Gun smith magic

[Dre_sa]

Hey Folks,

I've question for you guys.

When you take an old rifle to a smith to 'check if it's safe to shoot', what exactly does he look for?

Head spacing, rust, pitting, rifling...

What all is checked?

Thanks for the help.

[F. Guffey]

Head spacing, rust, pitting, rifling...

What all is checked?

Again, I have fired cases in chambers that had .127” clearance between the shoulder of the chamber and shoulder of the case and nothing happened. It was like a miracle; the case did not stretch and the shoulder of the case did not move.

I have fired cases in chambers that had .328” clearance between the shoulder of the chamber and the shoulder of the case, same thing, the shoulder did not move and the case did not stretch between the case head and case body.

Yes’ the smith will check head space with a head space gage. What does that mean? It means the smith will be able to tell the owner if the bolt will close on a go-gage. It is not likely the smith will be able to determine the length of the chamber from the shoulder of the chamber to the bolt face.

Then there is the safety; it has to work. Then there are matching parts. I was in Yonkers, NY at the Home Field, Deli when a man came in looking for someone to repair his gun. I looked up to find half the customers point at me. I agreed to check it out. I ask him what plans did he have for the rifle before I repaired it; he explained to me he was headed for a flea market north of Boston, MA. I asked him how much was he asking for the rifle before repairs; he said $150.00 and that price included 2 boxes of R-P ammo. And then I ask him how many after repairs. That price depended on how much I was going to charge him. Still not comfortable working on guns in a parking lot just north of NYC I explained to him there were no charges.

It was about that time he made me the same offer as before repairs. The rifle had an inherent problem (as in the problem existed when the rifle was manufactured). The rifle would fire if the trigger was pulled and the rifle would fire if the trigger was pushed forward.

F. Guffey

[4V50 Gary]

Function check. Does the action work? (feed dummy, extract dummy, safety work, firing pin drop on dummy).

Condition of parts? Broken or damaged parts that need replacing?

Sights? Broken, canted, tight on slide/barrel/receiver?

Headspace?

Magnaflux? (I suggested this recently to someone).

Remember, every 'smith is different and skill/knowledge is different. If the smith is smart, (s)he knows (s)he is always learning something new.

[tangolima]

Whether the gun is safe to shoot is a relatively low bar. I will focus on just that, safety to the shooter and bystanders.

1. Integrity and dimensions of critical metal parts.

2. Integrity of the critical stock (wood) parts.

3. Fire control group. No negative engagement surfaces.

4. Safety features.

-TL

[Gunplummer]

What do you want done? I had guys bring me guns to sight in because they had nowhere to go or did not know how. I fired them. You have to say what you want done. If a guy wants a safety check, there is usually not a reason to fire it. You would not take your car for inspection and expect to get it back washed and waxed.

[James K]

Unless there was some reason not to, and the customer understood, I always fired the gun as part of a safety check. For one thing, "safety" means more than "it won't blow up". A gun that looks good but won't fire may be very "unsafe" if it is to be used in a home defense or police/self defense role.

If I couldn't (bad weather, no ammo) or wouldn't (gun is unsafe) fire the gun, I advised the customer. I always checked headspace if I had the gauges; if not, I used the old paper sticker test to at least get a rough assurance against excess headspace.

I also checked for other problems, like a too-light or too-heavy trigger pull, tampering of one kind or another, proper operation, etc. What I did not check unless requested was whether the gun was sighted in or was accurate. I would do both if/when I had time but obviously at higher cost.

Jim

[Gunplummer]

That pretty much sums it up. "You get what you pay for".