One question though...did you say anything about the quality when you picked that up?
No, I did not actually see the work until I was home with it.Was too late to call, so I emailed him.
The guy wants to try and "make it right, but I'm not about to let him touch the gun further. I emailed him my complaint about the shoddy dovetail, that the sight was crooked, and that the slide was marked on both sides from where it was clamped in the vise(there are two straight lines in the finish running lengthwise on the slide. There are subtle, but distinct).
This is his reply:
I apologize. I should have looked at the sight after leaving it for the lock-tite to set. The dovetail was cut on a mill. It was tight so I opened it up a thousandths on both ends because the sight was wider on one side than on the other. The sight is lock-tited in place as the manufacturer suggests. I am sorry you are not happy and will work with you on it if it is ok with you. As far as the slide getting marked up often this happens when machine work is done. It has to be clamped firmly in place to keep it from moving while machining.Usually slides are refinished after machining operations if one is concerned with how it looks. This usually adds to the price. Looking at your pics, you are right, it does look crooked. It looked straight when I set it in place with a punch and lock-tite. I tried to line it up with the original sight. I can remove the site and refinish the sight in black parkerize and install the sight straight to make up for it.
Sorry for the inconvenience. I won't disturb you today. I will call tomorrow and see what I can do to make it right.
I figure I'm bagged on this one.
- I want him to refund my money, and pay for a replacement slide, he can have this slide, but that ain't likely to be happening.
-If I sell the gun, I'll take a beating on the sale.
- If I keep it, I'm going to have to pay for a new slide and fitting, or leave as is and live with something that I'm completely unhappy with. Plus, if I get nothing out of the guy and replace the slide, I'll be eating the $25 sight, the $50 in labor, the price of a new slide and the cost of fitting it.
THIS SUCKS FOLKS!
I'm HIGHLY regretting not just leaving the gun as it was, but that little front sight was impossible for me to see. I really like the gun, and I figured with the HY-Vis sight, it would be the nuts. Now, I just want my 1911 restored to it's original condition.