What do you guys think is an

[MudRunner2005]

2 weeks to a month... My smith has never taken longer than a month, that was only due to work schedule (machinist by trade, gunsmithing is his hobby) and hunting season. The week following the last day of hunting season, my phone was ringing to come pick it up, cause it was done. He usually takes not more than 2 weeks. But, being that my guy is local, and that he can turnout high-quality accurate work in record time, is a rarity. Part of what makes him so fast, is he has multiple lathes and mills setup at once for each part of the process, so he doesn't have to swap tooling all the time, and setup time is virtually eliminated. He just un-chucks it from one, takes 5 steps, chucks it up in another lathe or mill that's already semi-preset for the next process. Makes the work SUPER quick! But, not every smith can afford that much equipment...Or wants that much equipment. Some prefer to keep it simple.

However, I agree with Axl...Whatever they tell you as far as time-frame...Anything less than the day-of, is a bonus.

 

[jrsolocam]

As i look at it. I have some blame. Told him i wasnt in a hurry. But 3 f'n years? Thats too long.

 

[Geno1112]

I once had a smith promise me 6 months on a build. Actualy took him15 months. Then I learned that his favorite customers came first.

 

[Switchback2]

My last 3 have all been under 2 months by 3 different GS. There is no way I would use someone with over 6 months wait. I usually shop around and buy all my parts and send to GS. But my 28 Nosler was all brought by GS doing the build and it still only took 5 weeks. I would go nuts waiting 2 years for one build, Hell I have built 6 in last 18 months.

 

[FEENIX]

Excellent and reputable gunsmiths are always busy (and oftentimes, all year around) for a reason, esp. those that are one-man shop like mine. The reasonable amount of build time is what the customer agreed upon and is established before any work is started.

Most reputable gunsmiths will tell you if they have a backlog and often will not accept any new orders until they catch up. On my last build, I brought all of the components in and my go to gunsmith told me 3-months because there were two new custom builds ahead of me, I was OK with it; completion was a week of schedule.

I am fortunate to have access to 5 excellent gunsmiths within an hour's drive from my house. One of which is 2 miles from me, Kirby Allen is half an hour away.

Cheers!

 

[Deleted member 48126]

If you supply all the parts, 6 months.

 

[J E Custom]

Thank you. A very smart post. Im going on 3 years. Confronted him last night. Didnt go well.

If he is within driving distance, I would first find my ticket where I paid for it, then I would make a friendly visit to his shop to check on the progress. If he hasn't started any work, just get all of the parts and the difference in money that you paid.

You can still be polite, just get your stuff and tell him you have someone that can take it and get it finished within a couple of weeks. I had a good friend that took this advice after waiting 7 years for him to take care of his friends and still hadn't started his rifle. unfortunately, he did not have proof of payment and did not get any refund of his money.

He brought the rifle parts to me to see if I could finish it for him. I had 3 other builds going and was waiting on parts. so I told him I would work him in as long as it didn't interfere with the other builds. he was ok with that and left all of the parts. I finished all the work I could do on the other builds with the parts on hand and with the short window
of time jumped on his project.

In 7 days I had finished his rifle and test fired it so I called him and told him to come by, and see me. I could tell that he stressed out figuring that he had a major problem. (It was probably mean of me not to tell him it was ready) when he got there the first thing he said was what's
the problem? I told him I needed to show him. The look on his face when he realized that I had finished in a week what had taken 7 years
was priceless. The point is, that it doesn't take that long if the Smith has his business in order and don't take care of his friends first or out of order as long as he has everything.

There are some good Smiths, but some are poor business men and that's where you can go wrong if you get one of these

He remained friends with the smith but just never let him do any more work for him.

Sorry about your trouble

J E CUSTOM

 

[MtPockets]

As i look at it. I have some blame. Told him i wasnt in a hurry. But 3 f'n years? Thats too long.

Unfortunately, that is something that I think we all find out at one time or another- don't EVER tell them you're "not in a hurry". Whether it's a gunsmith or an auto mechanic, don't EVER say those words.

Im with JE on the proper response. Hopefully, he'll be honest with you and either get it done or return your parts along with the cost of any unused labor.

Good luck

Ron

 

[midnightmalloy]

I think im screwed. Order date 12-15-2014. Paid in full 6_30-15. Live and learn i guess.

I know many don't like to hear it but in business if you and the smith can't work it out the recourse is to sue him. If you have all your documentation of payments just calmly present your case to the smith and ask for your parts and deposit back. If he refuses simply say you have contacted s lawyer and you will be pursuing a court hearing to sue to get your money back. I hate to do this also but the system is setup that suing someone in court is the last action to take.

 

[scottyboy]

I will be starting 16 months in a few days. Supposedly the barreled action has been done since approx Sept 1, they were just having troubles finding someone to dip the stock correctly???! After 3 months of waiting for that, I said just paint the f'n thing or send as is and I will find someone else to do it. Fast forward 4 weeks from that discussion, no update no idea.

I was promised it would be done in time for my bear hunt this last fall, missed that date. Then promised it would be done for my elk hunt, missed that date.

I was told 1 year would be absolutely no problem when I first ordered.. this will likely be my first and last time I go this route

 

[OH58DViper]

I paid in full upfront for a custom 300 RUM and was quoted 8 months (heavily discounted)....after sixteen months I was deploying for the 7th time and had to cancel my order as my wife had just pushed our first human from my favorite recreational area. During previous deployments she stayed and worked but I wanted 2 years of motherly interaction and she moved home. Anyways, with all the moves it would have been difficult if not impossible for her to take possession, so I called and got a refund. He was polite and apologized and I had my check and scope I sent him in hand within a week. A month or two into the deployment he finished the rifle and sold it on his site, it was beautiful! I gather all the parts before hand now....

 

[midnightmalloy]

Too bad we don't have a good guy list of gunsmiths that we can rate and post comments on our experiences like an amazon or google 5 star rating. If it was like that then I think a lot of Smiths would not want to screw someone if their was a way to show who the smith is and what experience everyone is having.

 

[CTK]

I will tell everyone that my rifles done by Jon Beanland, Melvin Forbes, Lee Christiansen, and Jim Borden were all done in the time promised. Some were finished more quickly than promised.

 

[Rich Coyle]

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