Having a shotgun barrel shortened

Suther said:
So you know of two places with outrageous prices. That doesn't make it the norm. I have never paid over $100 an hour in Surrey/Burnaby.

Also, I wouldn't think chopping a shotgun barrel requires a lathe and mill... More like a hacksaw, file, and a tap set...
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If you want it to look like a billy bob special then yes. A true gunsmith will make it look like it left the factory that way you wouldn’t even know it was cut and the only way you will do that is with percussion machine tools like a lathe and mill. With a Hacksaw and file, you would alway be able to tell some hack job did it.

It doesn’t matter one bit what you pay for automotive repair. What matters is you and many others on this forum undervalue the gunsmiths and think they shouldn’t be charging more than $50 an hour. Their skill is much harder to come by than a Mechanic and they should charge wages equal to or higher than a mechanic. One of my coworker came from Germany to work in the same shop as me. Highly skilled gunsmith did amazing work equal to our master smith. He left back to Germany because he was tired of Canadians complaining about how much he was charging on his bill outs.
 
guntech said:
Well the disassembly of a 37 barrel isn't difficult so a $25 fee for that is ridiculous. No fee is reasonable. Hacksaw the barrel and lathe the muzzle takes 5 minutes. Locating for the bead and drill and tap and the new bead (using a drill press - no expensive milling machine in my shop) is the biggest cost... $10 for shop supply fee is ridiculous... so yes $50 can be considered a fair price... I agree it is about the lowest out there though...
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5 minutes, your the one that’s ridiculous. Go ahead and film yourself doing a 5 minute job of taking the gun apart, putting it in the lathe, cut, crown, take it out, put it in your drill press, measure it, make sure everything is perfectly level, drill and tap. You use cutting oil do you not? You test fire the gun after to make sure it’s working before it leaves your shop do you not? You use touch up bluing, degreaser, and gun cleaning oil do you not? That’s all shop supplies fees. Then put into perspective that our business taxs here ad up to $21,000 per year. That’s $21,000 of good money gone to business tax. Is your shop an actual licensed shop or are you some billy bob no pants unlicensed hack shop? Because then yes, $50 an hour would be more than enough for an unlicensed shop. Hell $30 an hour would be enough.
 
Mumbles Marble Mouth said:
5 minutes, your the one that’s ridiculous. Go ahead and film yourself doing a 5 minute job of taking the gun apart, putting it in the lathe, cut, crown, take it out, put it in your drill press, measure it, make sure everything is perfectly level, drill and tap. You use cutting oil do you not? You test fire the gun after to make sure it’s working before it leaves your shop do you not? You use touch up bluing, degreaser, and gun cleaning oil do you not? That’s all shop supplies fees. Then put into perspective that our business taxs here ad up to $21,000 per year. That’s $21,000 of good money gone to business tax. Is your shop an actual licensed shop or are you some billy bob no pants unlicensed hack shop? Because then yes, $50 an hour would be more than enough for an unlicensed shop. Hell $30 an hour would be enough.
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Where are you and your business located

??

Location
温哥华
 
Mumbles Marble Mouth said:
5 minutes, your the one that’s ridiculous. Go ahead and film yourself doing a 5 minute job of taking the gun apart, putting it in the lathe, cut, crown, take it out, put it in your drill press, measure it, make sure everything is perfectly level, drill and tap. You use cutting oil do you not? You test fire the gun after to make sure it’s working before it leaves your shop do you not? You use touch up bluing, degreaser, and gun cleaning oil do you not? That’s all shop supplies fees. Then put into perspective that our business taxs here ad up to $21,000 per year. That’s $21,000 of good money gone to business tax. Is your shop an actual licensed shop or are you some billy bob no pants unlicensed hack shop? Because then yes, $50 an hour would be more than enough for an unlicensed shop. Hell $30 an hour would be enough.
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With you line of thinking, when i was a service electrician, i should have been charging north of $300/hour because i had a stocked truck and was available 24/7.
 
ROBPECKFORD said:
Hi all, I have two older Ithaca 37s, I'd like to shorten the barrel length on one of them to 18.5 ". One has a poly choke and is currently 26". The other is 30" fixed full choke. Anyone cut down Thier own or use a Smith? Price range for a smith?
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I had one shortened to 22" a few years back, it cost me $85 to have the barrel cut, and $100 to have it threaded for chokes.
 
Mumbles Marble Mouth said:
5 minutes, your the one that’s ridiculous. Go ahead and film yourself doing a 5 minute job of taking the gun apart, putting it in the lathe, cut, crown, take it out, put it in your drill press, measure it, make sure everything is perfectly level, drill and tap. You use cutting oil do you not? You test fire the gun after to make sure it’s working before it leaves your shop do you not? You use touch up bluing, degreaser, and gun cleaning oil do you not? That’s all shop supplies fees. Then put into perspective that our business taxs here ad up to $21,000 per year. That’s $21,000 of good money gone to business tax. Is your shop an actual licensed shop or are you some billy bob no pants unlicensed hack shop? Because then yes, $50 an hour would be more than enough for an unlicensed shop. Hell $30 an hour would be enough.
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You must be a big union man... Ahh yes the 'taking the gun apart' thing again. Open the action, screw the forend cap in about 1/4 inch, turn the barrel 1/2 a turn and remove...did not test fire the barrel chop because it did not come with any complaints... it came in to be chopped. and my shop is a fully licensed shop... and I have been fully licensed for 50 years... and I usually charge about $100 an hour shop fee... that why it would be about a $50 charge.
 
Take a deeeep breath Dennis.
One local shop charges a $50 invoice writing fee.
May have gone up as this was a few years ago.
And that fee is GST'ibble.
 
I doubt that there has been this many gun assemblers around ever. Seems like every small town has a fella with a lathe in a Quonset. In my area rates are reasonable and if they aren’t it’s a short drive to the next shop.
 
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Mumbles Marble Mouth said:
#%^* you guys are tight wads. $60 to cut & crown. $20 to drill and tap install front sight. $10 shop supplies fee. $25 time fee to disassemble gun, put in the lathe, do the job, then take it out and put it in milling machine to drill and tap and reassemble gun. The total time will take an about an hour. No gunsmith should offer their skilled labor for under $100 per hour. In automotive, they charge $220 to $300 per hour. $50 an hour would barely keep the lights in the shop and pay for additional equipment. If you’re wondering why there isn’t many gunsmiths around in Canada, it’s because of tight wads like you who undervalue their skill. $50 what a joke.
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So tell us how you really feel! some people do not have infinate resourses to spend
 
And a small number of small business owners don't feel the need to gouge everyone all the time. Rare in the Canadian gun industry scene I know, but it does exist.

577/450 said:
So tell us how you really feel! some people do not have infinate resourses to spend
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JIMMY 808 said:
I doubt that there has been this many gun assemblers around ever. Seems like every small town has a fella with a lathe in a Quonset. In my area rates are reasonable and if they aren’t it’s a short drive to the next shop.
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Agree with this...anyone with a lathe can easily complete this simple task. I remember doing the same in grade 10 shop class with pretty much zero experience.

I also wish auto tech rates were $250-$300/hour when I was in the trade! Auto door rates in the GTA can typically be around the $140/hour range at dealerships or larger operations with high overheads. But most independant auto repair facilities still charge half of that....even less if you want to pay in cash and have no need for a receipt.

While I do believe a skilled craftsman is deserving of what they may charge for work in their trade...we’re not talking about a job requiring a highly skilled hand here. Were are talking about shortning a barrel. For $150, I’d expect having a barrel shortend with tubes installed. Maybe even a screw in choke included in the deal
 
If your just shooting slugs and buckshot then who cares cut it off at 19” with a hacksaw like Bonnie and Clyde did and handfile it up nice and blue. I have done shotguns this way and on a lathe and they look and shoot the same.
The bead is another story. I leave them off or put a Front sight and rear sight from scattergun Technologies’s
I have done 3 of those so far and they work great
 
Hey Mumble Bumble, please let me quote some work in your house, please! I give you real good deal! We only have few fees,......
drive to your house fee, (yeah you think fuel is free?!)
Get out of my truck fee (wear on the driver's seat, its a real thing)
Truck maintenance fee (hey kms add up, and kms = maintenance)
Snow Day fee (yeah it's not snowing now, but every now and then it does to the point of I can't work, so we need to re coup funds)
....
...
Ok I'm obviously joking, but I own a few businesses, and "fees", are usually poor business practise if what the fee is for, is in direct relation to what the original scope of work entailed. Set your price, based on if you can be profitable. PERIOD. Fees after the fact are excuses for either underpricing yourself, or not becoming efficient enough. Guntech knows what he's doing, and if he can make it at $50, well then he can. He's become efficient. I'll agree that it's a bargain. But business is business, and when I compare my business with others, if we are losing sales, and others are priced less than me, my first thought isn't 'jeez they need to charge more, it's, "what can I do to be competitive". So far that hasn't been a major issue, but from time to time we do tweak things to remain competitive. And to cut down a barrel and finish, well, maybe some have figured out how to do it without putting it on a lathe and having the same end result. Look at a lot of the classic doubles, there's nothing there that a fancy machine can come in and do to remove the need for a skilled craftsman with hand tools.

Oh and hey, if you ever need anyone to break apart a shotgun for $25, bring em down.
 
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Not to hijack the thread but does anybody here have experience cutting an 870 barrel or having one cut? I'm looking for a Smith near Kingston Ont to do it. I'm looking to have a longer barrel in 3 1/2 inch chamber cut to match the length of my 2 shot extension. Problem is with the vent ribs. Where the barrel flushes up with the extension is right before the base of a rib. This will leave you with a long rib cantilever, which is an eyesore. The solution is what? I don't want it cut longer. Is there a way to add a new base to secure the cantilever?

North
 
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