Gunsmith Pricing

[SSGJohnV]

Hello All,

First off, let me say that I appreciate and understand the work gunsmiths do, especially ones that are well versed in USPSA style guns and making sure they run. I know that it takes time to get to that level and you get what you pay for.

Having said that, no one wants to pay more than they have to. I am looking to get some work done on my new STI Edge and am shopping around, so to speak. Work I would like done includes slide lightening, flat or tri-topping, blending a safety, trigger work including fitting an SVI triglide trigger, blending the magwell, and perhaps refinishing

What should I expect to spend on work like this from a gunsmith worth his salt? I'm in Anchorage, Alaska, and none of my usual go-to gunsmiths have much experience with competition work, so I know I'm going to have to have the gun shipped off.

Any suggestions for gunsmiths to look into?

I would like to keep it in the sub $1k range, and if I'm being unreasonable, please tell me so. I want to be realistic on this before I decide to have it done at all.

I appreciate your input on this. Thanks.

-John

Edited March 15, 2014 by SSGJohnV

[titandriver]

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[Sarge]

Cheely Custom Gunworks in Michigan. Matt Cheely does awesome work. A thousand bucks? probably doable but the finishing alone could be 200-300 depending on what you want. Something else to consider is wait time. Most of the "good" smiths have some type of wait time and I have even heard of a few that are only doing builds currently. This all boils down to, you are going to have to reach out to the smiths and let them tell you what they can do for you.

[SSGJohnV]

Thanks for the input. Just to add, I have a refinishing guy here in Anchorage, so refinishing is already taken care of. I guess what I'm rally asking is what should I expect to pay for slide lightening and tri topping?

[AWLAZS]

Cheely Custom Gunworks in Michigan. Matt Cheely does awesome work. A thousand bucks? probably doable but the finishing alone could be 200-300 depending on what you want. Something else to consider is wait time. Most of the "good" smiths have some type of wait time and I have even heard of a few that are only doing builds currently. This all boils down to, you are going to have to reach out to the smiths and let them tell you what they can do for you.

Give Matt a call

[SSGJohnV]

Unfortunately Mr. Cheely is only doing full builds at this time. Judging from his gallery I would be happy to have a custom gun built by him in the future, but just looking for some slide mods right now.

Ordered a Brazos trigger group today, and a shooting buddy was kind enough to donate an SVI triglide trigger to me, as well as an SVI grip...now to have it fitted to the frame and get a trigger insert.

I'm still in shock that I finally got a gun worth customizing. I've been shooting an older used Para P16-40 in limited most recently, and my single stack .45 in L10 before that. Went from D class to C class and am keeping pace with the mid-high B shooters in my local matches. Just trying to amp it up a notch with quality equipment.

Any other suggestions for a smith? Thanks again for all of the input.

-John

[donnyglock]

_{If slide lightening is what you want contact Gary at Gans guns. He will take care of you. Fastest turn around times and his machine skills are second to none.}

[warpspeed]

Lone Star Innovations - site sponsor here!

I had Glen do some slide work and could not be happier.

[practical_man]

Just look in the vendor forum here. Many good guys who will do great work.

Scott Springer has done good machine work.