Would anyone want to pay for this?

[micj83]

Decided to try out a local smith in Central Washington. Took them a brand new HS PST 007 stock that cost $650. Asked to have the stock fitted to a new PTG DB. Said no problem. Time frame was reasonable enough, and they even offered to bed the recoil lug. Sounded like a sweet deal. Then things go bad. Started off the day before I picked it up, the lead smith said took him and hour and a half. (at $50/hr= $75) Not a bad deal. Next day I go to pick it up, he had scratched off the 1 1/2 hours and wrote 3...? Maybe I shouldn't have told him most shops were charging $100-180 to do this. First impression was eh. Looked good at 10 ft. It definitely lacked the fit and finish part. There was a bunch of release agent, i.e. johnson's floor wax on the barrel and action. He claimed it was dirty when it came in. Unfortunately for him, wrong. I spent the day prior cleaning all my guns getting ready for hunting season. And I'm meticulous with it. He offered to wipe it down in a couple spots, whatever.

Took it home to clean it again, only then to discover that he had actually chipped pieces of the stock off while milling it. Then glued them back into place. Ok well now I'm heated. Head back down and confront him with this issue. Yet again he lies and says he didn't chip anything. Hell he had a brand new bit in the mill. And there was no way he glued anything back on. He did offer to contact HS Precision for some paint to "fix the issue".

Moving on, I took it back home and pulled it apart to clean everything up. Not satisfied with out conversation, but I have a life and things to do besides sit at the smith's business. Well when pulling the action from the stock, low and behold the piece that "wasn't glued back on" comes off. Leaving a nice little bit of glue residue on the stock. Not to mention two of the three chips on the finish were actually cracks in the stock the protrude down into the mag well and trigger guard area. Then I see the "bedding" job he did. I have never seen such a poor example of bedding in my life. Not solid, air pockets everywhere, excess on the aluminum blocks, etc... Upon further investigation I noticed a problem with the rear pillar. Even though he charged me more due to having to test fit and realign and level in the mill, my rear pillar is machined at a nice angle. Now how could that have happened? Well all said and done, he and I are going to have a nice chat tomorrow, being it was a holiday. And I'm thinking a new stock is in order. Any opinions on the subject. For now I won't say who it was pending the conversation tomorrow, but if they want to save face for the lies I don't think $866 is too much.

[NW-GSP]

I don't blame you for being upset, Hope it turns out right for you

[mfswallace]

hope it wasn't here in the Burg....

[Biggerhammer]

HOLY SMOKES!! What a Frikn nightmare! Hope that train wreck gets sorted out for you. I wouldn't let that guy near a Lego set , let alone a rifle. SAD!

Is the bedding touching the front and sides of the recoil lug?

[DoubleJ]

That looks like something I could do but, there is a reason I'm not a gunsmith

[buckfvr]

Id get a new stock out of him and then Id raise hell with anyone whod listen.

[Stickerbush]

that sucks man, I really didn't understand the technical jargon you wrote up but it sounds like they really screwed your stock up. Hope it all works out

[Huntbear]

Dude,

I am Eburg, what gunsmith shop screwed that up?  I am a trained gunsmith, and I have bedded probably 100 stocks...   

That is just plain F'd up.   I would go back to that shop, give them one opportunity to fix it... if they refuse, just mention you will make sure 11,000 hunters and shooters in Washington state know what a crappy job they do as a gunsmith shop and walk out....

Hit me up, and I will help ya fix it.   

Their fit and finish sucks, the bedding area has cracks and pits in it.... totally unacceptable.  they should have ground it ALL out after seeing how it set, and redone it. 

[MadHatter]

I am not a gun smith, but could have probably done a better job... That is NOT OK... I would flat out tell him that he owes you a new stock and they you intend on taking it else where to be worked on.  I would also explain that you are a member of an online community with over 11,000 people that live and hunt here in WA and that you will make sure that every one of them know not to patronize his business.  That can sometimes turn people around. 

Guess if that doesn't work I would talk to every other local gun smith around and tell them about it... Gun smiths talk, and word will get back to him.  Generally if a smith is highly specialized in one thing, or kind of firearm, other smiths will send them business because they know that the customer will be happier in the long run and they will get a good recommendation from that person because they took the time send them somewhere it would be right, rather then doing a 90% job on it themselves and charging the customer.

Also I would leave a review on any website you can find to review businesses and put up a post on every forum you are part of here in WA, and then make sure you mail him a copy of each review/post...

Work like that is not OK, and with the firearm community being as small as it is around here word will get around and put him out of business.  I will, and have many times, gone out of my way to get work to a gun smith because I know it will come back right, and exactly how I asked for it.

[Killmore]

 mike, report back after you have a chat....wow!!!

[KFhunter]

what a hack job - dayum
 
getting ready to do my stock, think I'll do it myself!

[wraithen]

Even if he bought you a new stock and refunded 200% of your money, I'd like to know the name of the business. Avoiding that place would be my priority at this point for a minimum of 5 years. 

[micj83]

Dude,

I am Eburg, what gunsmith shop screwed that up?  I am a trained gunsmith, and I have bedded probably 100 stocks...   

That is just plain F'd up.   I would go back to that shop, give them one opportunity to fix it... if they refuse, just mention you will make sure 11,000 hunters and shooters in Washington state know what a crappy job they do as a gunsmith shop and walk out....

Hit me up, and I will help ya fix it.   

Their fit and finish sucks, the bedding area has cracks and pits in it.... totally unacceptable.  they should have ground it ALL out after seeing how it set, and redone it.

As for who it was again I'll give them the opportunity to replace it and refund the money involved. If they don't want to take the offer, I have no problem blasting them to the community. As for the stock, it didn't even need the bedding due to the aluminum bedding block. He just offered it after he did the bottom metal. I think it was due to his milling attempt being second rate and was trying to hide evidence of it. Oh well. The stock is pretty much toast. The rear pillar is milled at an angle and the only way to fix that is to shave down the entire bedding block for adhesion (which is possible) to do a full bedding job top and bottom. I just want to start over and move on.

[micj83]

mike, report back after you have a chat....wow!!!

HAHAHA, will do Mike. Now we know who not to take things to... I'll give you a call tomorrow or maybe just stop by. I don't have anything going on tomorrow anyways.

[CAMPMEAT]

I'd let everybody know who it is right now ! It's hunting season and I would be pissed if I got slob work done like that, and besides, the guy is a liar and I'd tell him to his face, period !!

[ICEMAN]

micj83 has a bit more power by not revealing the name in advance...IMHO

[washelkhunter]

That stock should hold up well; as a club! 

[micj83]

  That's one hell of an expensive club. Good thing I don't need a new driver in my golf bag...

Yeah I'm with ICEMAN on that one. If they caught wind of me blasting them before we chat, they could simply tell me to go F' off. Granted they could do that anyways, but lets say it's close to home for me. So if you are local you could probably figure that one out. We wait to see if they have any sort of business integrity.

[FALFire]

GEEZERS    That Smith needs to go back to working on tractors!! That is crap work! I'm not a gunsmith and my bedding jobs turn out waaaaay better than that.

I would just find an attorney and have them send a nice little letter requesting that the stock will be replaced within 30 days on his dime or we are going to court!!

Not only should he pay for the new stock he should also pay for a professional bedding job.

[Cap.Silver]

I think new rifle is in order  :chuckle:and lefetime service for free  . Too bad things didn't go as planned ,hope you get it squared away soon

[micj83]

 

Well current update: Smith was very responsive to trying to make it right. He was all for offering to try to fix the problems. Even went to the extent of saying he would call HS Precision directly. I gave him the name of one of the guys there, Josh. Hopefully we can move on and have this fixed. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me... there won't be a third time.

My recommendation is always go to someone who is known for credible work with whatever you are looking to have done. Lessons learned. Thanks for all the support in my adventure.

[Biggerhammer]

Glad to see you are getting a positive response so far.

[iusmc2002]

Compared to a couple stocks I've worked on, yours looks pretty dang good 

But, like someone else said, there's a reason I'm not a gunsmith!  I hope it works out for you!

[Huntbear]

Well current update: Smith was very responsive to trying to make it right. He was all for offering to try to fix the problems. Even went to the extent of saying he would call HS Precision directly. I gave him the name of one of the guys there, Josh. Hopefully we can move on and have this fixed. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me... there won't be a third time.

My recommendation is always go to someone who is known for credible work with whatever you are looking to have done. Lessons learned. Thanks for all the support in my adventure.

Good to hear that at least they are being receptive so far to fixing the issue.   I always try and get recommendations on gunsmiths in an area....    looking forward to hearing how well they 'fix" the problem.