Fair price to assemble a invest arms kit ?

[RU shooter]

I’m not a professional smith but a local guy reached out to me on our local Facebook flint lock hunting page asking if I could assemble assemble a investarms hawken kit , I’ve built a number of flinters for myself from non inlet precarves and last one from a plank so I know this should be rather easy peasy. Sooooo in the groups opinion what would be a fair price for a simple assembly and finish job on the barrel and wood ?

[Sixgun Symphony]

How much do you charge per hour for labor?

[RU shooter]

How much do you charge per hour for labor?

that’s my issue I don’t know I’m not a pro gunsmith I’m a sheet metal worker for my day job , never did gun work for anyone before . I’m fully confident I can do the work but again what’s a fair price

[dondiego]

I have seen Traditions kits go for a couple of hundred less than the assembled rifle of the same model. It would depend on the number of hours that you think it will take to finish the kit.

[Jim22]

I wouldn't do it. I have too many projects. And if something went wrong with the rifle it would be my umbrella policy.

Jim

[redriverhunter]

I have friend who makes knives on the side. I asked to make me two knives. He made them for and never told me a price, he stated give me what you think they are worth. This put me in a bit of a mess too low and I would be a wrong. The how much time will you have spent and what is your time worth.

[Electrod47]

Way back in the day Ol' Swede the congenial gate guard at the power plant where I worked in Nevada had a FFL and a good yarn to go with the used firearms he parlayed to us mill workers. It was summertime and muzzleloader season that winter was going to be the only opportunity I would get with my work schedule. Swede says all you need to get a kit and he'd put er' together in no time for 50 bucks. So I bought a .45 cal T/C Hawken kit from Swede. All summer " How's it goin Swede?" Pretty soon he'd say. That went on til one week in late December he finally brought it in. That was my first smoke pole and I could hardly wait to see all the months long loving craftmanship being delivered into my hands.
It looked like an 8 year old hammered it together the night before. I liked Ol' Swede. I didn't say nothing. While I was waiting for the gun I had acquired everything to make it bang. Took it out alone. Did not want anybody to see that gun in my hands. It was accurate and fun to shoot. But, it was just wrong. At a distance it looked normal. So, I hung it high up above the fireplace with the fancy powder horn I had found.
10 years later 1993 I left the Lakehouse and packed up. I left the muzzleloader hanging above the fireplace. Mind you the BLM was demolishing the lake front properties with D8 Bulldozers to reclaim the land back to the Lake Mead National Park. Thankfully I got older and wiser and built my own T/C 50. New Englander its a beauty and I hope in this my 75th year on earth to get a meat doe this winter with a muzzleloader.
So my answer to the thread is. Encourage the guy to build it himself,

[LAGS]

I have people ask me to build Kits for them.
I tell them , I will help you build your Kit.
And they can pay me for the help.
Mostly it is paid in some form of Horse Trading.
Help others , and let them help you down the line.
They are truly the ones who benefit.
They get to bank away knowledge , and you get a little more experience that you can use.
If they want someone to build a kit for them.
They usually don't have the skills or the tools to do it themselves.
And they just bought the Kit version to save money on the front end.
And usually don't want to pay much to get the rifle first class that is equil to a factory finished gun.

[pietro]

.

IMO, it would take a skilled craftsman at least 10-15 working hours, plus time for application & finishing of both wood & metal, to finish a kit.

The price for such would be whatever your time is worth to you.... AND the buyer.

.

[dondiego]

Way back in the day Ol' Swede the congenial gate guard at the power plant where I worked in Nevada had a FFL and a good yarn to go with the used firearms he parlayed to us mill workers. It was summertime and muzzleloader season that winter was going to be the only opportunity I would get with my work schedule. Swede says all you need to get a kit and he'd put er' together in no time for 50 bucks. So I bought a .45 cal T/C Hawken kit from Swede. All summer " How's it goin Swede?" Pretty soon he'd say. That went on til one week in late December he finally brought it in. That was my first smoke pole and I could hardly wait to see all the months long loving craftmanship being delivered into my hands.
It looked like an 8 year old hammered it together the night before. I liked Ol' Swede. I didn't say nothing. While I was waiting for the gun I had acquired everything to make it bang. Took it out alone. Did not want anybody to see that gun in my hands. It was accurate and fun to shoot. But, it was just wrong. At a distance it looked normal. So, I hung it high up above the fireplace with the fancy powder horn I had found.
10 years later 1993 I left the Lakehouse and packed up. I left the muzzleloader hanging above the fireplace. Mind you the BLM was demolishing the lake front properties with D8 Bulldozers to reclaim the land back to the Lake Mead National Park. Thankfully I got older and wiser and built my own T/C 50. New Englander its a beauty and I hope in this my 75th year on earth to get a meat doe this winter with a muzzleloader.
So my answer to the thread is. Encourage the guy to build it himself,

Replied to wrong post, sorry!

[Texas by God]

Does the guy have any primers to trade?

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[LAGS]

Now , That's a "Horse Trade"

[MT Gianni]

It would depend on whether an 8th grade kid sis it as a shop project or an adult craftsman. I also believe that if you assemble it you assume some liability. I would have to be really needing money to proceed.

[Sasquatch-1]

I had one built from scratch, not a kit, a couple of years ago. This was from a guy who makes quite a few. The parts were right around $900.00 to $1000.00 and the rifle delivered to my door was $2100.00. Now this included carving the stock from a blank and some custom work done on the rifle.

This is just a reference point for you. If this is a "snapped together lego kit" I would probably say four to five hundred. But then again I had someone build mine.

[John Taylor]

The whole idea of getting a kit is to put it together yourself. I have built a few kits and a few from scratch. The kits allow you to learn along the way. Being a full time machinist/ gunsmith my shop rate is $150 per hour altho I never really charge that much. When you figure in the cost of running a shop, business license, property tax and other overhead you got to make enough to make the house payment and put food on the table. If you don't have all the other expenses and you're putting a kit together for someone ells, then you need to figure out what your time is worth. Skill level also has a lot to do with how much you can charge for your work. If you are an expert at building rifles your work will show it. If you're new at it and learning along the way, it will show it.

[elk hunter]

It seems to me that when someone buys that type of kit and asks someone else to put it together they're looking to save money over the factory assembled cost. That is unless they're looking for a real custom rifle in which case they wouldn't be buying that type of kit. Is it worth your time and effort to save the other guy money? I'm thinking it would be difficult to charge a reasonable amount for your time and save him any money. I would think one or both of you will be disappointed.

[freakonaleash]

I charge $35 an hour

[country gent]

I have "helped" a couple guys build their kits. I never touched a tool ( other than getting it out for them and cleaning it up and put away). These kits were meant to be built by the owner and completing them into a nice correct finished rifle gives a lot of pride. It also is a good start on the care cleaning and repair of it. This was more satisfying to both parties in the long run. These guys learned things they used later on like draw filing, block sanding, finishing, spotting and fitting, some layout.

But you need the 'right" guy for this to work, I tried it with a family member on a different thing. Every time I told him what he needed to do I got told how he was going to do it or so and so said to do this this way. Frustrating and unproductive. I finally let him go making sure he was safe and not damaging my tools. The finished part didnt look good didnt work right. when he wanted me to fix it and finish it I told him so and so knows more take it to him.

[idahoron]

I have friend who makes knives on the side. I asked to make me two knives. He made them for and never told me a price, he stated give me what you think they are worth. This put me in a bit of a mess too low and I would be a wrong. The how much time will you have spent and what is your time worth.

That is kind of what I do. I built this knife for my Barber and I told her to make me an offer. She gave me a card with 20 free hair cuts. It worked out to about 400 bucks.



A guys I knew from work wanted me to restore his grandmothers kitchen knife. He said he remembered her using it when he was very small. He was 70 when he wanted it done. It had rusted and the old wood handle was gone. The only thing left was the rivets. I told him the same thing and he gave me 200 dollars. I felt like I was compensated fairly.

[Edward]

That is kind of what I do. I built this knife for my Barber and I told her to make me an offer. She gave me a card with 20 free hair cuts. It worked out to about 400 bucks.



A guys I knew from work wanted me to restore his grandmothers kitchen knife. He said he remembered her using it when he was very small. He was 70 when he wanted it done. It had rusted and the old wood handle was gone. The only thing left was the rivets. I told him the same thing and he gave me 200 dollars. I felt like I was compensated fairly.

You do nice work!!!/Ed