What is fair wait time for chamber job?

[jarnold37]

I talked to a custom smith CCR in Az in january about chambering a new 30 cal barrel I would provide to convert one of his 28nosler rifles he had built on s Defiance actions. Also open the barrel channel on the stock to match the new contour and color match the cerakote on the action for the barrel. These are all jobs he lists on his web site. He said no problem and he would have it done before the end of March. So I sent it right over. I waited till mid April for an update sense I was trying tobe patient for a quality job. I called him and he said not yet. Now its the end of May and he is not returning any call or texts and I just want a update with truthful information when it will be done sense he is already two months over due. I provided all the parts so the corona execuse does not apply.
So any advice would help.
Thanks in advance !!!

Several years ago I was depressed at how long the wait on having barrel work and fitting and chambering was. I was wanting to try different cartridges, barrels and twists but was limited by the time frame. I read an article in precision shooting magazine basically said "if I can do it so can you" So I bought a lathe and even though knowing very little about machining, I jumped head first. Boy, what an adventure. Even though many gunsmiths I contacted were not happy about sharing info, I learned and if I decide I want to have a different barrel or chamberring My wait time is a few enjoyable hours. This was before the internet, but now one can go on youtube and learn to precisely fit and chamber. Ozzie Suarez has the most excellent step by step video series on youtube that anyone can learn how to accurately do it yourself. From start to finish. Wish I had that when I was learning.

 

[FEENIX]

This is why I'm glad my smith is a lesser known guy. My last chamber, thread, bed and assemble was done in 48 hours.

I am blessed to have plenty of reputable gunsmiths within an hour's drive. I believe in establishing a good working relationship with a gunsmith. My go-to gunsmith has done excellent work for me since 2003. Has he delivered on time for all his delivery quotes? No, but I do understand delays associated with a one-person shop. He is 15 minutes away from me, and I can stop by if I need to for a status check or friendly visit/reminder.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

I can give a little bit of a view from the gunsmiths side of things. At one point I was well over a year out on work. I really didnt like that. Very stressful. And honestly less efficient. Your just dealing with too much for one person to handle. Backlogs dont really make you money they cost you after some point because your spending too much time doing things like ordering parts or planning builds. You only need enough work to stay busy. I stopped taking a lot of work that I was less interested in. I even stopped taking work at all for about 6 months. It didnt really matter because those guys waited the 6 months and called to see if Id take the work then. Raising prices has never slowed down my work flow either. Even giving really long lead time estimates didn't help. Guys would say I dont care how long it takes. So I had to get to the point of just saying no. Its hard to do. On one hand you want to do the job because they want you to, but you cant if you ever want to get to a reasonable lead time. Its never about the money, you can only do so much in a day. Now I have narrowed down what I do to mostly metal work and my lead times are better than ever but I still want them even shorter. Its better for me and the customer. One thing I never did was give a lead time. Its impossible to give a lead time when your a year out. But if your a month out you can. Thats my goal.

 

[26Reload]

Agree wholeheartedly with Alex....
In my construction business people want me to cheat for them....cover up rotten this or that..I tell them I won't do it..either fix it correctly or find someone else.....
I have 6 hours of good solid work time per day...if I go past that i suffer the next day...I might be there..but not working at full physical capacity(if what i can)...in my 6 hours I will do more than a lot of guys in 8 hours......I don't take breaks..don't eat lunch..and only take calls from my sisters # in case it's something relating to Mom......
And I always try to avoid talking to the clients much..as the longer they stop me.. the harder it is to get going again.....
The first or last couple hours is material runs or paperwork.....