Is there a decent gunsmith in Calgary?

H

Huntin' Gun

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I have a gun that could use a bit of checking out. I've had work done by the Rifleman's Shoppe, but I found his attention to detail rather lacking. He marred my barrel in the chuck of his lathe, and I'm not too keen to go back.

I've gone into the shop of Safari, and that guy is just a real jerk. I wanted a rechambering done and he quoted me a price. Great. Then I was asking him about feeding the new cartridge, and he told me that he was only going to run the reamer for that price. If it doesn't feed, that's my problem and will cost more to address. To me, rechambering means making sure the new cartridge works.

There's a small time guy that's done some work for me, but this last time his apprentice did the work, and I was NOT impressed. The apprentice is his daughter, and I don't know how it will go if I take in another rifle and say that I want HIM to do the work, not his daughter.

Anyway, there's a lot of shooters in Calgary. There's got to be a decent smith around here, no?
 
I wanted a rechambering done and he quoted me a price. Great. Then I was asking him about feeding the new cartridge, and he told me that he was only going to run the reamer for that price.To me, rechambering means making sure the new cartridge works.

Your 'meaning' of re chambering is your perception, obviously not shared by the gunsmith.

That's why the price was right for re chambering... rechambering is just that - rechambering... some re chamberings will require bolt, extractor and magazine alterations before it will all function properly. Some customers do some of their own alterations but can not re chamber. Some gunsmiths will re chamber but don't wish to do other alterations.
 
I'm with Dennis on this. Re-chambering is just that. Action and magazine alterations are among the most time consuming jobs the gunsmith can perform and, in the case of a cartridge change, many of the changes required are unique to the job. Because of this, it can be difficult to estimate cost. If a customer seems like he is going to be even a little difficult to deal with on this, the gunsmith should pass up the job. Regards, Bill
 
I have prior experience with both Safari and the Rifleman. Both were terrible for various reasons.

What about Rocky Mountain Gunsmithing in Okotoks?

What are you looking to have done?
 
Leeper said:
I'm with Dennis on this. Re-chambering is just that. Action and magazine alterations are among the most time consuming jobs the gunsmith can perform and, in the case of a cartridge change, many of the changes required are unique to the job. Because of this, it can be difficult to estimate cost. If a customer seems like he is going to be even a little difficult to deal with on this, the gunsmith should pass up the job. Regards, Bill
Click to expand...

What you and Guntech say makes sense. If this is explained up front in a cordial manner, then fine. That way all the cards are on the table. But this guy is very ornery and difficult to deal with himself. He didn't explain it clearly like you just did. It's like he's doing me a favor by allowing me in his shop. That's even before I've committed to do the job with him. I can only image how bad it would be to deal with him after he's got my rifle.
Anyways, he's not on my list of gunsmiths I'd like to deal with.
 
Mad_Mikee said:
I have prior experience with both Safari and the Rifleman. Both were terrible for various reasons.

What about Rocky Mountain Gunsmithing in Okotoks?

What are you looking to have done?
Click to expand...

Th rifle I'm having issues with is a rifle that I bought FROM the guy in Okotoks you mention. I bought it a while a go, but haven't fired it because I was looking for a replacement stock. I found the stock and had it inletted by Twister [a small-time gunsmith here in Calgary]. The barrel now has a new scratch that it didn't have before, and the notch cut for the safety was rough and poorly done. I took the time to file smooth the rough-looking cut, and now it looks pretty good. Amazing what a little time and attention to detail can do.

Anyway, as I was fiddling with it I noticed that the claw extrator on this rifle [a commercial mauser 98] has been ground a bit. When I cycled a dummy round, it fed real well and extracted fine, but wouldn't eject. Even if I rammed the bolt open pretty hard so the brass would hit the fixed ejector pretty hard, most of the time the round would just stay on the magazine follower. A few times it lazily fell out, and once it flew across the room, like it should if things were working well.
If one were to try to cycle a new round quickly to give a follow-up shot, more than likely the old brass would not eject, and things would get gummed up. Not good.

I have a feeling the gunsmith in Okotoks knew about this when he sold me the rifle, so I don't really want to pay him to fix it. I sent him an email about it, and I haven't heard back yet.

I wonder if the round isn't ejecting because the exctractor has been ground down a bit. It maybe isn't holding enough of the rim to pop out the brass when it hits the fixed ejector.
A new K98 extractor is only a couple bucks from Tradeex, but I don't know if that's really the problem. Also, I don't know if I'm able to take apart the bolt to replace it. I've seen on the internet how to take apart a 98 bolt, and it looks pretty easy, but those all had the safety on the bolt, and mine is a side-safety. I'd hate to have the spring fly out or something like that.
I'd also like it jewelled to match the rest of the bolt, but I don't have the tools to do that either.

Anyways, that's where I'm at with my problem. I hope Rocky Mountain Gunsmithing is honest enough to deal with the issue, but if not I may need a decent gunsmith. The ones I've tried so far have been disappointing.
 
What ever happened to Gary Valla? He used to gunsmith way out in South East Calgary. I don't know how his work is.
 
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