Lead times, How long is too long?

[howco]

I'd wish you'd air out the Smith, only because many of us on here could either tell you that you're going to be fine or it's time to request your parts back. North to South I've used 3-5 Idaho smith's, all have been great, one exceptional, but time-lines all over the map. I'm in California too, so sometimes it's a full-time job coordinating your parts order and paying all the shipping.
What I can tell you is almost every gunsmith spends too much time on the phone, which kills a perfection type shop time-frame out the window. We the consumers get upset if the guy never answers the phone, but like Alex said, most don't have a sales staff and if they did, you'd see the reflection in price

 

[Poor_choices]

I have very little patience for any company that can't honor a time commitment that they provided. If it will take 18 months, tell me 18 months and I'll wait patiently. If you tell me it takes 3 months and it takes 18 months, that's the last of my money you'll see. The list of smiths I won't use is A LOT longer than the list of ones I will use or recommend.

I also collect all of my own parts and send all of them together. I don't want to waste a smith's time having them ordering components. I work on the principle that a good smith is worth $75-100 p/hr. I'd rather pay for time at a machine than time at a computer or phone ordering parts.

 

[Rimneck]

Certainly not sounding good. Might be time for a visit to get straight answers or a box full of my items.

 

[Coldfinger]

Your frustration is completely understandable. At this point you are looking to get it ready for 2025 hunting season? If so, perhaps you can afford to wait it out with this individual. He might have had numerous repeat customers that got put ahead of your build. Tough choice for you but good luck on the eventual build.

If I found out a repeat customer got put ahead of me I'd be finding another smith asap and getting everything back.

 

[Brathany]

I could write a book on my thoughts regarding this "problem". But at least for me, customers want me to do the work. Not a helper. So a one man shop that does everything. No, you cant hire someone to do all the other stuff because one man cant produce the income to pay an employee that doesnt earn. The only way I see to reduce wait times is to reduce work load by raising prices. At least thats what every real business man I have talked to has said to do. Raise prices until you have the work load you want. Thats what they say. Very few if any gunsmiths do this. Not sure why as most other industries do.

Makes a ton of sense. There seems to be a prevailing notion amongst the firearms crowd that their hobby should be dirt cheap, but they'll accept industry standard pricing on auto mechanics, builders, landscapers, HVAC, and others who's profit margins are staggering.

 

[coueskiller43]

I also collect all of my own parts and send all of them together. I don't want to waste a smith's time having them ordering components. I work on the principle that a good smith is worth $75-100 p/hr. I'd rather pay for time at a machine than time at a computer or phone ordering parts.

I agree that ordering all your own parts and shipping them to the gunsmith should streamline the process and shorten lead times, but it seems like the more reputable gunsmiths don't want to do it like that anymore. They make money on selling the parts as well.

 

[T&Es_Dad]

Good morning. Well I either jumped the gun or caused the stars to aligned by starting this thread. Late Friday afternoon I recieved pictures from my GS that he had started my build. The bolt and action have be trued and squared, the barrell is threaded, chambered and mated up to my action.

 

[Phil Rizzo]

Sounds like he reads LRHF threads

 

[T&Es_Dad]

Sounds like he reads LRHF threads

He might, you never know.

 

[marksman1941]

I'm glad it's resolving itself, but for what it's worth you weren't out of line to be upset. I understand that timelines are fluid sometimes, and folks have said that too much contact can reduce the amount of time a smith is actually working, but that's honestly just a bad excuse. If timelines are delayed, take an hour on a Monday and send out an email to all customers in line saying "delays were hit, add 2 months to quoted time" or something similar. It's not hard, it keeps people updated, and less folks will call asking for a status update. Proactive communication always is better.

I think the most true statement in this whole thread is that some gunsmiths are great smiths but bad businessmen; that seems to ring true here. The unfortunate thing is you need to be capable of both to be very successful, and poor communication or over promising and under delivering are great ways to get nixed off the list of "good smiths"

 

[Apex Custom Rifles]

I've always tried to give reasonable time frames and when all parts come in they go into a queue. I have two queues, one for general repairs and one for custom builds. The custom build queue typically takes priority over the repairs and I try to keep track of when stuff should be arriving to accommodate that. Project management can be a task for some guys. I'm not perfect at it ether but I do my best to keep my timelines in check. It's easy to loose a project in the jumble sometimes as well if a guy is really busy. 8 months is a wait though if they person has all the stuff to get it together IMO.

Glad to hear yours is getting sorted out.