what would you do if gunsmith did this to your gun?

have the smith either complete the repair at a "good price" or failing that, ask for his insurance info and start getting repair estimates, at least 3.

What you did...

Then I would do the "lots of work" to get the stock refinished. At this point there's not much more you can do, except finish what you started.

Also, when voicing your complaint, request a coupon for your next firearm you need worked on. Tis what I would do...

I don't see where you have much to complain about.

If the gun was especially valuable because it was an antique or rare then it would probably be a mistake to do anything other than wipe it down with an appropriate oil for the wood and metal parts. Since you decided to refinish the stock I have to assume the gun didn't/doesn't have that kind of value.

If it were my gun I would consider what happened an opportunity rather than a problem. According to the smith the stock was cracked at some previous date and a previous owner glued the stock bolt in as part of a repair. I would find a high quality piece of wood of the right type, walnut or whatever is desired, and make a new stock using the original stock as a template. Of course that's easy for me to say because I have lots of woodworking tools and enjoy working with wood.

Bottom line you can't blame the smith and if you make a new stock you're going to have a nicer gun and a lot of pride that you did the stock yourself.

Sorry for being suspicious and cynical...

...how do you know the stock bolt really was glued?

Sounds like it maybe could be a weak excuse for an accident:
Ham-handed Junior Assistant doesn't know to secure both the receiver and buttstock, so he clamps only the buttstock in the vise. Then turns the stock bolt with the biggest wrench in the box. When the bolt finally turns, the whole receiver turns with it and breaks the wrist. Oops.

What ants just said...



'Glued Bolt' makes no sense...nor would internal Glue squeeze-out grip the Bolt to any degree worth mentioning if having occured incidental to an old repair.

The previous owner could have had issues with the bolt coming loose, and Loctited it in. That would do it. Epoxy would have done it, too. Epoxy used to be really popular for repairs like that. I wouldn't be too surprised if he used an epoxy "anchor" to fix a stripped screw hole, but in doing so created a cavity that made a weakness in the stock. He may have also just used it in the screw passage to reinforce the stock. Sounds like something my late grandfather would have done. He was big on epoxy repairs. He never did it to any gunstocks, but he did some similar things. He was scary good with the stuff, though. I'm actually fairly certain whatever the previous person did involved epoxy. I know its properties well, and a number of of epoxy repairs and bolt arrangements I can think of would have done exactly as you described, and broke the wrist of the stock when it was forcibly removed. That's the problem when you use something to reinforce or anchor that's stronger than the original material.

Ahhhh...maybe so Mike the Wolf...I was thinking of Wood Glue squeeze outs with an in-place Bolt.


Yeah...my dad was big on all sorts of 1960s era Epoxy repairs to things too.


I dunno, I never got into it, and have done endless repair things without it, so...never caught the Epoxy fever I guess.

Go to a barber and get a bad haircut....at least the hair will grow back, the lesson learned is to never go back and give the barber second chance. You made the choice of gunsmith, unfortunately it was a bad decision, take your lumps and move on.

Well? You brought them a gun with a glued stock and you got back a gun with a glued stock. You should be able to come up with a nice stock for the gun.

The thing to be learned (and I've learned it 'the hard way' too) might be----beyond normal light cleaning and care, leave 'very fun gun(s)' as is unless special circumstances intercede and dictate otherwise.

If you're still shooting that piece, and it is strong enough to shoot, keep shooting.

It's something like that old vintage sports car with a few dings and nicks that could look better with a 5K+ paint job; if done poorly, it may jazz things up altogether--and if done 'RIGHT' you won't feel much like taking her out for a late-night torquefest and risk new dings and nicks.

To the point----the smith should have called/asked before attempting a repair after discovering what was up with the gun. A fee for the time would have been fair.

Just my opinion--as always--worth what it cost.

Have a solid, usable replica stock made, retire the old one (maybe having a serious restoration done if desired by a woodwright who knows how to work with gunstocks)---and shoot the piece to your hearts content. G-d know enough guns languish on walls and in cases.

Yikes-reason in a snothrow.
The guy should have checked with you upon discovery of the situation.

He didn't, and now you have a mess to sort through.

I have restored ol bikes and other things and a good guy will halt for irregularities.

Good thing to leave a note regarding "somehing unusual coming up."
Good luck.

Bingo! That last picture there shows exactly what I was thinking: a bolt directly THROUGH the wrist of the stock. I wouldn't be surprised if that goes all the way through and attaches to the rear receiver tang. That stock has an unusually weak wrist for a gun of that size, as well. Honestly, I'd say it was a combination of a bad design combined with a bad original repair. It may be a fun gun, but there's some innate design flaws with that stock. Fault the gunsmith only for the bad stock repair, not for breaking it. Granted, with how weak that stock was to begin with, he may have thought it needed some extra reinforcing to fix it.

The busted up picture is too sad to show.

Click to expand...

huh?

Yeah, It may be sad, but we should at least see a picture of the damage....

You can never leave decisions up to others. I would have told him to call me if there was any question of how to proceed with the specific repair. People just don't give a crap, "for the most part". I see it in every facet of our daily lives.And the way some folks can bend what you said to them, sometimes makes me want to put everything on paper before proceeding with any type of repair, or work that I am having done.

The beauty of the American system of commerce is that you generally always have options and alternatives. In this case, at a minimum, I wouldn't use the gunsmith again. But this case also demonstrates the importance of communication across the board. When I take a gun in for servicing, I always indicate to my 'smith that should he run into any unexpected issues that would alter our initial agreement, that would affect price, or that would somehow alter the appearance or performance of the firearm, he should contact me for further considerations before moving forward. I learned that lesson a long time ago; it generally only takes once.

The stock bolt is reached through a hole in the stock that is under the buttplate; it has a head with a screw slot. I suspect that what happened is that the gunsmith used a long screwdriver but instead of getting the blade into the screw slot, he got it beside the bolt head and turned it, cracking the stock.* In other words, the story about the bolt being glued in was just that, a story.

*How do I know that can happen? I refuse to answer on the grounds....

Jim

If it was to hard he should of stopped and notified you of the situation there is no way he could not known something was wrong as much pressure he had to use to get it to break! even glued. If he was as professional as quoted to be. I noticed you said Head gunsmith? maybe the probee is a flunky??? did he say it would be able to get it off??

Also Numrich gun parts corporation has a semi finished stock for $18.00 check it out on line.Says it needs a tang cut???

it looked to be in fine shape. i would never have taken the stock off, or planned on refinishing it, which of course destroys much of the value.


however, i would not have paid that gunsmith a dime. he did work you did not authorize, and should have never forced a bolt that didn't want to come out--damaging the stock in the process.

This is a good thread. I've recently applied for my gunsmithing FFL, and its good to know of problems in customer service like this.

I must also agree that a pic of the "after" of this gun would lend credibility to the OP and also give the rest of us a better mental picture of the mishap.

I never will have an assistant. It'll be just me. I believe in taking small bites as a bid sandwich. Always be aware of what might happen. Bob Loveless, one of the greatest American knifemakers once said, "Predictability is the key to success in the mechanical arts."

If this same thing happened to me on a customer's gun that I had in my shop, I would have it fixed for him free of charge. That is the nature of how I do things.