Do we have a gunsmith here ?

[Johnch]

I was wondering because I have a 98 that I want rebarreled for 30-06 to 35 Wellen with a Shillon , Douglas or ? barrel

The guy I had do my last rifle gave me a 2 month estament in Sept .
I called him the other day because I had not heard from him in about 3 months .
He said it will be at least another year .


I can do the stock work
Also I plan on having a freind parkerizing it , so no need to blue it

PM me if interested in taking on some work

Johnch

[waksupi]

John, be suspicious of any 'smith, who can do it "right away". Probably means they aren't very good at thier business.
I think John King is backed up about 5 months at the time, we're backed up about a year, Dennis Olsen is backed up decades.
Check to see if you have any good machine shops around, with a shooter at the lathe. He may be able to solve your problem, if he thouroughly understands headspacing a barrel properly.
You might give Brownell's a call, as they have gunsmiths scattered around the country they may recommend to you.

[Johnch]

John, be suspicious of any 'smith, who can do it "right away". Probably means they aren't very good at thier business.

I understand that .
But when I first talked to the Gunsmith .
He said he would put me on the list , don't bring your rifle in yet .( I live an hour away)
He then calls 6 months later, bring it in.
Your rifle is about 2 months down the list , should be a quick job.

IMO His attitude is my simple rebarrel is not enough $$ or fancy enough .

I was not looking for a right now rebarrel , just wanted someone with a better attitude .

Johnch

[Trailblazer]

Some of the barrel makers will install their own barrels. Shaw, Montana Rifleman and Pac-Nor will do it I think. I don't know how long they take.

[Char-Gar]

Good gunsmiths are backed up. My man is installing an 03A3 barrel on a Krag and we are looking at 8 months at least to get the work done.

If I wanted to do a straight barrel job with a new barrel on a popular action, I would have the barrel maker true the action ,lap the lugs and install the barrel. It won't cost any more than having a smith do the work. I think all of the makers (Shaw, Shilen, Douglas, Hart, Kreiger) etc. all do this kind of work. Turn around time will be as short as it can be, and the work will be first rate.

[Char-Gar]

Good gunsmiths are backed up. My man is installing an 03A3 barrel on a Krag and we are looking at 8 months at least to get the work done.

If I wanted to do a straight barrel job with a new barrel on a popular action, I would have the barrel maker true the action ,lap the lugs and install the barrel. It won't cost any more than having a smith do the work. I think all of the makers (Shaw, Shilen, Douglas, Hart, Kreiger) etc. all do this kind of work. Turn around time will be as short as it can be, and the work will be first rate.

[KCSO]

Here's how it goes on an average Saturday...
Get to the shop at 08:00 and pull out the first job, the phone rings and someone wants to know if I have started his job yet, no I'm busy talking to you on the phone. Go back to work and the phone rings, City Bank wants to know if I want an increase in my credit limit. Go back to work and Joe Blow comes in with his 22 in pieces and argues for 1/2 hour about how I should just do his gun first because it will onlyu take 10 minutes. Go back to work and the phone rings and Joe blow wants to know if he could drop by on Sunday to pick up his gun. Back to work and actuall get 20 full minutes of work done before the next phone call. And so on ad infitum. And the worst part of this is shutting down the machines to answer the darn phone. Technicaly your job isn't hard or really time consuming, but if you don't do the jobs in order you really piss off the customeres and you lose track of where you are. I don't do this work anymore and i still get guys coming in wanting me to just squeeze this one job in for me just this once PLEASE. So I am still a year behind and I'm not in business. Gunsmiths as opposed to parts changers are a rare breed and mostly overbooked, I don't know any in NE Nebraska who are not at least a yaer behind on specialty work.

[Willbird]

1 year, ya I would walk, find another guy. 2-3 mos is within reason, even 5 years is if he is upfront about it, crawfish stuff like you just got ?? BS

Bill

[Willbird]

1 year, ya I would walk, find another guy. 2-3 mos is within reason, even 5 years is if he is upfront about it, crawfish stuff like you just got ?? BS

Bill

[danski26]

My friend just started at this shop recently. He took about 5 years off of smithing to drive truck but has been been smithing a long time and does good work. he is a machinist. I believe right now he is doing "walk-ins" but the shop was with out a gunsmith for a while and they are sure it will backed up soon. Ask for Kerry Blankenship, if hes busy or not there I'm sure someone else answering the phones can hook you up with the info you need to make a decision.

http://www.precisiongunworks.com/

[todd987]

John - have you considered doing it yourself?
If you buy a short chambered barrel it's not a bad job.
I have had good luck with the A&B barrels from MidwayUSA.
You either need to rent a reamer and gauges or join the reamer co-op.
http://www.sporterizing.com/index.php?showtopic=158
Good investment if you plan on doing a few rifles.

Yes.. I am a proud parts changer and caster of lead boolits.
Nothing like the satisfaction of doing it yourself.
Shoot me an email if you are interested.
Todd

[Franklin Zeman]

I have had Douglas do several over the years. You can specify a minimum chamber and ...... They test the action on EVERYTHING before they barrel it up and if it is not suitable, they wont do the work. Their XX airgauged has never been a disappointment!!!!!! Frank

[Doc Highwall]

The better well known gun smiths have at least 1-2 years work and if he does bedding jobs as well add even more time to this.

[flounderman]

I been using it&d in minerva ohio for years. he uses douglas barrels, is reasonable, quick, and has always done satisfactory work for me. just tell him what you want him to do.

[Larry Gibson]

You might consider just sending the action to Shilen. They will install and chamber their own barrels on actions for a reasonable price. The last time I delt with them the turn around was quite reasonable and the workmanship was excellent. Check their web site.

Larry Gibson

[John Taylor]

I'm backed up several months but sometimes I will throw a barrel install in just to change things up a bit. Thread, chamber and head space is not a lot of work, on a Mauser it would cost about $120 for the labor. I'm having problems getting barrels in a short time now, some taking over a month. I have been using McGowen barrels for quite a while with a few other like Douglas and Green Mountain thrown in. I had a problem with a Shaw SS barrel not being stress relieved properly several years back, hope they got it figured out by now.
McGowen does installs http:
//www.mcgowenbarrel.com/catalog3.htm
Midway has a good price on the A&B barrel http://www.midwayusa.com/Search/#Ada..._1-2-4_8-16-32 Here's one you could probably do yourself http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct...tnumber=546547
For blue I use Doyle's gun shop (208-686-1006) . He blues 40-60 guns a week, price for a Mauser usually runs $85 plus return shipping.

[danski26]

This thread started in 2006! WOW! What a resurection! I hope he has a new barrel by now!

[scb]

I just got an email from Hart Barrels. My rifle, that they've had only sense the end of January, is shipping tomorrow. Scratch one more off the bucket list.

[missionary5155]

Good afternoon
I will vouch for the work of our John Taylor. He did a barrel for me on my 414 Supermag project and it is the nicest barrel I have ever recieved. The turn around time he gave was was right on time.
I have no financial interest here.. Just want to say what a fine job he did.
Mike in Peru

[Johnch]

This thread started in 2006! WOW! What a resurection! I hope he has a new barrel by now!

Yea a "retired" gunsmith that is local helped me out

I then did a Savage myself , but a pre chambered barrel on a 110 is easy

The only releal problem is having enough time to use either rifle to hune deer with
As in Ohio CF rifles aren't allowed for deer

But I could use a 50 BMG to hunt ground hogs or tree rats if I wanted to
And was safe

John