Advice needed on Hack Gunsmith muzzle brake job

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repetereed

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Well Fellas, 3 months ago I bought a tikka t3. Haven't shot it, been saving my money for a muzzle brake, scope, and quality mounts......Well as of 2 weeks ago operation tikka is a go!.........So I took the rifle in to the local gunsmith for the muzzle brake install. They gave me the option of SS or blued, I went with Blued........I'll attach a picture of the finished product. I was less than happy, I took it back, and politely told them my concerns about the chip in the bluing on my barrel and the poor finishing and rust on the muzzle brake.....of course they said this will happen when you shoot it etc.......anyways they said they would get it fixed.. My question is how would you guys handle this? Whats your opinions? Am I being anal?
 

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Well they said its done, looks real good come get it.......

Well I went to pick it up the 2nd time around today and..........I left the rifle their for more fixing......They said it look great, all they did was wipe on some bluing and extended the bluing onto the barrel about a half inch....looked like crap to me.....still rust and dirt inside the muzzle brake etc....... Imagine the first picture, but now extended onto my barrel's bluing too.....What the Hell? Is it time for a replacement rifle and a refund how do I handle this? The gunsmith working on it looks pretty green. They tried talking their way out of it and they'll get if fixed right up etc.....but what are my options here? I feel as if my virgin rifle that I've been saving has been gang raped by a bunch of wanna be gunsmiths......
 
Looks like a pretty poor install to me by someone who was to impatient with the lathe (that's how you chip steel)! Maybe ask them to pay for a pro Cerakote job to cover it all up? Don't let them do it, obviously :what:
 
It looks pretty bad.
See how it shoots. If it shoots ok, you learned the hard way. At least they didn't touch the trigger or action.

If it doesn't shoot ok, you got a problem to be handled by another (more competent) gunsmith. Good luck getting your money back from this guy, it'll be more trouble than its worth.
 
I don't know the history, but I would be disappointed as well. You may consider getting your gun out of that shop and cutting your losses. Sorry.

How did it get rusty in the two weeks since you picked it up? When you picked it up was it blued?
 
They just dabbed cold blue on the brake. It will never match unless its brushed and blued correctly to match the barrel. The install, while not top notch isnt really that bad and shouldnt harm how the rifle shoots.
 
I would not shoot it. If this is representative of the gunsmith's work, perhaps the brake is not installed inline with the bore. Definitely time for another smith. :(
 
Looks pretty bad. Rifles get dinged but I prefer to do the dinging, especially if the rifle is new. I don't think you're gonna get much out of them though. I'd clean the brake myself, cold blueing included, shoot it, and find a new gunsmith.
 
I feel as if my virgin rifle that I've been saving has been gang raped by a bunch of wanna be gunsmiths......
Click to expand...

It has been. That's a craptastic job. The brake is not blued. You have a right for their amateur gunsmith to do his practice work on the shop's guns, not yours. I would be pissed as hell. Here's what I'd do - ask THEM what they intend to do to set things right, and go from there...
 
Brake doesn't even look blued, just bare steel.

Tell them to remove the brake, they can keep it and refund your money. Take it to a competent gunsmith and have him do any nessesary touchup repairs and install a proper brake. I wouldn't let that smith touch it any more. Then chalk it up to a life lesson.

I learned this kind of lesson with jewelry makers the hard way.
 
Yes, they owe you a full refund, if not a new barrel.

As for the muzzle brake in the first place?

Why did you do that to a perfectly fine rifle?
I'd much rather get kicked a little then get my ear-muffs blown off every shot!

I already lost a lot of my hearing to guns years ago.
But my shoulder is still mostly fine.

Rc
 
If that's the work they do and are content to be known by - after a single visit to see if the shop's principals are OK with it and if not, what will they do about it - I probably wouldn't have them do any "correcting" or repair.

Cut your losses, save receipts and photos contemporary to the work to support any future "pissing matches", find a way to make it aesthetically less offensive and tell yourself it's an overly designed muzzle guard.
 
Even a phosphate or parkerized finish would look better than that. I can't believe they call that "blued".

They can keep the rusty crap and at least refund the cost of it. Ug.
 
That brake was cold blued to start with. Maybe if they hot blue the barrel and break everything will look ok. I wouldn't have put the brake on it in the first place.
 
It does kinda look like something I'd expect to see on someones sporterized Mosin, done in a garage with hand tools.
Click to expand...

hey, wait a minute (as my 5-yr old grandson likes to say)... I do better work than this...in my garage with hand tools:neener: I would't chip the bbl....
 
Have them take the brake off and call it a day.

I would then, either put a thread protector on it and drive on (assuming the threads are right) or have the barrel cut back by someone competent and recrowned.

In the end I would leave a good rifle alone.
 
Yeah thanks for the sympathy fellas....As of right now I told them just put a SS muzzle brake on, make my barrel look back to normal........They said they know what the need to do, I did advise them I don't want the barrel cut back any.....They didn't say what they were going to do specifically this time around with the bluing, but they know I don't like whats on there now......I don't feel they have the ability to make it look right.....They get one more chance then we'll see what happens. Tune in next week and I'll post some pics after I pick it up!
 
Yes I really debated muzzle brake or not......With that rifle caliber combo I was looking at about 20 lbs recoil.....for hunting I prefer no muzzle brake and at 20 lbs that's definetly managable, but I really wanted a gun that was fun to shoot and be able to perform better at stand up shots......which takes time and practice.........unfortunetely I'm a wuss and would probably devolope a flinch after tons of range time....lol
 
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