Gunsmiths gone bad?

Have you had problems with work done by a gunsmith?

  • No

    Votes: 163 41.1%

  • Yes

    Votes: 234 58.9%
  • Total voters
    397
LittleBoyLefty said:
My experience wasn't as bad as yours. But, he will never get my business again either. Hard to believe some of these guys stay in business. Russell's should stop giving out his info.............
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I was given his name by both Russell's and by one of the Managers at Wholesale Sports that I know.

I have a friend who had some work done on his 300umag by #### Pietch and was happy with the results. I've just heard he's not too quick.

Another friend had a firing pin in a Marlin 336 30-30 replaced by The Rifleman (Ray) and he was happy with the results. I seem to remember him saying the guy was a bit odd but his work was alright.

In the future I'll be going to either ATR or Dave Henry in Bentley.
 
I just had some warranty work done on my S&W 625 buy Murray at
MD Charlton's, pretty good turnaround time, and super service!
Gunnar at Amco has treated both my son and I well as well.
Cat
 
Since moving west, I have had a significant number of projects completed at Armco by Gunnar. I have been extremely satisfied with his work. But what really stands out for me is what he did when a project went wrong. I had blown up a Compensated Springfield P9 in 40 s&w by pushing the envelop in the reloading department. I sent the gun to Gunnar for repairs and we decided to change the calibre to 9x40. I shot the gun for a season and could not get it to function reliably. Gunnar asked me to send the gun back to him for inspection. He found that the slide had developed a crack through the locking lugs. We were not sure if this was a result of the original Kaboom or something that developed later. He could have said “not my problem”, what he did say was “I will give you a credit for the full price of the original repairs and what ever I can salvage from your gun in parts”. I of course accepted his offer and was into a Springfield 1911 in 38 super for just a little more money.

I measure a man not by what he does when thing are going well, but by what he does when this go to hell. Gunnar earned my continued respect and subsequent business not by his skills, which are non the less considerable, but buy his honourable business practises.

Jim
 
I have had work done by 3 different Wpg smiths. The first was a custom 30-06 that had to be fixed 3 ####ing times because the original ####### was a blithering incompetent dickweed. I sent it back the first time to have the chamber cleaned up because the reamer chattered, and I wanted the barrel fluted.Gave it to him in April, got it back in November, and he had, no ####, cut the flutes with a dremel tool I think. They were rough as hell , asymmetrical, and each one was a differen depth from one end to the other. So, lesson learned, I gave serious thought to calling Revenue Canada and having him audited for the next 200 years or so. Took it to Don Campbell, who laughed for 20 minutes, then rechambered and fixed the fluting, glass bedded and trigger job. Unfortunately, because of the laundry list of severe ####ups I handed him, he didn't set the barrel back far enough, and I eventually had to send it to PGW , which solved the problem. Don is a great guy for rebluing, and is now out in BC somewhere. I also had good work done by PGW. I guess the moral of the story is research and references.
 
Come listen to a story bout a man named Bubba Jed
A poor basement gunsmith, who barely kept his family fed.
Out one day he was out shootin’ at some deer
When he tripped over his Enfield barrel and spilt his last beer.

Well first thing ya know Bubba’s a sporterizing fool.
Kinfolk said Bubba shorten that old war fightin tool.
Said use a hacksaw and remove that bayonet lug.
So he sawed up the gun then swigged from his jug.
Shortened that is.
Sanded down and painted OD Green.

Well now its time to say goodbye to Bubba and his kin.
And they would like to thank you folks fer kindly dropping in.
You’re all invited back again to his basement gunsmith shop
To have a helping heapin of their jug swiggin fun
And to have a stock sanded or a barrel redone.
 
I had some work done by a local 'smith who has a good reputation. It was just a simple blueing job, but the end result was horrible. I feel that I was misled in the quality of the job that I was paying for, parts of the action and bolt were not blued at all, and worst of all, he greatly decreased the valve of the rifle when he got a little crazy with the polishing process. The name "husqvarna vapenfabriks" was almost completly polished off, the last few digits of the serial number are very thin due to over polishing...and the biggest kick in the @ss was the crown insignia on the reciever...it's still there, but not near as pronounced as before. I nearly cried. The worst thing is, it was totally unnecessary to polish it that much, because the metal was in good shape...no rust or pitting and a lot of the old blue was still there. On top of that, I got a crap blue job. Not a bit of satisfaction from the 'smith. Offered to re-do it at my expense, but the additional polishing required to get a better finish would totally remove all original markings. My words of advice...ask lots of question before handing over your money to make sure this doesn't happen to your pride and joy rifle.
Chris
 
NB.nagantsniper said:
mr randy doucet in northern nb is great on rifles.
lives in tabusintac nb.
made me up a nagant pu (enema at the gates nagant sniper)
soon to make me a pem nagant.
takes time but you cant get good work fast.
nuff said
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got mY pe nagant this week another EXCELLENT JOB......... FROM MR RANDY DOUCET .........TAKES TIME BUT GOOD WORK NORMALLY DOES......

HES IN TABUSINTAC NB.
nuff said
 
Bad gunsmithing experiences happen! the gunsmith that did the work should work with his customers to make things right ...
Any bad reputation can hurt anyone a carpenter ,mechanic .etc.Communication is important for the Smith as well as the customer ,if this dosen't happen then how can things be done properly ,Be honest and respectful.
Gunsmiths have bad days so do Customers.....
AND IF YOU CAN'T DO THE WORK DON'T or If you mess up make good.......

Hopefully you all won't chase the rest of the Canadian gunsmiths away they are needed and the fewer that are here the busier the ones that are left will be.Might be good but more than likely it won't be ,waiting times will get longer and the few smiths that are left will be too tired to care....

I'm in the business and it's not an easy one to break into .Good luck to the old and the new Smiths ..
 
Last edited:
Ummmm, GCG would you possibly be Gerry's Custom Gunsmithing, as your initials suggest? :confused:

Looks like blatant self-serving BS, if that is the case. :runaway:

Of course, it is probably just a coincidence......... :rolleyes:
 
OK, sure thing Gerry. As a good public service I am going to write my own feedback now. :dancingbanana:

Ahem (modesty prevents me from going "over the top" :redface::redface::redface:)......

"Doug does the best deals on Gun Nutz. He is a genius amongst men and a boon to Gun Nutz wherever they encounter him. I would be pleased just to touch the hem of his garment."

No need to thank me for this important public announcement. :p

Doug
 
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