Howa Specialist Gunsmith

[shortgrass]

A "Real" gunsmith?
Well many real gunsmiths have old lathes that either can't cut metric threads or it takes a lot of work to do so. Mine requires 3 back gear changes. Its a pain in the...
I have cut my share of metric threads but won't do it just because.
You should find a guy that uses CNC to thread
They're must simpler. Nothing magic about Howas

Too lazy to change gears to cut metric? Sounds like a personal problem to me! My lathe is 26yrs old now. Move one control lever from right to left and cut metric. I do that on a regular basis, I never turn down a job because the threads are metric. I've been machining since '74, and bothered to graduate from MCCs' 2yrs gunsmithing program in '93. There are "gunsmiths" with machining experience and/or technical training, and then there are "gunsmiths" who are self trained and have watched too many YouTube videos!

 

[dennisinaz]

Too lazy is not the problem. It's time consuming and just not worth it to me. If i had a lathe that i could simply move a few levers or dials it would be a different story. I'm too busy as it is to mess with back gears

 

[mtbullet1]

Removing the barrel from a Howa can be a challenge.
If nothing else, I'd have someone who has done this before remove it and install the new one.

no more difficult than any other in my experience

 

[morgaj1]

Don't know how much trouble it is, but one local gunsmith says it's too much trouble to reconfigure his Iathe for metric threads. The other (an older guy who runs a full service machine shop and is also a gunsmith) will do both. His lathe is not CNC, but when I asked him about doing metric threads, his reply was "only a lazy gunsmith won't cut metric threads. A thread is a thread, doesn't matter the pitch." He is kinda snarky, but does really good work.