J White Gunsmithing

[MBTcustom]

The last post you should make on this thread should be a confirmation of whether or not you received your refund. If not, we will assume that he never refunded you and is a crook as well as a gun butcher.
I agree with smokeywolf, I have been a machinist for 15 years, and sucked all the information I could from the old guys. I consider myself pretty salty in a machine shop doing precision work (on a good day with the wind at my back that is) and I have been working on guns for about the same amount of time, but I would never take on a job like this. A man must know his limitations. Of course, I also understand that some jobs are just "cursed" and everything goes wrong from the very start. In that situation the right thing to do is to swallow your pride and return the firearm with all of the funds, and if the gun is jacked up from your attempts, you replace it on your dime. That would be the right course of action. However, I doubt this guy ever had any illusions of his abilities on a job like this, otherwise he would have gotten a lot closer to what you were after than what he did.
I hope you get your refund.

[Awsar]

as a gunsmith let me say sorry . now i would not accept that work under any circumstances
nor would i return a customer gun looking like that
i hope you get a full refund plus a new gun to replace what you lost.
let us know

[ELeeton]

In his response to the claim I filed with the Maine BBB Jim has agreed to the terms of refund set forth in the certified letter I sent and he received on 04 June. He said he would try to pay within the requested 30 days but may need up to 60 days to do so. Thus far there has been no additional communication from Jim. The Maine AG was able to get in touch with his wife and she assured them verbally that he would refund with 60 days. I am still concerned as lack of communication and missed delivery dates have been par for the course on this project. I find a glimmer of hope in that he has responded in writing to the BBB and verbally to the Maine AG that he will refund my money. There are still a few more weeks left for him to make good on his promises.

Eric

[ELeeton]

J White finally sent a check for the amount requested. Once it clears I will return the gun and the barrels he made back to him.

Eric

[MBTcustom]

Good to hear. When a smith bites off more than he can chew nobody wins, but if he makes good on it, there is at least hope for him in the future. Everybody makes mistakes.

[softpoint]

Who "licenses" gunsmiths anyway?

I know that a gunsmith must have an FFL, if he's doing work for the general public, and that there are probably some general "Doing Business As" regulations in specific cities, counties, or other jurisdictions, but I've never run across anything which required any educational or experience based pre-qualifications, nor any sort of "degree" one must have, or any type of "test" which must be passed, before one can hang out a sign that says "Gunsmith".

I'm aware of the handful of gunsmithing "leagues" and "guilds" that exist, but these are little more than self-promoting "clubs" with special requirements that must be met, and of course with annual "dues" that must be paid, before a "smith" can qualify for membership. I'm not sure that any of these "clubs" have any sort of actual "testing" procedures required for being accepted as a member.

Even the state of Texas, which tests and regulates everything from architects, accountants, plumbers, and pest exterminators to barbers, manicurists, chiropractors, and acupuncturists, has no absolutely no testing procedure or regulatory control over the use of the term Gunsmith.

Anyone with a few hundred dollars, to cover the initial Type 1 FFL and a simple general liability insurance policy, can hang out a Gunsmith shingle and offer whatever type of services he feels he can perform. Whether he can actually perform those services, or not, it makes no difference.

Do any areas of the country actually "regulate" the practice of gunsmithing?

Just curious . . . Doug

We don't need another regulated profession. What we need is for gunsmiths to police themselves. I do hand work for friends, relatives, fit 1911's together, I don't have much equipment. I know what my limitations are, and would never claim I could build a double gun. If I did, there is a good chance it would look just like the posters! The guy that did this work should have never taken the job in to begin with. Some people will try anything for a buck. Good to get this fella's name out there so maybe more folks don't get hosed. 3000 bucks is a lot of dough. My ability to behave myself might be seriously challenged.....

[o6Patient]

I to was taken by this gunsmith, he has a really believable wed site and a real agreeable line of BS before he gets your money.
I had a simple job for a custom gunsmith: Turn a short action model 70 into a 350 rem mag and add open sights and barrel band
sling stud. I paid him what he estimated to do the job and open ended if there was a balance for unforeseen costs.
We had extensive and detailed correspondence as to the details of the job and I sent the gun off to him.
Well one year went buy... and a second year went by and I started becoming more persistent in trying to get an update on the project. He would make one excuse after another...when he would answer, then say it would be shipped this week..or next week ... I would tell him the quality was more important than getting it in haste ...on...and....on...and on.
When it finally got here, the twist in the barrel is 1/12 and I wanted a 1/14.
The bolt will not accept the cartridge rim (test fire my butt) and the rear sight arrangement was a Micky mouse type of joke; certainly not a QR setup as we agree it was to be
He blamed the wrong twist on Douglas Barrel, yeah right I'm sure it's probably a take off some 358 or such.
He apparently decided not to ship back the unfired 243 barrel he removed which I wouldn't have cared if the rifle had come back as expected.
The rife is unusable until I have a competent gun smith try to save it and still I won't have the twist I wanted, it would have been a lot easier and cheaper to have found a fine Ruger with a 1/12 twist and have been done with it.
I've yet to ear back from old jimbo as what restitution of money he thinks would be fair.

[ELeeton]

o6Patient

I see a few courses of action for you. Given my dealings with him this is what I would do. File a claim with the Maine BBB. Call and file a claim with the Maine AG. Both groups will contact him thus documenting the process. Make sure you clearly outline the agreed upon terms, your good faith follow up actions to rectify the situation and then what you require to make the situation right. I know it is difficult but this should be written in dry and very objective terms.

Then I would another letter outlining what you had agreed upon and what has been done. I would then clearly define how he has not met the agreed upon terms. Send this to him as a certified letter and let him know you are sending a copy to the BBB and AG.

In my assessment the best way to deal with him is to return the rifle and get a full refund to include all costs you have incurred. Once someone else starts working on the gun you can forget Jim fixing the problem. By doing so you have basically wiped the crime site clean of evidence. In the certified letter state that you are allowing him X number of days to respond to the letter and also state your are allowing him X number of days to refund the stated amount of money or whatever corrective action your require. If he wishes to have the gun then he should pay for return shipping.

When I returned the gun to him he did not pay for insurance as I did when I first shipped it to him. He claimed the gun was damaged. I asked if he had paid for insurance as he paid for shipping and he elected to have the gun returned. Since the burden of the return was upon him I did not pay additional monies. He failed to insure it and it was damaged in shipping.

I am saddened to hear that you too have been taken. I thought my problems were as a result of me being in Texas.

[o6Patient]

Thank you ELeeton, That was about the course of action that makes sense to me. I just hope I have all the original correspondences that outlined everything. As long as the word gets out not to do business with this guy half the battle
is won. I feel a bit sorry for someone doing this kind of work with no regard for the customer, even worse if he really doesn't know
just how bad he is at it. More of that "outcome based" education I suspect from the last 25 years or so that the liberals tried out; doesn't matter if you get it right as long as you have good self esteem in the process- so many of these victims were sent out totally unprepared for reality..that is just more of the liberals contributions to this country. (that's my rant for the day
on progressives)
After filing my complaints with the proper people I might just get it fixed... I certainly wouldn't have him touch a firearm of mine ever again. {NECG is just a town over. (Dietrich Apels Old Co)}

[targetshootr]

Good to hear you got money back. My computer crashed back then and I lost my correspondence, but, if he wasn't a walking ***, he would've done the right thing anyhow.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

I don't know if they still do but Pedersoli did offer some beautibul double rifles, both inside and outside hammers for four to five grand. They were avaiable in various finishes and calibers including 45-70.