How long a wait for a gunsmith?

[Furncliff]

I've never had to take one of my guns in for repair before. So I was surprised when I took a pistol in to the only Gun Shop in Charlottesville and was told a min. of 2-3 weeks. I'm thinking, wow, the guy must be good to have a backlog of three weeks. But I really have no idea. What do you think? And anyone in my area who has a suggestion for a gunsmith I'd appreciate a post or PM.

Tom

 

[SomeKid]

That sucks man.

I have taken a rifle once directly to a smith, he fixed it for me, right there on the spot. I left with the work done an hour or so later.

I have taken a pistol back to the store because I was an idiot. (Couldn't re-assemble.) The owner and his three sons all bent over backwards to help me as much as they could. (And they did. Anyone in the City of Harrison in Tennessee should go to Carter's Shooting Supply. Nice guys.)

I asked once at another shop about their smith, he had about a one week turn around. When I needed them to do something that just required their tools (installing night sights I bought from them) it was done immediatly.

I wouldn't consider a backlog of 2-3 weeks a good sign. He may be a skilled man, or he may be lazy. Personally, I would shop around.

 

[chris in va]

I'd shop around more. The hunters are probably trying to get their long arms in before season hits.

 

[thebaldguy]

Years ago I took a Rossi revolver into a gun shop for a broken hammer mounted firing pin. Seemed pretty easy to take care of. They told me a couple of weeks. They smiled and said they would take care of it.

Turns out they didn't repair it there. They didn't tell me that. They sent it out. After a month, I called them back. Turns out they sent it to Interarms in Virginia. They didn't mention that. They told me to call the factory. Great service. I called the factory and was told it would be another 3-4 weeks. I asked if they even had the revolver; they said they didn't know! I threatened to call the ATF and tell them my firearm had been stolen; no one could tell me where it was. They finally called me back to let me know they had it in their possession. I finally got it back after almost three months. I told the gunshop I was disappointed in their service. They just shrugged. Not our fault they said. I quit doing business there after the below episode and they eventually went out of business.

By the way, this was the same gunshop that was selling bad reloads. I found a bulged case in a reloaded box of .357 Magnum cartridges. I took it back and asked for a refund/exchange. They said they couldn't help me. I left that bad cartridge on the counter and told them I was never coming back. They didn't care. I was almost glad to see them go under. I later found out I was not the only recipent of bad service at that place.

 

[jerkface11]

Our local gunsmith almost always has a backlog of a month or so. He does GREAT work too. Has guns sent to him from across the country (you should see his custom 1911's). Of course if it's a simple job he seems to bump it up the list a bit. Took him less than a week to shorten the barrel on a rifle for me. But it took about 3 to get a custom scope mount made for a .22. This time of the year i wouldn't even bother trying to get work done. Probably every smith in the country is awash in work from hunters trying to get ready for deer season.

 

[AJAX22]

A gunsmith that I do alot of buisness with (or at least I used to before I started trying to do my own work) had a backlog of a few weeks depending on what the project was.

A good machinest/gunsmith can be hard to find, nothing worse than having a guy do an 'ok' job on your high end piece. There are alot more customers who need gun work than there are gunsmiths to do it. Also remember that its just an estimate, some guys will quote you a fast turn around but won't allow themselves enough time for something to get fowled up, (parts unavailable etc)

A smith that's been around a bit and has experiance will be a bit more in demand, and will quote you longer than he actually needs. I wouldn't be surprised if you got a call that it was done a week ahead of time.

 

[1 old 0311]

Cylinder&Slide has a 6-8 MONTHS wait

 

[rbernie]

Local guy I use does pretty good work, but he's always got a four week backlog and six weeks is pretty much the norm.

Also, bear in mind that certain work is best done in 'batches', like bluing/parking - most gunsmiths simply will not heat up the tanks for one pistol or long gun. That means that anything in queue waiting for refinishing will wait until either the gunsmith gets enough work to make a big batch run, or gets enough complaints from his waiting customers that he does a smaller batch.

 

[ravencon]

Last time I utilized the services of a good local gunsmith the wait was about 9 months.

 

[browningguy]

2-3 weeks is a Christmas gift from a good 'smith. The good ones I know are usually booked months in advance, that's for repairs, mod's or customization.

 

[bubbygator]

Yah, 2-3 weeks means the guy doesn't really have much of a load -> he may not have much of a rep among local shooters ... could be good smith, but not yet well known. (or could be a bad smith)

 

[gunsmith]

I am no gunsmith

but the last time i went to one it took ten minutes...ymmv

 

[Black Knight]

Furncliff:
If you are talking about Woodbrook Sports and Kenny Hale, he is very good. He has done work on my guns when I got in over my head. 2-3 weeks is about average for him. Most of what he's done for me has been a week. With Kenny anything less than 4 weeks is good. Kenny also used to shoot competition. I don't know if he still does but I know of some other competitors taking their guns to him. You should be pleased with his work. Don't worry.

 

[mosttoyswins]

If the gunsmith is at a gun shop during bird season like here in South Texas, a loooooonnnggggg time.

Wanted to get the trigger of my S&W Model 60 worked over and he said it would be at least 2 months because of all of the hunters getting their bird guns worked on.

 

[normbal]

Old story of a guy who drops off a pair of shoes to be repaired, forgets about them, goes to college, the army, comes home and remembers the shoes. He stops by the cobblers, just on a stray thought that they MIGHT still be there, and he tells the cobbler who he is, what the shoes look like, and the cobbler, an old, hunchbacked nearsighted guy looks up at the guy and says, "Oh, yeah, those. I'll have 'em ready for you Tuesday."


Years ago, when I first moved to Maryland, I did a lot of shooting at Ft. Meade's range being military/retired. I met a string of guys who'd had their M1 Garands, Carbines, M1As worked over at Fulton Armory.

The LEAST amount of time I'd heard anyone say he'd waited for a rebarreling, refinishing, reassembling, bedding, or whatever, was SIX months. Many, and this is NOT an exaggeration, waited for upwards of TWELVE months, and we're not even talking class III stuff, either.

I needed to repark a Garand, found a local shop in Ellicott City, guy did it for $75. did it right, very nice dull gray color, uniform, bore looked great, and it ONLY took a week. Because I needed a couple days' time to get up there.

I sent a Rem 541X trigger pack out to John Blovelt about 8 years ago, and got it back in about two weeks. I'm sure he's busier now.

TWELVE months? Insane. For me. For the work done? I've seen better, with earlier turn arounds, but FA has a certain, well, cache', don't they?

Ask around, there are hundreds of 'smiths looking for work, many of them reliable, and faster than the ATF's NFA branch. If the 'smith does work on the gun you have, and knows how to tweak them, 2-3 or even 4 weeks might be about right.

***********************************
Edited:

Ouch. I just posted this and realized this must be the gun I sold you. Take this offline and let me know what it costs you, or is GOING to cost you and I'll pitch in. I appreciate your patience, and trial and error approach to function-testing the pistol (which worked well for me, I have witnesses), and open communication, but really, keep me in the loop.

-Norm

 

[10-Ring]

I've had guns at 'smith or a factory for WEEKS! I've also dropped off my Colt 1911, requested some work and had the gun returned to me 24 hours later. I think it just depends on the smith, the gun, the work you need & parts availability.

 

[TIMC]

You also have to take into consideration that if he has to order parts from the manufacturer he is at their mercy. I had to wait a month for parts to come from Taurus for my gunsmith to do what amounted to a 30 minute repair job.

 

[JohnBT]

Maybe he's dove hunting every morning. Just kidding, I've dealt with them and they're good folks.

John

 

[Onmilo]

I have been gunsmithing on and off since, oh, 1980.
Sometimes a customer will bring a firearm in for repair, it is a simple fix, I have the part, or parts, on hand and can do the work right there and then.

Sometimes the firearm needs a part, or parts, that must be ordered from a specialty house that may, or may not, ship in a timely manner.
Add one to three weeks just waiting on the parts.

Sometimes a part, or parts, has to be custom fabricated and drawings may, or may not, be available to me.
Add one week figuring the part out, making the sample, testing the hardness,etc.
Add another week just crafting the part and getting it right.
Add another week fitting the part and testing everything,,,,,this firearm and customer aren't my only ones and there are quicker, easier, and more profitable jobs waiting on the rack and I admit really difficult jobs do get set back in lew of quicker money.
I don't apologize for this and I don't know a 'smith who does, this is the nature of the beast and the business.

 

[Cliff47]

I had one pistol worked on by a shop in Spokane, WA that all of my friends just raved about. It took them six weeks to get the parts in from Brownells, and then another five to get the pistol to me. The front site was not dove-tailed into the slide (in fact the dovetail was cut off and they tried to epoxy the site in place), the rear site dovetail was cut so far back the site interfered with the hammer (dovetail cut off-square, how??) and held in place with more epoxy.

Took the pistol to a local 'smith. He loked at the job and said that I needed a new slide, we ordered new sites, and he had it ready for me in three weeks. I have since taken another pistol to him that has been presented to a young Marine who served in Afghanistan, he had that ready in three weeks. You should have seen the look on the Marine's face when she picked it up for the first time. Priceless.

At this time of year, don't expect any kind of rush job. He's got his rifle all set, and HE'S GOING HUNTING. Did I mention, he's only open four days a week? This guy is good, and he has a lot of repeat business. (He's got mine.)

 

[ccw9mm]

... wow, the guy must be good to have a backlog of three weeks. But I really have no idea. What do you think?

That's extremely fast. Check around. You will not find many reputable, known gunsmithing shops that have a turnaround of less than three weeks. Most seem to be a couple of months on out ... on a regular basis.

 

[bruss01]

I made an appointment to get some work done on a couple of pistols of mine. He's a specialist in the type of work and the exact type of pistol I have.

The WAITING LIST to get in the shop was 12 months.

To me that says he's good (lots' of folks want his services) and hopefully he'll take his time doing the job right with my firearms as with anyone else's.

Ok, I suppose I can wait the 12 months to get the job done right by someone trusted to know what he's doing and do a first rate job.

 

[RobW]

Ok, I suppose I can wait the 12 months to get the job done right by someone trusted to know what he's doing and do a first rate job

He surely doesn't work on it for 12 months! Why not make appointments like every business-mindend professional does? Well, good mechanics are just that, good mechanics, baaad business-men. You can't be the bride at 2 marriages the same moment.

Once in a while there is a post coming up asking for advise in starting a career as a gunsmith and the answers are nearly 100% NO, because there are to many out of them already and you can't make a living out of it. BS!

 

[dfaugh]

Well, the answer, as with many things is "it depends"...

I had my favorite (and very good/knowledgable) gunsmith fix simple things while I've waited. Others may take 2 or 3 weeks, mostly waiting for parts, then he'll get 'er done within a couple days of the parts arriving. Usually. If there's a large backlog of things waiting for parts, its "first come-first served" so occasionally it'll take a little longer.

On the other end of the spectrum, I'm right down the road from Doug Turnbull Restorations, arguably the BEST in the business. My buddy has had lots of work done there as he has a large collection of old and historical guns. The waiting list there STARTS at 6 months, and could be a year, depending on the overall complexity of the work to be done. Not to mention he gets beaucoup $$$$ for the work (but its worth every penny)...And they have all the work they can handle, although calling what they do "gunsmithing" is almost a misnomer....more like "art"!

 

[Babarsac]

Grrrrrr

Furncliff,

I think I took my Mosin to the same place you did (up 29 north?) to get polished. Anyhoo that was over a month ago and every time I call they tell me he'll get to it eventually. Should I just go in there and get my rifle back?