #1 reworked, I told him what was to be done, the bbl, maker, twist, caliber, the trigger, the bases, type and manufacturer. When it was finished he included an invoice with everything I had requested listed as done, the old parts not used came back. I also knew before hand what each would cost.

Jim
This is an "it depends" thing. There's no "rule" for it, except that the caliber be cleary marked, and a long gun stay a long gun (atf rules, overly simplified)

If you asked him for an accounting/parts list, I am certain he'll be happy to provide it. That is, if you took the rifle to him, and asked him to make the choices and decisions.

If you specficied everything, then you should be able to rebuild this.

If your question is "does my 'smith know what he put in my gun" the answer is HELL YES, or he won't be in business long. He'll have a journel/log and a list of what he did, even if it's in techincal shorthand.

Tell us about your rifle, what you had done to it, and how it shoots.

enjoy it, it's yours, and I'll wager well worth the wait and expense

jeffe

Mostly, when I do a rifle, I send a proposal to the client listing the items and services to be performed. With the down payment comes approval to start and if anything is to be changed, they will let me know. This is primarily the work order.

Jim

Jim R,

Jim R wrote: "When you receive your custom guns, what does your gunny provide to you as testament that something took place at his shop [[Confused]] Thanks for your patience, Jim R"

I give my customers a copy of the invoice that lists everything that was done to the weapon, fired cases and papers explaining how to care for the weapon including the crown and recommended breakin procedures of the barrel.

Ask your gunsmith for something in writing that you can understand that describes what he did.

Malm

Thanks for the replies. What has been posted so far is pretty much what I anticipated.

I have no doubt as to the craftsmanship that took place. I did this long distance without every actually meeting the guy face to face, and make no mistake, the work he did I believe to be top notch, in fact i probably got very lucky finding him. He also contracts with the military building some of their tactical weaponry. And it's not that I don't trust him to do what he said. Truth is, I am so green at this type of thing that I really need this "invoice" in writing so that I am aware of exactly what took place.

To make a long post even longer, I sent him my 30.06 to basically use the action to build a 6.5-06 to step into the long range arena to be used for some hunting but primarily for target shooting. I followed his lead in telling me what needed to be done to really have it done right. 29 inch Kreiger barrel, 1 in 9 twist, HS Percision stock, trued reciever, bolt reworked and trued, lapped lugs, lapped scope mounts, all turning, threading and chambering doen from one set up in the lathe, reamers hand stoned for smoothness, dies made from same reamer, basically everything one would expect from a "true" custom conversion. Some of the things I mentioned above came from his photo montage. He photos much of his work for magazine articles and features. The gun weighs in at about 13 pounds, scope and all.

He sent me a great photo album of most of the action work and barrel work with short descriptions of same. It just isn't as complete as I would like. It is not a "trust" issue simply an issue that I want to have everything documented professionally and in writing so that when someone asks what I had done, I can tell them and sound like I know what exactly was done. And, in the remote chance I was to sell it(which I vowed years ago guns are for buying, not selling)I would have a spec sheet to go with it so that person would know what they were getting.

No, I do not have the know-how to be able to tell a 'smith what exactly i want done, and I am certainly not able to rebuild our conversations in my own writing. I just need to ask him for a detailed invoice of what was done, as many of you have already thought to do. I just thought the photo thing would basically do all that when I originally asked him for a description of work done and it doesn't, at least not to my green-horn satisfaction. And I am not ill about, I just wanted to make sure i wasn;t asking for something absurd in the world of custom gun building.

Worth the wait and expense? Hell, yes. Simply fire-forming brass using 47 grains of H4831, I have had only 4 holes out of 20 that were not touching another. I haven't even begun to work up a load yet.

All this began when i found this site and a couple of others like HA, another long range site, and of course the other cusotm gun sites that are enticing, to say the least. Trying to sell my bass boat so I can dedicate more time (money) to this field of endeavor.

Sorry for the long post, I just get so excited when talking about it!!!! Thanks for your patience and replies, Jim R

Jim R,

As far as getting pictures instead of an itemized invoice you know what they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Tell me more about the dies being made from the same reamer... What same reamer?

Malm

I know where you coming from, but on the other side of the coin so to speak. I recently purchaced a Rem 700 300 Ultra LSS and it was freefloated already, but the gentleman never mentioned any other work had been done other than the trigger was professionally done. I was intending on having the action trued etc but looking further I discovered the boltface had also been trued and witness marks on the reciever, barrel and lug were noted. The matte SS was pollished around the edges of the barrel face and lug face and looked as though the reciever etc had been already trued and debured.

I contacted the seller and he said he forget that another smith had done some work on it as far as accurizing it but had forgotten about it and wasn't sure exactly what was done really.

I have not been able to get hold of the smith that did the work so far, but don't want to pay for things to be done that already have been, know what I mean. I would recomend getting a list of services performed in the case of resale or for future reference if needed. I'm glad some work has already been done, just wish I knew for sure if something was not.

As was indicated by the seller later, if he had remembered the action was trued and not have gotten it confused with all the others he buys and sells, he would have charged more for it. The $500.00 I paid for it turned out to be a better deal than expected.

The pictures, while interesting, do not tell the whole story. Check your email, Malmborg. I sent you a couple of them.

I certainly see your point, Brett. Thanks, Jim R