How do I choose a gunsmith?
I'm thinking about having some custom work done to build a varmint rifle and I just don't know where to start as far as finding a gunsmith I would feel comfortable with as far as competency. I know it is an art an has many nuances. I am a somewhat new to real precision rifing so this is a learning curve for me. I have a Remington 700 action I want to build off of to start my new passion but I just don't want to waste money on a gunsmith I might be disappointed with. I live in a region where there aren't many gun shops around and the one I am familiar with, which has been around since I was a kid, recently went out of business. For that matter I don't even know if they were good at building accurate rifles to begin with. I guess what I need to know is if I should search the Internet and find a rifle builder with a great website and reputation and trust their posted credentials or try to find a word-of-mouth local to do the work. I'm just hoping for some experienced advice in this area so I start on the right track and don't get discouraged early. I don't mind spending a little money but I can't afford to waste much either. It seems like this is a very big judgment call that I don't have much experience with. Smiths are seemingly hard to come by to begin with, I guess I'd rather go to one with experience in bolt action accuracy rifles. I don't know, maybe a good smith is a good smith and that's all there is to it??? HELP! That's why I am here to bug those of you who know about these things. Any advice or words of wisdom are welcome.
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By a $50 Jennings .22 pistol, take it to a gunsmith. If he can make it function flawless then feel confident bringing your rifle to him as you have found a genuine miracle worker[;)]
If you don't know any gunsmiths in your area well then find out who the local PD sends their SWAT teams' sniper rifles to, that's usually a good place to start. If you plan on shipping it somewhere, try Weapon Works in Phoenix AZ, ask for Tommy, the guy does awesome things with Remingtons and AR's.
Love them Beavers
Here's an extra one for you Hairy 0 -
chezick,
Finding a good gunsmith or finding a gunsmith that you trust and want to work with is very similar to finding a good mechanic for your automobile. Lots of times it can be hit or miss. Finding someone local and trustworthy can be more frustrating depending on your area of the country.
Check with the local gunstores, local shooters at the range, buddies that shoot, then spend some time reading on a couple of the varmint oriented boards to see if there is a consensus of opinion as to who builds the good varmint rifles. Bank on the fact that opinions will vary and in some cases by quite a bit. Some folks like to think of a gunsmith as a buddy or best friend and therefore deserving of the ultimate trust and loyalty. That's all well and good but remember that this is first and foremost, a business relationship. The 'smith is doing work for you in exchange for money, your hard earned money. Always be sure that both of you have a complete understanding of what is to be done and what the cost will be. A written description and total cost assessment is a valuable tool along with a date of completion.
This little diatribe doesn't solve your problem, though. Do some checking around. Use a good search engine and do some reasearch on the internet, you'll be amazed at what you can find with very little effort. I have sent you an e-mail with some more information. If you would post your region or state, I might do a bit better. If local doesn't pan out, just get used to the idea of shipping to a trusted gunsmith.
Best.0 -
not knowing where you are:
www.sgyrifles.com
www.gaprecision.net
www.hdrifle.com
these a re just a few of the premier rifle builders around. the second two focus on tactical type rifles. the first one builds the best bench rest rifles around.0 -
I am not interested in a gunsmith who spends all his time on a low end piece that breaks all the time. I would be more inclided to go to the guy who turned down working on the junk. 0 -
Many smiths are semi specialists. Meaning that they are either real good at making metal go together right and shoot well or they are more into the stock side of the equation. Quiz any possible smith to see which he goes into more detail about as you probably want someone more into the metal then the stock for a varmint rig. With a Rem 700 I would hope you could send the action out and have it built and then yourself drop it into say a HS Precision aluminum bedded synthetic stock and get very good results. A friend of mine sent out an action 3yrs ago and just got the whole rifle back. He could have gotten the barreled action back inside of 6 months, if he had been willing to stock it himself. 0 -
....by how well he treats your daughter........if you know what i mean.[:)]
rule of thumb, most gunsmiths spend their lives fixing guns not worth fixing. all the real good gunsmiths get scooped up by big gun co.'s on graduation. after they work with them for a while, they either leave and go private or stay for the gold watch.
when they do go private, its usually to work on the gun theyve perfected.
finding a do all gunsmith usually bags you good work on one day, and ehhhh the next. and they all have favorite jobs, just like plumbers.[;)]
former air operations officer SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 2. former navy skeet team, former navy rifle/pistol team member. co-owner skeetmaster tubes inc.. owner/operator professional shooting instruction. NRA certified instructor.0
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