Gunsmith required to drill and tap 4 holes on 500a receiver

CoverFire

CoverFire

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As the title says I'm looking for a gun smith/ machinist to help me out. I need 4 holes drilled and tapped ( I believe it is 8-40 tpi) for a picatinny rail on my 1978 Mossberg 500a receiver (these did not come drilled and tapped back in the day). my local gunsmith wanted $30 a hole!! that is insane and I refuse to pay that. I do not have the time or experience to challenge this and screw up my own receiver...

located Hamilton Ontario, willing to drive or ship even to gunsmith to complete the task.
please DM me if you are interest/willing to do this for me, please include price.
thanks.
 
People need to charge other people for the work they do to make a living. Housing and groceries cost money. Do the work yourself and keep track of your time. Consider things like the cost of the drill press or mill and the tooling in mind. Getting your car worked on here runs about $136/hour. Do you think your smith can deal with you, set up the job and complete it in less than an hour?
 
To do that right I can't see it being any quicker than an hour.

Consider that your gunsmith has to pay the rent/mortgage, keep the lights/heat on, invest in tooling and equipment, and make enough from doing the work to actually be able to eat.
 
Do that sort of job and break even one tap. Discover what is involved in fishing out a broken tap from a hole. Then look up what quality 6-48 or 8-40 taps cost. And the correct number sized drill bits for each size that have to be re-sharpened or replaced. After that, will want to be using fresh drill and fresh tap, often! This, of course comes after stripping the firearm down to be able to drill and tap, have or make the correct length of screws on hand, and re-assemble the firearm. So, drill press or mill, taps, tap "digger outer" and a Forster jig to ensure four holes are aligned. Say $2,000 minimum in machine and jig; $5 to $10 per tap and drill bit. And then the "special people" that want to "chat" when you could be doing something.
 
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Brownells current price for a Forster jig is $US459.95.
Glad I got mine, used, years ago. Upgraded it with the extension to increase versatility.
Then there is the time and effort learning how to use it effectively.

It is really easy to spoil a gun with crooked, misaligned, misplaced holes. Drilling holes in someone else's gun is a stressful job. Doing a 99 Savage is not a favorite, the rear base being on a less than level receiver surface.

It is possible to install a one piece base on something like the 500 without precision tools.
Place the base in position, wiggle it around until you are sure it is properly located. Use a pencil and run a ring around one hole at the end of the base.
Strip the gun, removing the bolt.
Center punch the dead center of the little penciled ring.
Hold the receiver in a padded vice. Drill the hole. If you have a good eye and steady hands, you can do it with an electric drill. Use a taper tap, and cut the threads. All these holes are through holes, not blind ones, so only the taper tap is needed.
Install the base, tightening down the one screw. Wiggle the base until it looks really straight. Mark the other three holes. Remove the base, center punch, drill and tap the hole at the other end.
Reinstall the base, secured with the screws at either end. Center punch, drill and tap the last wo holes. You can work with the base in place. Install screws. Make sure screws don't protrude inside the receiver. Shorten if necessary.
Reassemble the gun.
Eyeball the installation. Does it look straight?
The holes should be in line. They should be properly spaced. Maybe.
There are rings with built in windage adjustments if the base isn't quite in line with the axis of the gun.
 
tiriaq said:
It is really easy to spoil a gun with crooked, misaligned, misplaced holes. Drilling holes in someone else's gun is a stressful job. Doing a 99 Savage is not a favorite, the rear base being on a less than level receiver surface.
Click to expand...

Ha! I find it very stressful to drill holes in my own rifles, let alone on someone else's!!! No one else in the shop, except the dog, to blame when it doesn't "work out right"!!
 
CoverFire said:
As the title says I'm looking for a gun smith/ machinist to help me out. I need 4 holes drilled and tapped ( I believe it is 8-40 tpi) for a picatinny rail on my 1978 Mossberg 500a receiver (these did not come drilled and tapped back in the day). my local gunsmith wanted $30 a hole!! that is insane and I refuse to pay that. I do not have the time or experience to challenge this and screw up my own receiver...

located Hamilton Ontario, willing to drive or ship even to gunsmith to complete the task.
please DM me if you are interest/willing to do this for me, please include price.
thanks.
Click to expand...

Kinda stuck ain't ya? ;)
 
I did this job last month on an 870 TAC-14. Relatively low risk with this cheaper shotgun, and it's mine, I wasn't too worried about anyone else's opinion of the job I did. But then again I'm a bit of a perfectionist (hence the choice of careers as a violinmaker), so of course I did an excellent job of it. But I went one further than most, as I could see no reason not to permanently bond the rail to the receiver. I chemically cleaned the top of the receiver and base of the scope rail, then applied liberal amounts of steel filled JB Weld to both and pressed them together lightly with clamps, assuring perfect alignment with a little cardboard cut-out jig I made so I knew it was aligned at both ends the same, and with the jig flipped to ensure it was centred. Wiped away all squeeze-out with alcohol soaked paper towels, then waited a week for the epoxy to fully cure.

Once it was strong, I dismantled the gun and proceeded to drill the four holes on a drill press, after first carving out the epoxy from each hole with the tip of a knife to ensure the drill bit would be properly centred. Installed each little 6-48 bolt with a dab of JB Weld, then later hand filed and polished the inside face to remove any burrs. Job done. Rock solid rail is now a part of that 870. I'm thinking I'll do the same with my second 870, as the bolted-on optics mount is a bit ugly and bulky.

What would I charge to do this job on a shotgun for someone else? About what your gunsmith charges for drilling and tapping the 4 holes. I typically work for $60/hour these days doing instrument repairs and setups, so $120 would be slightly over-charging... but then again, as stated by someone else already, the tools aren't free, and there's always a risk when working on something for another person. You want good work? Pay for it. If the work delivered sucks, make it clear that this is not acceptable and seek compensation, and if still not satisfied, share your negative review of the guy's work. But same goes for if the work turns out well - make sure you thank the craftsman and share a positive review. $120 is frankly a bargain for just about any custom gunsmithing job in my opinion. I'd say a similar price for threading a muzzle and re-crowning, and certainly more for re-varnishing a stock. Heck, a person can't buy much of anything these days for $120 unless it's some cheap stuff made in China. What you're looking for is quality work. Pay the man.
 
thanks.. ill do it myself and "find the time" .....i was hoping for like $20 a hole but guess thats not happening. i already have the drill bits and taps, why not give it a go :d
 
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Any machine shop could do it in less than an hour. More like 1/2 hour. I could do my wingmasters during a 10 minute break. Lightly clamp it in a vice (I put paper on the sides so not to mark the part. Pick up the center of the receiver with an edge finder. Once you know where to put the first hole set your zero and work to the numbers. 4 center drills,4drills, 4 taps and you’re done. A lot of shops are slow right now. For a cash job you could probably get it done for fifty bucks. Have it stripped, and mark where you want the first hole and they will do the rest. Take the rail and the tap with you (it’s not a real common size and they may or may not have one)
 
CoverFire said:
thanks.. ill do it myself and "find the time" .....i was hoping for like $20 a hole but guess thats not happening. i already have the drill bits and taps, why not give it a go :d
Click to expand...

Um do you have the right drill bits for the job???

First, you're going to have to indicate all of the holes in a straight line on the receiver. Then you're going to have to center punch each of the indications in a similar manner. Very easy to miss the indication by enough to cause grief.

If you have a compound vice, with enough travel to fit under a a drill press, when it's bolted down and the travel screws can be aligned with the first and last holes, that would be a good start.

Also, the drill bits. If they're ordinary "Twist" drills, there is a very good chance that they will walk off the center punch divot, when pressure is applied and you will end up with offset holes.

It's up to you, but you need a "center drill" to start the holes.

Center Drill bits have a very small pilot drill on the tip and a solid, very stiff shank. This will stop your drill point from wandering.

If you have a milling machine, even better. The receiver can be clamped in the vice, after it's been completely stripped down and every thing aligned to be true to the axis of the bore, as well as being perfectly perpendicular to the receiver.

A bit more to it than a battery operated hand drill and flexible twist drill bits.

Complete strip down and reassembly are likely part of the gunsmiths estimate. Did you ask if you could send them just the receiver???
 
You can tell who has done this type of work and who has not
All things considered 30.00 is a fair price
Also nobody mentioned the 20 mins of talking before and the 20 mins after
with the customer
Sydney
 
Do it yourself... And hope you don't screw up!!! If you don't like to hire someone don't hire them.. But don't complain on the price either... Gunsmithing is dying in this country as it is.........
 
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