Thread: Real gunsmiths

asking for a real gunsmith is like asking for an real electronic tech. you may find someone who will know what internet connection **** is but they cant solder a component into a board. (lucky for me i can)
had an idiot at NL a day ago spouting total bs about rms power. spf etc. load of bollocks and put him in his place
a real gunsmith is an engineer, a craftsman and at time a genius. not some muppet who believes what the hear or see from the net and use it to sell a service

Gonetropo is not to far wide of the mark with the "real electronics tech", all gunsmiths have areas of specialisation and knowledge. Its a matter of both parties being clear about what they expect and what they can deliver.

Another factor is the timeframe for a project, "art" is often not available on demand to the artisan, and often the best guys will consider a project for a long time before they tackle it. Some with specialist expertise get backed up and you have to wait, but usually it'll be worth it - dear old Din Collings (since passed to the other side) springs to mind, 2 years was not unusual!

Originally Posted by gonetropo

asking for a real gunsmith is like asking for an real electronic tech. you may find someone who will know what internet connection **** is but they cant solder a component into a board. (lucky for me i can)
had an idiot at NL a day ago spouting total bs about rms power. spf etc. load of bollocks and put him in his place
a real gunsmith is an engineer, a craftsman and at time a genius. not some muppet who believes what the hear or see from the net and use it to sell a service

I think I'm a real electronics tech but after reading this I'm not so sure

Originally Posted by gonetropo

asking for a real gunsmith is like asking for an real electronic tech. you may find someone who will know what internet connection **** is but they cant solder a component into a board. (lucky for me i can)
had an idiot at NL a day ago spouting total bs about rms power. spf etc. load of bollocks and put him in his place
a real gunsmith is an engineer, a craftsman and at time a genius. not some muppet who believes what the hear or see from the net and use it to sell a service

@gonetropo

You mean .... you can walk barefoot over Wheatstone bridges?

wheatstone bridge-same principle as used is a mine gas detector isn't it?

Originally Posted by Tentman

Gonetropo is not to far wide of the mark with the "real electronics tech", all gunsmiths have areas of specialisation and knowledge. Its a matter of both parties being clear about what they expect and what they can deliver.

Another factor is the timeframe for a project, "art" is often not available on demand to the artisan, and often the best guys will consider a project for a long time before they tackle it. Some with specialist expertise get backed up and you have to wait, but usually it'll be worth it - dear old Din Collings (since passed to the other side) springs to mind, 2 years was not unusual!

@Tentman yor not wrong. My new rifle was two years four months on the build. My gunmaker here in the UK is very good as you can see from the pic above. Gunmaker I call him that because he is a member of "The Worshipful Company Of Gunmakers".
He did his trade with Purdy and Holland and Holland. He's a specialist in making barrels for shotguns and double rifles.
Now he can do stock making, as he has been trained to but finds it's too time consuming and not his best skill so he out sources that.
But he could make you a shotgun from scratch. I've personally seen him fix 100 shotguns.
Sitting behind a CNC maichne dose take some training but I guess that's the difference between a gunsmith and a gunmaker.

Here's his website.
Gunmaking

I thought I was one until my wife reminded me that I was retired!

Originally Posted by gundoc

I thought I was one until my wife reminded me that I was retired!

you will never retire, now its a 50/50 mix of gunsmithing and a hyperactive mutt

Jim Carlson out of Oamaru did excellent work and would work on anything from manufacturing parts to a full build including stock work etc.

Quite a good comment recently by Bill Marr from USA about what constitutes a gunsmith. Brownells are promoting this side of their business to expand it as well as hosting gunsmithing conferences etc.

I had a problem getting a spare set of barrels fitted to a high grade Beretta sidelock shotgun. On a second similar shotgun I had a misfire problem. Three gunsmiths could not tackle or solve the problems with these guns. Eventually, and with some trepidation about potential costs, I took these to Robert Dollimore at Lake Tarawera. He identified and made good the necessary repairs and modifications to both guns. It was plain to see he knew precisely how to analyse the faults and then how to rectify them. He is Purdy trained I believe. He is a gunmaker. I have also seen his work with measuring a very meticulous older shooter for gunfit of a high grade round action 28 gauge s by s. Rob Dollimore rebuilt the mans stock perfectly. Costs? I found him to be very fair and reasonable.

Woody - Your experiences highlight a common issue, most folks have a fair idea of what is "fair value" when they deal with repairs to their car or house because of wide exposure and common knowledge. However when it comes to firearms the depth of knowledge is a lot less and gun owners often have very unrealistic expectations of how much things should cost. Comparing hand finish work to factory finish on stocks is a good example, the Sako factory finish on a Walnut stock (what many people would perceive as nice) bears no resemblance to a decent custom finish - a high grade of custom stockmaking and fine finish will cost a couple of times the price of the whole Sako rifle (and so it should, the Sako is a mass produced factory product).

And in the same way as cars are now, what were once skilled mechanic jobs are being reduced to "parts fitting". If you think about firearms lines such as the AR's are the same, mostly parts fitting. This is exactly how the manufacturers want their product to be. It's not good or bad, it just is.

It's pretty hard to determine real. Often there are good and bad experiences with the same guy. Often there work is good but service is shit, or the other way around.

In general I'm finding service shit latley, more in the motorcycle industry. Asked for a price on a part the other day, the guy says I would need to send a email to get a price and order it. Ok. He says I can't the boss is away for two weeks. What a joke.

I've found Mark at Desert Guns Cromwell to be really easy to deal with and from what I've heard he knows how to do ARs quite well.

If I need it in a hurry he's probably my closest smith .

Great thread - good to see quality smiths & tradesmen recognised.
All too often people are quick to bag some one when it goes wrong but not too often do we hear the good wraps.
I take my hat off to craftsmen and their skills.