>buy a trigger job in a bag
>attempt to install it
>get hung up on sear and sear spring
>find gunsmith to reassemble it
>quotes me $65 for it, says it will only take two days
>he takes a week then charges me $150 after telling me the new parts are no good
>gives me attitude when I inquire about the original rate
Are all gunsmiths like this or did I just get an butthole?
I've heard most gunsmiths are fricking useless. Unless you need real specialist work like re-timing revolvers, you're probably better off spending your money on tools and following youtube tutorials instead.
>Unless you need real specialist work like re-timing revolvers
revolvers are easy to retime yourself unless you're a brainlet
>buy oversized parts
>file down slowly and reassemble until it times properly
You only need a gunsmith for big things like unscrewing a revolver barrel, making new flatsprings (if you can't buy from ebay), or lathe work
They're a motherfricker if the ratchet is peened too badly to fit another hand to and there aren't parts for it. Antique revolvers kind of suck to work on.
I don't have a machine shop and tell people as much.
>if the ratchet is peened too badly to fit another hand to
stretch the hand or tig weld then file down the hand. 90% of antique DA revolvers use chamelot or schmidt galand system so lengthening the hand will fix a slow timed revolver
Most people who call themselves gunsmiths are not experts. Depending on his reputation he may be telling the truth or just as good as you when assembling a “trigger job in a bag”.
Who made this bag? EGW? nighthawk? Who? And in what gun? Is your gun made to the right spec?
Sounds like the moron bought new parts for it without your consent and installed them then charged you for them on top of the original quote.
Frick, bros why do it be like that
Because the gunsmith probably expected the customer to have bought a kit that would work and all it would take is to reassemble the gun. Trigger jobs in a bag should require little to no fitting at all. They’re supposed to be complete drop in kits.
Did OP give him a kit that was complete drop in?
>1911
>drop in trigger
>1911
>100+ year old design
>drop in trigger
What people aren't telling you is that 1911's aren't like glocks or ARs, you can't just drop in new parts, they require hand fitting a lot of the time.
The gunsmith was a moron if he figured it would "drop right in".
>Trigger jobs in a bag should require little to no fitting at all.
Correct, but there's no such thing. Anyone experienced with 1911s would know that. Frick, *I* know that and I don't call myself a gunsmith.
The 1911 is a century old design. We should have all the parts standardised by now.
It's an issue of basic design. It was created in a period where almost everything was hand fit, and thus was designed around that fact. Modern manufacturing drastically cuts down on the amount of it needed, but for everything to work at peak performance, it needs a little fitting.
Not only is he a bad gunsmith, but he's also a bad businessman. Without knowing what the actual issue was I can't weigh in too much but if he did frick all after a week and charged you more than double that's not only bad business practice, but also implies he spent time in the shop trying to brute force the bastard until he realized it wouldn't work. Half of your job as a gunsmith is to understand what the frick you're dealing with and charge accordingly. But most gun store gunsmiths are just bubbas grabbed from their basement and paid $15/hr.
t. Gunsmith in training
I just get my local bicycle repair guy to fix my guns. never had any problems with him.
He even sold me a used 16" folding ebike for $200.
Tradesman here, it's always fun to see the guy who tried and failed to do it himself cry when he finds out how much it's really gonna cost.
Gonna tell the story I told in /arg/ a week back.
>Have Daewoo
>Go to LGS I frequent on lunch break
>I want a Guyslee SSA-E trigger for my Daewoo
>Not sure if it'll fit
>Ask guy at counter if i bring in the lower can they check fit
>He says sure
>Bring in lower from my vehicle
>He takes it to the back
>Says their "gunsmith" is busy at the moment
>Tell them I gotta get back to work
>Clerk says he can keep the lower and I can come pick it up later
>Okay sure man I'll come back in a few
>Go back after work
>Different guy at counter
>Hey man I bought a trigger from here and yall were checking if it fit in my rifle?
>Yeah we have it here it went in no problem
>Sweet, I appreciate it man.
>Okay, they said it's gonna be $50 for an hour of shop time
>Look him dead in the eyes
>Did you just say 50 fricking dollars?
>He chuckles nervously
>That's what THEY said but I think $25 is a better price for that work
>You know what, sure man but I know that shit didnt take but 5 minutes to do
>He just chuckles and shrugs
Yes, they are pieces of shit and if you do not absolutely trust the guy then don't let them touch your shit because they are fricking scumbags sometimes.
Did you expect them to perform shop labor for free? Even if it's easy, you're still using someone else's time. You're a shitbird.
not enough info to give any conclusion whatsoever. though i lean towards customer is a moron side. cause his actions lead to that conclusion.
we dont even know if the guy did a good job or not. ops said nothing about the trigger being light heavy nonfunctional etc. just that waah i have to pay money wtf.
>ops said nothing about the trigger being light heavy nonfunctional etc
To elaborate, he tried to tell me that the single-action trigger pull was reduced to a dangerous 1.5 lbs. Dangerous indeed but then he had me drop off all the original parts which he just reinstalled. It kind of makes me think I've been cheated out of $150 for zero difference
>t kind of makes me think I've been cheated out of $150 for zero difference
in that case yeah he charged you a 150 idiot tax to reassemble your gun.
this isnt uncommon if some dumbass comes in with a bag of parts you sure as hell charge em a basic fee +1 or 2 hours of labor to reassemble it in 10 minutes.
but at the same time its your fault for going there, not agreeing on exactly what was supposed to be done, not getting his rates first.
>he tried to tell me that the single-action trigger pull was reduced to a dangerous 1.5 lbs
and hes right
due to tolerance stacking that 1.5 trigger could have been failing basic safety checks when he tried it. He would be moronic to give it back to you in that condition cause he would be legally liable. he covered his own ass good. him knowing it was 1.5 does imply he spent some time working on it. which is shop time and that shit always rounds up.
You should have just asked for the gun back (with parts removed) and reinstalled the original parts yourself, this turned into a multi day affair where you got fleeced because the kit wasn’t good but he did do all that work on it.
It just sucks all around but no one really did anything super out of line. Having interacted with the general public, he couldn’t risk you shooting yourself with that gun if he gave it back
Imagine being a gunsmith and having to deal with morons like you.
>trigger dangerous 1.5 lbs.
Dangerous....You need to take up a hobby like....
A Full Time Reddit Poster.
K, keep me posted
Try to do it yourself, and if you cant, get their quoted price in writing, and make sure both parties understand the terms.
Does the quote include parts? How much will it change if unforeseen circumstances arrive? Does he warranty his work? Etc.
I did try to do it myself, I did not realize the frustration of putting the sear and sear spring back until I started. In retrospect I absolutely should have gotten the quote in writing, especially since I provided the parts
>I did not realize the frustration of putting the sear and sear spring back
Jesus Christ, OP, that's basic b***h shit for a 1911, there's heaps of boomer videos on YT on how to completely strip a 1911 down to bare parts and back
Local ones are shit for the most part. I like sending my stuff through D. Wilson and Retro Arms Works
the question is how does one evolve from a local to a d.wilson equivalent?
>charges me $150
That's cheap for modern prices in today's economy, especially if he provided some parts.
Had similar problem. Bought a beaver tail and a Skelton hammer, neither worked when I installed. never took it to a gun smith, hope you figure it out OP. You’re also a homosexual
What really did the "gunsmith" meme in for me was when I saw school of the american rifle on youtube
>Hey guys master gunsmith bob here
>We have a BCM on a PSA lower and the owner can't figure out what's wrong with it
>Spends 45 minutes taking multiple measurements with different dedicated tools
>"Yep, it's slightly out of spec, I'll get the bill ready and let the owner know"
Granted, some of his AR saves and discussions are cool but he's literally nothing more than an ARMORER.
I've seen real gunsmiths working like german anon back from when he was posting on here.
Most gunsmiths are either hicks with time or the glorified gun version of IT helpdesk guys that have to hurry and google for an issue and shit out a quick fix and charge you for it.
I played with my 1911's like crazy, and have swapped all sorts of parts around, and made parts function that didn't before. I bought a colt 1911, stainless, and it couldn't chamber rounds for shit. I took it apart, saw that the fricking ramp was media blasted the same way the rest of the outside was. Sanded it, and polished it, until it was smooth, and then it worked. Made an aftermarket thumb safety that wouldn't even go all the way into the frame, fit, and even function properly after some more work. Bought a bunch of surplus parts, and made a "lunchbox special" frame into a 1918 era pistol (for the most part, some parts are not correct, but have the right appearance, it was interesting to find out that the firing pin was different). I have changed every part of a 1911, and I did it by watching videos, and simply trying. I can take a 1911 down all the way in the dark. I am not sure how someone that can actually be called a proper Gunsmith couldn't get your parts to work. That seems fricking moronic to me. I am not a gunsmith by any fricking means, but even I have mated a sear to a hammer (I consider myself to be a caveman, I am not smart, I am not a real Gunsmith at all) Never use that fricking "Gunsmith" again. They must let any moron call himself a Gunsmith these days. ffs
> I am not a gunsmith by any fricking means,
you dont have to warranty your work.
you are not liable when dumbfrick nds into his leg.
you do not have an ffl to lose.
you werent able to fleece a moron for 150.
>look mom i can plop on factory fit parts
Lego is not gunsmithing
Please come back when you can make a properly tempered flatspring or reline a barrel
The only difference between me, the wagie rentoid, and a "qualified" gunsmith is a lathe and a room where I can run a shop vac without the neighbors complaining.
you got an butthole, but there are a lot of buttholes.
1911's are a special case, in that you can always get expert advice online and reccs for gunsmiths in your area before doing something like this.
Easy, use your debit card then report it to you bank as an overcharge and tell them the original amount, say the other party would not negotiate and get a charge back. It fricks their credit and teaches them for trying to cheat you.
If you can't do it yourself or are too lazy then you pay the price it costs.
Experience and knowledge isn't free even if it only took them 5 minutes, you would have had to spend countless hours watching youtube videos, money buying tools, time fitting parts, maybe even buying the parts again because you fricked it up.
This applies not just to OP but that other homosexual who claims $50 was too much for something he wasn't willing to do himself and all the rest of you Black folk acting like scumbags doing chargebacks etc.
LMFTFY
>buy chinesium literal junk in a bag for FOUR DOLLA
>monkey-fun the pistol taking it apart
>damage the gun with guinea engineering
>find gunsmith to reassemble it
>quotes me $65 for it, says it will only take two days
>he takes a week figuring out how badly I mangled this fricking pistol and ordering real parts from a trusted supplier for more than FOUR DOLLA
>fixes the gun and gives it back to me with a bill for correct parts and a labor discount out of goodwill
>doesn't understand why a moron with literally no applicable knowledge is getting antsy in his face after he did me a huge favor
He did you a fricking favor dude and you're too much of a moron to know it.
I would have charged you the bench fee to evaluate your bowl of stupid and then refused service and told you to GFY and why in specific detail, and put a note in Quickbooks so nobody else would waste their time on you
Look into how half assed the Senora Desert Institute Gunsmithing courses are sometime.
Anyone can pass.
If you don't find some grumpy ass old fart then you are rolling the dice on getting one of the rejects that fell for the guntuber SDI shilling.
That said, 1911's are 100 year old tech and for all that time they have a reputation of being finicky and requiring hand fitting.
You were setting yourself up for failure by thinking a drop in trigger would be an easy job.
Not to suck my dick or anything but if an onion-IQ tard like me can fit and finish a 1911 from loose parts with nothing but videos from youtube you can too. It was fricking painful and it took me nine hours since I had no idea what I was doing but I got it eventually. Now I can put one together blindfolded. Maybe not hand fit it but I can certainly put prefitted parts back together from memory.