Thread: Real gunsmiths

Allan Carr and Mitch Maxberry currently. Din Colling was good but has sadly passed away.
Allan does superb stock work as well as top rate metal work.
Mitch was trained in the states and builds very good tube rifles from Remington actions and has done some very good work on Mausers and Savage lever action rifles for me.

The Collings boys do pretty good work for the $$$'s.
Mike in Whakatane, Ross (Collings & Bradey) in Carterton.
All of the lads shot competitively while Din was alive, Mike still competes regularly, Ross not so much, unsure about Steve.
I've got Ross' first attempt at a metal stock system, with which he won the Ballinger Belt back in 1993.
RH Cast is a bit more than suits my narrow shoulders, so will be checking with him, before I try and DIY it to fit me better.

Originally Posted by WallyR

The Collings boys do pretty good work for the $$$'s.
Mike in Whakatane, Ross (Collings & Bradey) in Carterton.
All of the lads shot competitively while Din was alive, Mike still competes regularly, Ross not so much, unsure about Steve.
I've got Ross' first attempt at a metal stock system, with which he won the Ballinger Belt back in 1993.
RH Cast is a bit more than suits my narrow shoulders, so will be checking with him, before I try and DIY it to fit me better.

whats the business name for Mike from Whakatane need a good local ish gunsmith.

The NZ Hunter team are good gunsmiths. They built me a 7 saum that is my most consistently accurate (across a range of projectiles) and lightest rifle.

They are not into wood work or fixing half rooted rubbish (don't blame them) but will make you a practical rifle that shoots for nz conditions.

A great thread idea. Anyway, G'day team. I'm quite obviously new to this (any) blog type forum.
I have a 2nd hand Henry and I need a gunsmith who know this tool.

Cheers in advance

asking for a real gunsmith is like asking for an real electronic tech. you may find someone who will know what internet connection **** is but they cant solder a component into a board. (lucky for me i can)
had an idiot at NL a day ago spouting total bs about rms power. spf etc. load of bollocks and put him in his place
a real gunsmith is an engineer, a craftsman and at time a genius. not some muppet who believes what the hear or see from the net and use it to sell a service

Originally Posted by gonetropo

asking for a real gunsmith is like asking for an real electronic tech. you may find someone who will know what internet connection **** is but they cant solder a component into a board. (lucky for me i can)
had an idiot at NL a day ago spouting total bs about rms power. spf etc. load of bollocks and put him in his place
a real gunsmith is an engineer, a craftsman and at time a genius. not some muppet who believes what the hear or see from the net and use it to sell a service

I think I'm a real electronics tech but after reading this I'm not so sure

Originally Posted by gonetropo

asking for a real gunsmith is like asking for an real electronic tech. you may find someone who will know what internet connection **** is but they cant solder a component into a board. (lucky for me i can)
had an idiot at NL a day ago spouting total bs about rms power. spf etc. load of bollocks and put him in his place
a real gunsmith is an engineer, a craftsman and at time a genius. not some muppet who believes what the hear or see from the net and use it to sell a service

@gonetropo

You mean .... you can walk barefoot over Wheatstone bridges?

Gonetropo is not to far wide of the mark with the "real electronics tech", all gunsmiths have areas of specialisation and knowledge. Its a matter of both parties being clear about what they expect and what they can deliver.

Another factor is the timeframe for a project, "art" is often not available on demand to the artisan, and often the best guys will consider a project for a long time before they tackle it. Some with specialist expertise get backed up and you have to wait, but usually it'll be worth it - dear old Din Collings (since passed to the other side) springs to mind, 2 years was not unusual!

Originally Posted by Tentman

Gonetropo is not to far wide of the mark with the "real electronics tech", all gunsmiths have areas of specialisation and knowledge. Its a matter of both parties being clear about what they expect and what they can deliver.

Another factor is the timeframe for a project, "art" is often not available on demand to the artisan, and often the best guys will consider a project for a long time before they tackle it. Some with specialist expertise get backed up and you have to wait, but usually it'll be worth it - dear old Din Collings (since passed to the other side) springs to mind, 2 years was not unusual!

@Tentman yor not wrong. My new rifle was two years four months on the build. My gunmaker here in the UK is very good as you can see from the pic above. Gunmaker I call him that because he is a member of "The Worshipful Company Of Gunmakers".
He did his trade with Purdy and Holland and Holland. He's a specialist in making barrels for shotguns and double rifles.
Now he can do stock making, as he has been trained to but finds it's too time consuming and not his best skill so he out sources that.
But he could make you a shotgun from scratch. I've personally seen him fix 100 shotguns.
Sitting behind a CNC maichne dose take some training but I guess that's the difference between a gunsmith and a gunmaker.

Here's his website.
Gunmaking

wheatstone bridge-same principle as used is a mine gas detector isn't it?

I thought I was one until my wife reminded me that I was retired!

Originally Posted by gundoc

I thought I was one until my wife reminded me that I was retired!

you will never retire, now its a 50/50 mix of gunsmithing and a hyperactive mutt

Jim Carlson out of Oamaru did excellent work and would work on anything from manufacturing parts to a full build including stock work etc.

Quite a good comment recently by Bill Marr from USA about what constitutes a gunsmith. Brownells are promoting this side of their business to expand it as well as hosting gunsmithing conferences etc.