Thread: Real gunsmiths

I had a problem getting a spare set of barrels fitted to a high grade Beretta sidelock shotgun. On a second similar shotgun I had a misfire problem. Three gunsmiths could not tackle or solve the problems with these guns. Eventually, and with some trepidation about potential costs, I took these to Robert Dollimore at Lake Tarawera. He identified and made good the necessary repairs and modifications to both guns. It was plain to see he knew precisely how to analyse the faults and then how to rectify them. He is Purdy trained I believe. He is a gunmaker. I have also seen his work with measuring a very meticulous older shooter for gunfit of a high grade round action 28 gauge s by s. Rob Dollimore rebuilt the mans stock perfectly. Costs? I found him to be very fair and reasonable.

Spot on sir. Robert Dollymore is the only TRUE Gunmaker in NZ. His work would be comparable to the best standards around the world. He was a certified gunmaker at Purdey and that is high quality.

Rob used to do a fair bit of work for a few collectors of fine double rifles in Australia and a few here in NZ as well. Now he is mostly retired. He has done a bit of regulation work for a friend's double rifle and overhauled another friend's double rifle.

I have a shotgun that was worked on by Rob many years ago - small job.

The late Din Collings was a very good gunsmith. He was very highly skilled and had job offers from US gunmakers. Roy Weatherby, Oldman Hornady & Musgrave from South Africa have visited Din in his workshop in past years.

Din was a dear friend (and Viv) and i still grieve their passing.

Din built my 280 Ack Imp rifle and worked on a few others.

Originally Posted by Woody

I had a problem getting a spare set of barrels fitted to a high grade Beretta sidelock shotgun. On a second similar shotgun I had a misfire problem. Three gunsmiths could not tackle or solve the problems with these guns. Eventually, and with some trepidation about potential costs, I took these to Robert Dollimore at Lake Tarawera. He identified and made good the necessary repairs and modifications to both guns. It was plain to see he knew precisely how to analyse the faults and then how to rectify them. He is Purdy trained I believe. He is a gunmaker. I have also seen his work with measuring a very meticulous older shooter for gunfit of a high grade round action 28 gauge s by s. Rob Dollimore rebuilt the mans stock perfectly. Costs? I found him to be very fair and reasonable.

Woody - Your experiences highlight a common issue, most folks have a fair idea of what is "fair value" when they deal with repairs to their car or house because of wide exposure and common knowledge. However when it comes to firearms the depth of knowledge is a lot less and gun owners often have very unrealistic expectations of how much things should cost. Comparing hand finish work to factory finish on stocks is a good example, the Sako factory finish on a Walnut stock (what many people would perceive as nice) bears no resemblance to a decent custom finish - a high grade of custom stockmaking and fine finish will cost a couple of times the price of the whole Sako rifle (and so it should, the Sako is a mass produced factory product).

And in the same way as cars are now, what were once skilled mechanic jobs are being reduced to "parts fitting". If you think about firearms lines such as the AR's are the same, mostly parts fitting. This is exactly how the manufacturers want their product to be. It's not good or bad, it just is.

It's pretty hard to determine real. Often there are good and bad experiences with the same guy. Often there work is good but service is shit, or the other way around.

In general I'm finding service shit latley, more in the motorcycle industry. Asked for a price on a part the other day, the guy says I would need to send a email to get a price and order it. Ok. He says I can't the boss is away for two weeks. What a joke.

I've found Mark at Desert Guns Cromwell to be really easy to deal with and from what I've heard he knows how to do ARs quite well.

If I need it in a hurry he's probably my closest smith .

Great thread - good to see quality smiths & tradesmen recognised.
All too often people are quick to bag some one when it goes wrong but not too often do we hear the good wraps.
I take my hat off to craftsmen and their skills.

Any recomendations on who would be good to lighten a mini 30 trigger?

Sent from my SM-G388F using Tapatalk

@gundoc has done some work for me in the past and I am more than happy with what he has done, his knowledge in the rimfire work I required was great.

For my centrefires I've had 4 jobs done by Hugh Bradley, found his work to be superb, no rush jobs, gets things done properly and asks plenty of questions and gives excellent advice, can't recommend him enough. Unsure of his training background.

I've owned rifles built/worked on by Allen Carr and Hugh Bradley. Both top notch smiths.

I've seen, and currently own a stock made by Kevin Gaskell. I can vouch for his expertise.

For quick jobs and great service, I've always gone to Greg Hudson at Custom Guns Invercargill. Great guy - very enthusiastic and passionate, and he can build stocks as well.

Nelson Collie who works next door at Status Guns, is also a fantastic gunsmith. Although I've only had a rifle threaded by him (done to perfection).

Originally Posted by Double Shot

@gundoc has done some work for me in the past and I am more than happy with what he has done, his knowledge in the rimfire work I required was great.

For my centrefires I've had 4 jobs done by Hugh Bradley, found his work to be superb, no rush jobs, gets things done properly and asks plenty of questions and gives excellent advice, can't recommend him enough. Unsure of his training background.

similar with gundoc -had work done my my old.303 when he was in brisbane st and all i can say was he did a bloody great job with the rifle ,but also taking time to explain to me(a complete novice) exactly what he was doing and how he went about it. in latter years i had him do some work on a late uncles firearms-again couldnt fault him.
he built a bloody nice 7x57 for a cobber of mine too(unfortunatyely some low bastards theiving paws later nailed it and a walther.22-never recovered)which was a sweet wee shooter.
?greg maclutitis(?spelling) seems popular here in chch likewise of course mr robbie tiffen going by what ive heard on and off from people.but at the end of the day like a lot these days its horses for courses

@mucko Collingsguns

Alan Carr has worked on several of my rifles and I can add my 2 cents worth that he knows his stuff although he's more old school, never seen an ar in his workshop.

Mike has a fairly lean webpage, but it does have his contact details should you wish to contact him.
Collingsguns

One of the issues that many encounter here in the States is the lack of troubleshooting ability that many supposed gunsmiths lack. They are great for chambereing and threading barrels on their high tech cnc machines, but give them a problem to fix and they are stumped. So very few school taught gunsmiths here in WA State, fortunate to have one individual that actually went to school, served his time with the likes of McMillan and Les Baer to have as an option. Not to say that the rest do bad work, but problem solving an issue is a skill many seem to lack.

Mark from Desert Guns Cromwell did a couple of trigger jobs for me spot on.