Support your local gunsmith

[HiBC]

A long time back a car magazine suggested we CAN buy our motor oil by the case a little cheaper at the big box store,but if we want to have a corner auto parts store that has a set of points for an old pickup,it might not hurt to pay the extra buck for the oil at the parts store.
Same idea with the gunshop/gunsmith.
My first stop for powder,bullets,other components,targets,Hoppes,presses,etc is my local gun shop.True,I can't afford to subsidize him if the difference is too great,but I don't mind 10%.
On a big ticket item I might just order,I figure what it will cost to get it to my door,shipping and all,then I talk with him."Hey,can you come close?"And I will pay more and wait a little longer.
I'm always greeted as a friend,and last time I took a 1911 frame in that needed a plunger tube staked,it was done while I waited,and he wouldn't take money.
Everybody wants the "good buddy deal".I say,that good buddy thing has to work two ways.
Its a good thing to have a local shop when you want something WallyWorld doesn't carry.

 

[bill k]

I agree use your local gunsmith if possible. My problem is when I have to order something he doesn't have. I can order on-line and recieve the order in half the time it takes him.

 

[HiBC]

Me too,and I do,without hesitation.I do not weigh him down with ordering things.
If I am going to buy a $600 dollar scope or a progresive press,I give him a chance.Sometimes he says "I can't come close" but,sometimes he wants the deal.
If I need a box of Accubonds or a pound of powder and he is out,no problem,big box store!
But if he is $1.12 more for a box of bullets,I smile and pay it,and remember the times he had a screw or a mauser ejector box or a 1911 beavertail in stock.
Thats all,I just give him a chance.

 

[Michaelm45]

I always try local first!

 

[Scorch]

Wish I had heard that more back when I was smithing! We would have the usual tire-kickers come in and price-shop. We pointed to the sign that said that if they bought the rifle and/or scope from us we would mount and bore-sight the scope for free. Many of them would end up buying their guns at K-Mart just down the street. When they came in and wanted us to mount and bore-sight the scope and we charged them, they would get all huffy about it. We politely explained that the sign said "if you buy the rifle and gun from us", and pointed out that the clerks at K-Mart would be happy to help them get the scope on their rifle if they would rather take it there. Some folks would laugh it off, some would get upset. Oh well. But the big box stores are killing all sorts of "Mom n Pop" stores, not just gun stores, and the profits go back to some corporate headquarters to make fat cats fatter, or to some foreign country instead of staying local and helping the local economies. And it's gone way beyond just being a nuisance, it has affected our standard of living and our world standing.

 

[Casimer]

I agree. But I also try to support certain specialized smiths and suppliers who aren't local - e.g. smaller shops that specialize in match guns.

It's a matter of spending w/ the people who are supporting your shooting community.

 

[orionengnr]

I have no problem with supporting the local guy...in theory.

In practice, when the "smith" takes six weeks to do a "trigger job" and change a 1911 thuimb safety, and totally screws it up (safety engages smoothly, disengages roughly) and then blows you off with..."that's the way I set them up" and I take it to another smith who charges me $260 to put everything right...

Well, I'm about ready to see smith "A" go out of business...

 

[HiBC]

Fair enough.Same applies to the pimple face kid with the claw hammer with one claw broke off and the Chinese Crescent wrench that you pay $100 an hour flat rate to screw up on a $10,000 boat motor.
I have 30 years in trade as a toolmaker,and I do my own.
I'll stand by what I said that a Sportsmans Warehouse or WalMart or even a Midway isn't going to fit parts,thread and chamber,sandblast,or lap rings.
Or pull that piece of brass you forgot to lube out of your sizer die.
Like finding a doctor or a dog or a mechanic,etc,it can be frustrating.
Lets put it this way,if you find a good gunsmith....

But ,its fair to say,lets not buy a sandblaster,do a bunch of damage,like wipe out the threads in some holes or destroy a crown,then take a basket case to a smith and say"Can you fix this?" That UNDO factor is no fun