Is your gunsmith an experienced shooter ?

[EduardoM]

or a shooter at all ??

I see a lot of people giving advices or recommendations on who to use to commision a pistol but do they really care to know if the person is a shooter or not ?

do you believe in " for a shooter , from a shooter , by a shooter " ?

do gunsmiths who shoot get an edge on preference or just simply doesn't really matter/ not important ?

I personaly prefer a shooter gunsmith to a no shooter gunsmith

what do you guys think ?

I do not intend to bash/slash/attack any gunsmiths , please no names for derogatory use

did a search on the forum and couldn't find anything on this

thanks for your input

[blaster113]

the builders of my last two Limited guns are well known Grandmasters. I think a gun built by a shooter who is at the top of the game will have all of the little things built into the gun like the optimum weight, balance, etc. that his/her experience has found to be optimum. It is not necessary to have a Master or GM build your gun but it sure doesnt hurt.

[ima45dv8]

My 2011-type match guns were all built by shooters who happen to be tops in the field of building top-o-the-heap match guns: Bob Londrigan at Brazos Custom, SVI, Dan Bedell and one that was after-the-fact customized by Matt Cheely. I trust all of them, and yes, partly because they know what I want. I haven't yet had the pleasure of having Benny Hill (Triangle Sports) build me a gun, but I look forward to that day.

I wouldn't have a top riflesmith build me a USPSA match gun, or vice versa. I've also had experiences with some very fine pistolsmiths that didn't understand the nuances of what we do because they don't do it. I like 'em, they're good folks, but they won't be building a match gun for me.

On the other side, there is only one person I let do work on my carry guns -- John Harrison. I literally trust him with my life. No higher recommendation could I offer.

[Chris Keen]

That's like asking if the engineers at BMW, Lamborghini, Porsche, etc. can all drive ...... well sure they can drive. But are they at the top of their field? Hmmm ....... well are we forgetting about all the Nascar Crew Chiefs & mechanics? Chevy, Ford, TRD? And what about NHRA Dragster builders? Or INDY car mechanics? Or the guys who build drifters .... Extreme Off-Road Jeeps? Etc. etc. etc.

There are so many good mechanics, that really know what they're doing, it's kinda hard to dismiss 1 guy simply because he's not Mario Andretti, or Dale JR. (Just examples here)

My local smith hasn't shot in competition in almost 20 years, but guess what? He builds a great gun. It never jams, it fits my hand like glove, and is very accurate. Does that mean I'm missing out on something? Perhaps. But until I totally master this gun, which might be years down the road, I don't think I'm losing anything.

Remember it's the Indian ...... not the gun that usually wins matches.

Edited February 14, 2012 by Chris Keen

[ima45dv8]

That's like asking if the engineers at BMW, Lamborghini, Porsche, etc. can all drive ...... well sure they can drive. But are they at the top of their field? Hmmm ....... well are we forgetting about all the Nascar Crew Chiefs & mechanics? Chevy, Ford, TRD? And what about NHRA Dragster builders? Or INDY car mechanics? Or the guys who build drifters .... Extreme Off-Road Jeeps? Etc. etc. etc.

There are so many good mechanics, that really know what they're doing, it's kinda hard to dismiss 1 guy simply because he's not Mario Andretti, or Dale JR. (Just examples here)

My local smith hasn't shot in competition in almost 20 years, but guess what? He builds a great gun. It never jams, it fits my hand like glove, and is very accurate. Does that mean I'm missing out on something? Perhaps. But until I totally master this gun, which might be years down the road, I don't think I'm losing anything.

Remember it's the Indian ...... not the gun that usually wins matches.

Yep, there's lots of cool guys building quality race guns who aren't well known, and like your local fellow, most all have raced their guns (or something else).

As a relatively unknown example, Mark at ISMI gunsprings used to build bad assed P9-based raceguns with George Heuning, when they weren't building bad assed Indy cars. People buy springs from Mark all the time without knowing how much he understands about compression spring technology. He'll talk your ear off, and you be well served to listen.

[Chris Keen]

Very very ironic Mark ..... my local guy also used to work on a NHRA pit crew ...... years ago ........ And has been building guns now for WELL over 20 years. He studied from John Nowlin, SR. if that rings a bell.

Edited February 14, 2012 by Chris Keen

[ima45dv8]

Very very ironic Mark ..... my local guy also used to work on a NHRA pit crew ...... years ago ........ And has been building guns now for WELL over 20 years. He studied from John Nowlin if that rings a bell.

Nowlin? Hell, yeah!

=======================

Had to do a search right quick to confirm they're still in business:

http://nowlinguns.com/

If I'm not mistaken, I read some articles a while back that indicated they are also OEM's for many popular parts marketed by more-current names.

Edited February 14, 2012 by ima45dv8

[RangerTrace]

I rather them be a Grand Master pistolsmith than a Grand Master shooter, for sure. In my case, Brandon Strayer is an "A" Class Open shooter, but he's so busy building guns, he doesn't have time to practice anymore. Of course Brandon is only one piece of the machine at Infinity. They all shoot, but more importantly (to me) is they're dedicated to producing the best possible product they can.

[Round_Gun_Shooter]

I have used two local gunsmiths for various things. One is an active member of this forum, an experienced gunsmith, a USPSA competitor with a three digit member number (Yeah he's been around a while). AND he is a great guy, good to shoot with and a friend.

The other is an Olympic Bulls eye shooter, scores well at Camp Perry, apprenticed with a well known gunsmith, and is also a great guy.

The biggest thing with both is they do what they say they will, they stand behind their work, they do top of the line work, and they are easy to deal with. They know what you want and do it in a timely manner for a fair price.

I had one dealing with a top name gunsmith/USPSA GM who worked on my Sig 226 and I was very sorry I spent the money. Names and experience are not everything. Customer service is the most important part of any industry.

Edited February 20, 2012 by Round_Gun_Shooter

[calvary45]

My gunsmith is a master class shooter that started out as a machinist, He started working on guns once he started competing now he is well known for his guns and stands behind every gun he sends out. Im having a 5in sight tracker built by him right now and its nice to know that i did not have to go into detail ablut what i wanted, just a few options and i trust him on everything else.

[pjb45]

Don Golembieski at Kodiak Precision is my main gunsmith for most of my guns. Scott Springer does my Production Gun.

Both are top of the list of gunsmiths and are GMs also.

Virgil Tripp did my Single Stack.

Ralph Gutekurst (member of the pistol smith guild) did my BHP.

I am pretty comfortable with those guys in terms of their skills levels on the course and in the shop.

My local guy is an active shooter, very detailed oriented, and a friend for the last 56 years. He work is very very good.

Edited February 20, 2012 by pjb45

[ROY NEAL]

I think a better way to answer this question is with another question.....Does your gunsmith understand what we do and do they shoot our diciplines to understand what we need/want?

If they don't, then you might want to change to someone who does.

I am blessed to have the support of Team SV Infinity (Brandon and Sandy) who understand that I have the talent to break anything and frequently do. Without them, I wouldn't last a season.

Doug Jones from Accurail has been the perfect friend/client/gunsmith to keep up with the yearly maintenance....(God bless him!!!!!)

Matt Cheely has emerged as a great new talent in our area and will be called upon to see if he can work some mojo on my gear.

All these folks not only shoot with us, they also support our sport with thier $$ and efforts. Take that into consideration when you pick a smith to work on you gear.