Reputable gunsmith's by state?

[JohnSmiles]

This site has a wealth of information far past just casting boolits.
Maybe I have overlooked this, and if so my apologies.
But I think it would be helpful if we had a list of skilled gunsmiths by state.
Especially those that members here can actually vouch for.
There are several skilled gunsmiths who are members of this group, but it would be nice to know of those actually within driving distance.
Gunsmithing is a strange field. Seems word of mouth is the typical method of advertising for many.
I have lived here for 10 years, and just recently became aware of a gunsmith who literally only lives a block away from me.
He is not set up for projects requiring machine work, but does refinishing, bluing, cleaning and small repair work, sales, transfers, etc.
And what he does he does well.
Coyote Moon Gun Works in Otterbein, Indiana.
"Title 1 dealer or gunsmith other than destructive devices. Can also deal in Title II NFA firearms with class 3 tax stamp."
He refinished and reblued an old remington 514 rifle and an old beretta for me, and they both look great!
Would it be possible to add a forum where members could share their knowledge of reputable gunsmith's by state?
Create 50 state specific threads, where we could all add locations for those whom we have had personal experience with?
I for one would much prefer to do business in person, rather than mail my precious friends across the country and then have to go through another ffl holder just to recover them.

Plus, with a seriously radical, anti gun bunch posed to possibly take over not only the Whitehouse, but retain the House and possibly stalemate the Senate as well, not a doubt in my mind rules and restrictions are going to become so strict and ridiculous that shipping firearms may become almost impossible.
Most of us can remember when you could simply order a gun from a Sears catalog, no questions asked, and people back then never dreamed we would be where we are today.
Your thoughts?

[JSnover]

It would be nice. I've given up on local gun shops for FFL transfers. GunBroker has a directory and I found three FFL licensees near me but none of them answered my email.

[Shawlerbrook]

I couldn’t agree more with the above. Here in NYS the situation is even worse. I have a great Gunsmith that lives 45 minutes away, but he is done due to severe health issues. Small lgs’s are disappearing around here. I think a sticky with a list of state by state gunsmiths and a short description of their services. I am pretty much resigned to the fact that for certain jobs I will need to send my gun to other states.
One thing, if you mail your gun to a licensed Smith for work, they can ship directly back to you without going through a ffl on your end.

[JohnSmiles]

One thing, if you mail your gun to a licensed Smith for work, they can ship directly back to you without going through a ffl on your end.

Did not know that, thanks!

[leadeye]

I'll have to look up Coyote Moon, I'm from the southern part of the state.

[JohnSmiles]

I'll have to look up Coyote Moon, I'm from the southern part of the state.

He is on facebook

[Nobade]

The thing about gunsmiths is many like our shop have specialized in order to survive. I can do most anything you would want to your guns but must concentrate on what I can do most efficiently in order to keep the lights on and the salaries paid. So while one person may think we are jerks because we won't work on his so and so, the next guy in the door thinks we're brilliant because his new rifle is the most amazingly accurate thing he's ever seen. All a matter of perspective.

[country gent]

Another reason they are specializing more today is there is a lot of fixturing jigs and tooling needed for certain work Having what you need for for what you specialize in it gets used more often and isnt as big a outlay thats recouped. Having the tooling for everything or making it is a much bigger outlay in time and expense. Also much longer to recoup the cost.
another reason is the storage space required for all the tooling.

Some rifles are more bolt together and go today ( Ars Savges) Very little special tooling

[Sam Casey]

Over the years, I have come to know that many shops have multiple smiths and quality of work can depend on who gets the assignment.

[John Boy]

The FFL’s listed in Gunbroker are every Tom dick and Harry, usually just gun dealers

[John Boy]

Gunsmiths listed by States ... https://www.usacarry.com/directory/category/gunsmiths/

No need to reinvent the wheel
My smith in NJ is not listed ... because he works on repairs by referral only and IMO is the best smith in the tri state area and has a complete machine shop and blueing capability

[Conditor22]

John Boy,

That list is a good start BUT it is missing a lot of gunsmiths in my area. And there are no ratings :(

[444ttd]

i had a great gunsmith but God decided He just have him :cry:. then the next gunsmith was also very good, but a couple of years ago, he quit and packed up the shop and he'd moved to florida. last year i found a gunsmith and i gave him rifle that needs d&t and some other stuff. he did a great job but his prices were to high. then i found a guy thru word of mouth and i called him. he told me that he's retired from gunsmithing, but he has guy that opened up his shop and he was apprenticed to him. so i called him up and he said he do it, but it would a couple/several months. i took the 93 spanish(d&t, safety, bend the bolt handle...) and the 91 argie(d&t for redfield aperture sight) to him. a couple of months went by, and he called me, telling me, my guns are done. i ask how much? he tells me and i am floored. his prices are cheap compared to last gunsmith. i was a little weary of him, but when i seen how good the 93 spanish and the 91 argie turn out, i gave him my rem m14 to fix. he had three 1898 spr armorys' and i asked him if he could rebarrel that? he tells me yes. 93 spanish? yes. 95 chilean? yes. i think i'm in luv!!!! then he tells me out in my shop are everything that gunsmith's needs. barrels, stocks(he does his own), hot bluing......i am in luv!!!!!

he has quite a collection of old military rifles and old military sporters. i am, i am in truly luv!!!!!! i looked around and found a picture of his entire platoon and i said i was 12B(combat engineer) in the 1990s. he tells 11b(infantry) and he served in afghanistan(2 tours) and iraq(1 tour) and then he was trained as a armorer(i believe 91f) and how he apprenticed to an old guy. we talked for about two hours and i found him friendly and just a good guy. he has my business!!!

[JohnSmiles]

Gunsmiths listed by States ... https://www.usacarry.com/directory/category/gunsmiths/

No need to reinvent the wheel
My smith in NJ is not listed ... because he works on repairs by referral only and IMO is the best smith in the tri state area and has a complete machine shop and blueing capability

SO... 'no need to reinvent the wheel', yet your best gunsmith isn't even listed? Nor is any but one I know of in my area. Most are listed twice, none have any ratings and almost none have any description whatsoever of what they offer.
Sorry dude, your 'wheel' is flat and also has a bent rim.

[samari46]

Here's one. Bill Jacobs
Bolt & Barrel Gunsmithing LLC
1-864-993-2522
3907 Hwy 72-221 East
Greenwood, South Carolina 29649

Did a chopped '17 Enfield for me, D&T, bead blast and blue. Kept me informed about a couple problems and reasonable rates. Rifle was packaged well and receiver in excellent shape. However with covid best to call to see what his lead time would be.

May I suggest to our members that they post their gunsmiths and the mods make a sticky out of it. Frank

[abunaitoo]

Almost all of the one's here, that will work on anything, are gone.
The good one's anyway.
Rest only know how to work on new stuff.

[Shawlerbrook]

So 444ttd, are you going to share the name of this jewel of a smith you found ?

[JSnover]

The FFL’s listed in Gunbroker are every Tom dick and Harry, usually just gun dealers

You give them too much credit.

I like the idea of a directory if its kept up to date but I doubt that will happen. I think our best bet might be to give a shout on a forum of some sort, maybe in the 'gunsmith/special project' section. At least we'd get word about smiths that are still in business and capable of doing the job.
There are a couple of pawn shops near me, maybe they won't be personally offended when I ask them to handle my transfer.

[waksupi]

SO... 'no need to reinvent the wheel', yet your best gunsmith isn't even listed? Nor is any but one I know of in my area. Most are listed twice, none have any ratings and almost none have any description whatsoever of what they offer.
Sorry dude, your 'wheel' is flat and also has a bent rim.

I see none of the good ones in Montana listed. Most of them have more business than they can stand already.

The ones who piss me off are those who hang up their shingle advertising "Gunsmithing", when all they have ever done is assemble AR15's.

[Nobade]

Almost all of the one's here, that will work on anything, are gone.
The good one's anyway.
Rest only know how to work on new stuff.

Hardly. It all comes down to economics. If I was set up in a shop in my back yard, my house was paid off, no car payment, had a pension coming in, yeah I could do whatever anybody wanted and not charge very much for it. But in a commercial setting, I have to be generating at least $4.50 per minute every minute I am open in order to break even. Just pay the bills. There's no way I could spend a day working on your 1917 Enfield that is worth maybe $500 and simultaneously keep you happy and keep the lights on. You're not going to give me $2000 for your rifle work, and the electric company etc is not going to let me slide for a while. So the concept of a "good" gunsmith really is dependent on what you want out of one and how you approach the project.

[John Boy]

Gentlemen, including you too, JohnSmiles, as I stated .... my smith only accepts work on referrals. Now to make the posted link of smiths, to make the “wheel” more round ... there is a box on the list that says “Add your listing here”

[JSnover]

Gunsmiths listed by States ... https://www.usacarry.com/directory/category/gunsmiths/



That's actually a pretty decent list! There is an option to rate the shops, though it hasn't gotten much use.

[country gent]

Another part of this equation is the better gunsmiths are also looking for good customers.

[Shawlerbrook]

Yes, the list is a good start, but thin on information about their specialties and reviews. There are also many missing.

[Harter66]

MBT in Conway Arkansas is outstanding .

He is well tooled up , I want say class 6 repair and manufacture license . Business has bloomed for him in the last 2-3 years to a point where ever thing gets put in a priority que . As a result the 3 he did for me in the past , 2 barreled actions and a 66% build from a bucket of parts more or less , has gone from 2-3 weeks drop to return and 3 months for a stock that looks like the oil is a foot deep and bluing that looks like it's just going ooze right off metal to ........well I'm waiting on a 92' rebarrel "time available" , "F&F" , and I hate to admit it but I think maybe I'll just have him turn the blanks 1 for an LR 98 and one for Savage 110 and run a 45 ACP reamer in them and work around the perceived defects of the barrel .

[444ttd]

So 444ttd, are you going to share the name of this jewel of a smith you found ?

MAG Gunsmithing & Custom Arms
Somerset, PA 15501

[Shawlerbrook]

Thank you 444 !

[Herb in Pa]

Revolation Arms
Jeanette, Pa

Revolationarms@hotmail.com

[John Taylor]

When I started doing gunsmithing for a living I found out that there are two types of gunsmiths, one will make most parts that can't be found and the other is a parts changer. I saw the same thing when I was working as a mechanic, there were some that would keep replacing parts and hope the car would start running right and then there were true mechanics that would take the time to figure out what the problem was. I have had to repair many jobs where someone calling themself a gunsmith drilled and tapped for a scope and the holes were not lined up with the barrel. Actually saw a barrel where someone tried to mount a sight on a barrel and drilled all the way into the bore. A while back I had an action sent to me where the customer tried to drill and tap him self and the holes were off so he took an ark welder and welded over the holes so he could try again. The welding shrunk the rear bridge and when he tried to force the bolt in the action cracked. I know several gunsmiths that are quite knowledgeable and can swap out trigger groups , sights and do miner repairs with only hand tools.
By the time a gunsmith gets the experience to do really good work he is ready to retire. There are some that specialize in certain repairs and are very good. Had a person called the stock doctor repair a broken stock ( thanks to Fed-Ex) and I could not see where the repair was made. Had Brian Board make a forearm for a Colt lightning pump. All I had was a small piece for him to get an idea of what it looked like. There are several out there that can add the original stile lettering to an antique barrel, Mike Hunter comes to mind. For model 70s there is Wright's gun shop.

[444ttd]

I have had to repair many jobs where someone calling themself a gunsmith drilled and tapped for a scope and the holes were not lined up with the barrel. Actually saw a barrel where someone tried to mount a sight on a barrel and drilled all the way into the bore. A while back I had an action sent to me where the customer tried to drill and tap him self and the holes were off so he took an ark welder and welded over the holes so he could try again. The welding shrunk the rear bridge and when he tried to force the bolt in the action cracked. I know several gunsmiths that are quite knowledgeable and can swap out trigger groups , sights and do miner repairs with only hand tools.



hey!!! i resemble that remark!!!!!!:bigsmyl2::bigsmyl2:

i am not gunsmith, lets get that straight. i used to have a really good friend who was a gunsmith, but he had pancreatic cancer and passed away. he taught me how to d&t the right way and other small jobs(taking apart a gun to its basic pieces, clean it and put it back together, replace parts, etc...). but my new job, at the time, was in another city. so i moved away for a few years. when i came back, he was starting to get sick. most of what he taught me stayed. the thing he taught me the most is "if you can't do it RIGHT WAY, then don't do it!!!" the wrong way will cause someone(gunsmith) grief and swearing, alot of bad, bad swearing.

now, most of what i know is left to a gunsmith. i had a stroke 8 years ago and it left me with only 20% of my right arm/leg. i learned that i could or couldn't do it anymore. the couldn't leads me to my gunsmith. i couldn't do a complete strip down of my guns. i could field strip it. (bolt guns and single shots, i can do a complete strip) i bought a rem m14 in 30 rem that i field stripped. the bolt mechanism needs a complete strip and the safety needs to be put on. he also did minor repair in the wood stock. he did a (right way)d&t with scope mounts, dayton trigger set, 2 position safety(i could it, but why?) on a 93 mauser.

yes, i am a cheap basturd. i should buy the "new" cheap guns(savage, tc..) with plastic everything. oh my God.....i almost threw up. no, i'll stick with the old rifles that are wood and blued steel.

[sparky45]

MBT in Conway Arkansas is outstanding .

He is well tooled up , I want say class 6 repair and manufacture license . Business has bloomed for him in the last 2-3 years to a point where ever thing gets put in a priority que . As a result the 3 he did for me in the past , 2 barreled actions and a 66% build from a bucket of parts more or less , has gone from 2-3 weeks drop to return and 3 months for a stock that looks like the oil is a foot deep and bluing that looks like it's just going ooze right off metal to ........well I'm waiting on a 92' rebarrel "time available" , "F&F" , and I hate to admit it but I think maybe I'll just have him turn the blanks 1 for an LR 98 and one for Savage 110 and run a 45 ACP reamer in them and work around the perceived defects of the barrel .

MBT did some work for me a year or so ago and not only was he fair in pricing but his work was outstanding. MBT was a mod on this site at onetime, but for whatever reason he was booted (don't know why or care why). His work product is great and he's a good Christian man, goes a long way in my book. I'd highly recommend!