So today, I dropped in at my FFL's to pick up some sling swivels for a kid's rifle. My FFL does a lot of gunsmithing and only a little selling, and dropping by his place is always an adventure.
Whenever I walk into this guy's shop, he hands me a gun to hold.
I kid you not -- I hand him a rifle so we can talk about changing the sights, and he immediately says, "Hey, wait a minute, you've gotta see this." Disappears into the back room and comes out carrying the lightest hand-built AR I've ever handled. He made it as a wedding present for his wife. (Be still my beating heart...)
When I walked in with my buddy's 1911 to talk about dropping in an extended slide stop, he wouldn't let me hand him the pistola until he'd fetched a very nice revolver out of the display case for me to handle while he looked up parts in the catalog.
I'm not sure if he's showing off his work (with good reason!) or if he's just afraid folks'll get bored while he looks up parts and figures what the job'll cost. Either way, it's kind of amusing and endearing.
In the past year, I've used his services as an FFL several times. Although I've never bought a gun from him, he's always efficient and courteous when I explain what I need to do. He usually charges $20 to run a gun through his books, but when I've had to run more than one through at a time, he's often charged only $20, total.
The man is rarely too busy to pass the time of day when I drop into his shop. But after talking to other folks who use his services, I haven't heard anyone complain about him taking too long to do the work -- quite the opposite. Back last summer, a friend of mine had a gun break down in the middle of a high-intensity class. At lunch break, my friend walked into my FFL's shop and explained the problem. The gunsmith immediately dropped everything else he was doing and got the gun running again -- before the lunch break was even over. That's service above and beyond the call of duty if you ask me.
Another friend of mine went in to ask about changing a part in her 1911. With his permission, she pulled it out of her holster and unloaded it to explain what the problem was. The gunsmith told her he could get right on it if she left the gun in the shop just then ... and then looked at her worriedly and asked, "You do have another carry gun, don't you? You'll be okay driving home?"
Nope, guys, I'm not going to give you his name. If he needed more business, that'd be different. I wouldn't hold out on you. But he doesn't.
So like a good fishing hole or a favorite hunting spot, who he is is my little secret.
Anyone else found a gem of an FFL or an excellent gunsmith no one else has discovered yet?
pax
Whenever I walk into this guy's shop, he hands me a gun to hold.
I kid you not -- I hand him a rifle so we can talk about changing the sights, and he immediately says, "Hey, wait a minute, you've gotta see this." Disappears into the back room and comes out carrying the lightest hand-built AR I've ever handled. He made it as a wedding present for his wife. (Be still my beating heart...) When I walked in with my buddy's 1911 to talk about dropping in an extended slide stop, he wouldn't let me hand him the pistola until he'd fetched a very nice revolver out of the display case for me to handle while he looked up parts in the catalog.
I'm not sure if he's showing off his work (with good reason!) or if he's just afraid folks'll get bored while he looks up parts and figures what the job'll cost. Either way, it's kind of amusing and endearing.
In the past year, I've used his services as an FFL several times. Although I've never bought a gun from him, he's always efficient and courteous when I explain what I need to do. He usually charges $20 to run a gun through his books, but when I've had to run more than one through at a time, he's often charged only $20, total.
The man is rarely too busy to pass the time of day when I drop into his shop. But after talking to other folks who use his services, I haven't heard anyone complain about him taking too long to do the work -- quite the opposite. Back last summer, a friend of mine had a gun break down in the middle of a high-intensity class. At lunch break, my friend walked into my FFL's shop and explained the problem. The gunsmith immediately dropped everything else he was doing and got the gun running again -- before the lunch break was even over. That's service above and beyond the call of duty if you ask me.
Another friend of mine went in to ask about changing a part in her 1911. With his permission, she pulled it out of her holster and unloaded it to explain what the problem was. The gunsmith told her he could get right on it if she left the gun in the shop just then ... and then looked at her worriedly and asked, "You do have another carry gun, don't you? You'll be okay driving home?"
Nope, guys, I'm not going to give you his name. If he needed more business, that'd be different. I wouldn't hold out on you. But he doesn't.
So like a good fishing hole or a favorite hunting spot, who he is is my little secret.
Anyone else found a gem of an FFL or an excellent gunsmith no one else has discovered yet?
pax
