How long is too long?

[taylorce1]

I've had a rifle waiting to be built by a local smith for just over a year now, am I being too paitent?

The summer of 2006 I aquired a Zastava long action from WildAlaska with standard bolt face and double set triggers for a pretty good deal. Then I was thinking of re-stocking one of my older commercial mausers so I picked up a factory second "Exihbition Grade" Carlo Walnut stock from Richards Microfit pretty reasonable as well. To make a long story short I would have had to re-barrel my old Mauser to make it look right in this stock because it was opened up for a #4/5 countour barrel. So I decided to go ahead and build something on my Zastava action that was just laying around the bench.

So I took the action and stock down to a local smith near my house. I own a rifle already built by this guy that I love in .338-06. I bought this rifle second hand from a local and that is how I found out who built this rifle. Since I like my .338-06 so much I decided to give this guy a shot at building my first custom rifle.

After talking with him I settled on a .25-06 as this would fit nicely in a gap in my calibers. We decided to go with a 26" stainless barrel in a #5 countour as I'll probably only use this rifle at the range and the ocasional pronghorn hunt. Since my action isn't stainless I decided to use KG GunKote for the final finish as well. So I paid him 1/2 up front to get the ball rolling and he told me a 6-9 month wait for a time frame on my rifle which was fine as I wasn't in a hurry at that time to get it.

I dropped everything off mid October and didn't really check in again until mid March right when the 6 months was up. Well he hadn't started the rifle yet and honestly admitted he was running behind on his work, but promised to have my rifle done so I had time to work up loads before pronghorn season. So I went ahead and paid him all but the last $100. I started checking in about every other month with him just to remind him that I wanted my rifle.

Anyway pronghorn season has come and gone and still no .25-06 in my rifle inventory. This was pretty frustrating to me and when I last checked he still hadn't started on my rifle, but had the barrel in. Should I be PO'd or should I just suck it up because I pretty sure it will be a very good rifle when finished. I called some of his refrences before I went to him and everyone I've talked to who uses his rifles are very satisfied customers.

I'm using High Tech Customs BTW.
http://www.htcustoms.com

[CrazyIvan007]

It is hard to decide whether or not to push people. You don't want them to just do it and do it badly because you pester them, but you don't want to have them sit on it forever either.

I had an engine put in my mustang and it took them 6 months...BLAH...I tried to call every week or 2. It came out good, but took a while.

I might try to get my money back, pay him on an hourly basis for any work done and take it elsewhere. I'd give the new smithy a timeline and tell them that if it doesn't happen, you'll go elsewhere, yet again. I wouldn't pay anything more than a week or 2 in advance and pay on an hourly basis on any work done thereafter maybe 2 or 3 times per month. If they don't like it, I'd find somewhere else.

General rule about all services & products: Don't pay upfront for anything if you can avoid it.

When they get the money up front before doing anything...what motive do they have to work for it? We all get paid weekly, bi-monthly or monthly from our jobs...AFTER we have done the work. Why should it be different for anyone else?

[fisherman66]

So I went ahead and paid him all but the last $100.

?

I'd get with the fella and agree on a date in writing. There's no need to be confrontational, if you trust his craftsmanship and still think he's the man for the job. If that time passes a refund is in order along with you receiver and other parts.

[taylorce1]

So I went ahead and paid him all but the last $100.
?
Why did I pay him? I had already worked that money into my budget on this rifle. At that time I was spending money like crazy for my Alaska bear hunt trying to get caught up as it was a last minuet that I got invited to go. I'd already blown the money I'd been budgeting towards the scope for this rifle for the one I'd be using in AK. I was thinking if I didn't have the money then I couldn't spend it in AK plus I have a scope that would work on the .25-06 for this hunting season.

[Scorch]

I would meet with him and try to get him to agree in writing to a delivery date, but try not to make it too tight. Remember, if you want it real bad, you may get it real bad.

Having built many rifles and worked as a smith, I will tell you that he will be busy until late January when most hunting seasons wrap up, so don't make any timelines unreasonable. Most rifle building happens during the winter months because things slow down enough to allow the smith to focus on the job at hand.

But one year is definitely too long to wait before stopping back in to see your rifle. Remember, it's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease. Just stop by once a month at most and tell him you want to see what progress he is making on the rifle, talk with him about it, and tell him you will be back in a few weeks to see more progress. This usually gets people off dead center, because they know the boss is going to be checking in on them. If 2 months go by with no progress on the rifle, get a refund and your parts back.

[davlandrum]

I assume he is full-time and not doing this as a second income, correct me if I am wrong.

My uncle went through the same thing (long time ago...). he saw the writing on the wall with the 70's gas prices and the increasing numbers of import autos on the road. He opened his own shop, specializing in Saab and Volvos. With no advertising, his reputation as a great, honest mechanic soon overwhelmed him with customers. As his deadlines started slipping, he finally had to limit his customers to those on a list. There was also a waiting list to get on the customer list.

It is the balancing act all good craftsmen have to walk - number of customers and ability to keep them happy.

If he is as good as you say, I would continue to work with him with some pressure to move on it. If you take it to someone else who maybe doesn't do as good of work, will you still be happy?