Posted: 3/1/2004 9:42:39 AM EDT
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So…. About 5 months ago, I finished working on a Springfield Defender…I added an Ed brown beavertail safety, fitted a Wilson Barrel, relieved under the trigger guard, lowered and flared the ejection port, etc. After all of this, I had it re-parked by Darek at AZEX arms…. Well, I brought it out to shoot it and it got horrible groups. I knew the slide was loose, but after I broke it in it was really loose (you could lift the slide away from the dustcover about 3/32 (or more) of an inch… So, since there was a “big name” gunsmith right there at the range (and they had done good work for me on an AR in the past) I brought it in to them to have the rails tightened (it was cheaper than buying the tools to do it myself. Long story short, “Gunsmith A” started arguing with me about how the rails make no difference on a .45’s accuracy…blah, blah, blah. I usually agree (to an extent), but this 1911 was so loose I think it was a problem. While it can be argued that the barrel relationship to the sights is controlled by the slide, the barrel link is attached to the frame through the slide stop…and if you have a huge problem with slide fit, it can affect accuracy. Anyway, “Gunsmith B” says it is the barrel fit, and he can fix it for under a hundred dollars, so I leave it with them. About 2 months later, I stopped by to check on it, because I haven’t heard anything. I go into the shop and “B” is very rude and says the barrel is not back from the welders. After a conversation with him, he says that the barrel hood needs just a little more material and it will be fine. Whatever. I am not thrilled about this, but they have built a lot of .45’s… About a month later I get a call from “Gunsmith C”. He says that he has replaced “B” (who he says was fired) and my .45 is ready. I get to the shop and he is shaking his head when I walk in the door. He says that the barrel hood is too long, and that it shouldn’t be touching the breech face where it does. Oh and by the way, it looks like the only thing this gun needed was to tighten the rails a little bit. !!!!!!!!!! As calmly as possible, I explained that I came in originally to have the rails tightened… Anyway, he hands me the Springfield and immediately I noticed huge weld imperfections directly over the CHAMBER. It looks like they welded way over the hood and pulled metal from over the chamber area on both the inside and out. “C” starts going on and on about how the hood shouldn’t touch the breech face, etc. He showed me an example. The example looked exactly like my barrel when I dropped it of for the slide tightening. I explained to “C” that I would not shoot it like that (with the weakened chamber) and I told him that I expect a new Wilson Barrel. He agrees and says he will install a new one. So about a month goes by and I called him last Thursday and received no call in reply. When I called him on Friday, he said he was working on the barrel right then and it would most likely be done on Sunday. So, I went in on Sunday. When I got there, he hadn’t finished the gun, stating that he “got distracted.” Anyway, he showed me the .45 to show me his slide-to-frame fitting. The first thing I noticed is that the sights have rust on them, there are several scratches on the front of the slide, and the back of the slide is now nearly “in the white”. It looks like there was rust on it and someone tried to take it off with steel wool—and succeeded in taking of about a square inch of park. When I commented on this, “C” offered to “re-blue” the gun. I told him “no”, as they have made it worse every time they have tried something new. I tried to just take the gun (with the new barrel), but they won’t let it out of the shop “unsafe”. He says the barrel will be done in two weeks. At the end of the day, the “project gun” that I have been working on for a long time is now part my work and part someone else’s. It looks like crap, and I am just sick to my stomach about it. Now Ted Yost is in town, and I should have just taken it to him. It has been about 5 months now, what should I do? :( |
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Quoted: At least you live in the same State as your potential gunsmiths. Imagine dealing with all of this shit via UPS or FedEx. Been there and done that !!![>Q] I sent my EG Makarov in for a trigger job, Moly Resin coating, and a Sim Suhl safety hammer to a well known gunsmith in Arizona who is known for doing a great job on Maks and it was 5 months later I got my gun back. It was finished minus the hammer. He didnt want it to go back to me unfinished and because of health problems could not finish the work. I did get it back but he said that I didnt owe him a thing. |