I was wondering if it paid me to buy the tools to do it myself?Thanks,OB

Since I do not trust 99% of "gunsmiths", I always go with the "buy the tools and do it myself" philosophy, regardless of how much it costs. And once you have the tools, you will want to do more.

It is an easy process. I have an upper receiver block and a barrel nut wrench that I can put on a torque wrench. A roll pin punch rounds it out and you are in business.

I don't know what US gunsmiths use as a minimum charge but up here it's about $100 which is about $68 USD. When you tell some guy it will cost $100 to change his barrel he generally freaks out because he can buy a wrench and barrel vise block for $150 including the shipping.

There are a lot of AR15 barrel wrenches and blocks for sale up here too. Used once! Good shape. Cheap. LOL

If all that has to be done is swap the barrel, $40 will get it done in my shop.

It is a simple diy swap

Youtube

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
It is a simple diy swap

Youtube

Maybe so; maybe not. I've had enough broken receivers and buggered up barrel nuts in the shop to know it doesn't always go well. Usually, it takes more than just a barrel wrench to get it done without damage when things don't go easily.

If one could have it done by a good smith for 40 dollars.

That's the way to go.

No different than job costing 3 dozen jackshafts or reboring a set of piston sleeves.

You also have to consider what John said ! Breaking an upper is a real risk and it does happen so you should add $10 per job as insurance for the day you buy the customer a brand new upper when things go sour. I charge $250 for a Pachmeyer Decelorator installed. Partly because I HATE doing them, I don't want to do them and partly because a Weatherby MKV stock is $600 when you have to buy the customer a new one because you nicked his.


AR15 barrel swap by Rod Henrickson, on Flickr

You also need to figure the time required to remove the flash suppressor and remove the taper pins for the original gas block, plus round up the tooling for both. And subsequently put it all back away.

And then the customer also has installed a quad forearm held together with a half dozen hex screws that end up being metric. So I have to spend 10 minutes saying "where the hell is my 3mm allen wrench?". But maybe that's just me.

Nothing is as simple as it should be.

Maybe it's just me, but a nice, round hour for the work alone is a good estimate. Granted sometimes it takes less and other times it takes a bit more with all of the goofy crap that people like to stick on, considering the Loctite and nine million miles of power cables and black tape that people have wrapped around the hand guards.

Over the years I have found that if I charge one guy $100 to drill and tap a bolt action gun and the next guy $200, I eventually have an ongoing battle with people who believe that I have ripped them off. People talk and on those silly little repeat, minimum labor jobs I've found that it's far less painful to just split the difference and rip one guy off a tiny bit and give the next guy a tiny deal. I did this with muzzle brakes too. I used to charge more for the stainless as the 416 steel is triple the price of the 1018, but you just can't make people understand REALLY TECHNICAL STUFF like that. I finally ended up charging $250 for chromoly or stainless, people were a lot happier and I didn't have to spend 20 minutes giving every second person a lecture on steel. Some how it all seems to work out in the end and it speeds up job costing and no one seems to feel that they are getting the short end of the stick because everyone pays the same for what they believe, is exactly the same job.


People are so silly !

Thanks for the opinions.This is a RRA Varmint with no sights and a free float tube.I reckon I will give it a shot myself as I have access to a machine shop.Thanks,OB

If you have a vise, it's easy with an upper block and correct tools. It has risk and "you worked on it last " ...

Do a little research and get yourself all of the right tools and blocks and you will be able to do anything you want to any AR for the rest of your life.

There are little things to watch out for but remember, lots of other folks have figured it out so it isn't rocket science.

A few good AR15 books are the first thing I recommend you buying, and reading.

I'm going to steal this idea from you. Seems that every time I give a customer a break on a job, he comes in with 3 more just like it that end up taking twice as long for some reason or other. I end up stuck doing them for the same price. No good deed goes unpunished.

quote:

Originally posted by speerchucker30x378:
Over the years I have found that if I charge one guy $100 to drill and tap a bolt action gun and the next guy $200, I eventually have an ongoing battle with people who believe that I have ripped them off.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by M Pursell:
I'm going to steal this idea from you. Seems that every time I give a customer a break on a job, he comes in with 3 more just like it that end up taking twice as long for some reason or other. I end up stuck doing them for the same price. No good deed goes unpunished.


Job costing and billing is one of the most difficult tasks to learn and adhere to in small business. No one is eventually going to walk through the door and give you a million dollars so you can retire. You have to make it one invoice at a time. Every time. You have to charge for the shop expenses, you have to charge for your wage and you have to charge for profit so that you can add equipment and grow. If you can't do that you will fail like 95% of those who try do. Or you will end up with an old Atlas lathe, some hand tools and your wife supporting you while you wile away your days. I've seen that many times too.

I paid my buddy three surplus AR magazines and a twelve pack of Miller. We then sat around and drank all the beer afterwards...

THATS WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT
JP