Excuses, Excuses.

[Gun Smith]

Back in the day, I used to regularly get all sorts of guns into the shop in pieces in boxes paper bags, rags, you name it. The excuse was always the same, "my 90 year old Grandmother took it apart to clean it - my buddy took it apart------ - my dog took it apart----- - my 2 year old son took it apart ------, etc.
No one wanted to take the responsibility for themselves. Is this still the case with you current 'smiths?

[Blaine]

They are just embarassed......

[Cliff]

Don't forget the ones, "My Buddy was in the military and said he could fix it." It seems a few beers made him an expert. They are still out there. ATB

[JustaJeepGuy]

I can safely say that I have never had to have someone else re-assemble any gun I have taken apart. It may take me a while to do it, but I always get them back together. They usually work--correctly!--when I do get them together, too!

[cowboykell]

What bugs me is the screw or part they dropped behind the freezer and couldn't find it. "Oh yeah, all the parts are here."

[jdad]

The first rifle that comes to mind is the Nylon 66. I don't think there is anything as "evil" as that action. It's one rimfire I have avoided.

[Chuck 100 yd]

The Browning auto five is another one that will warp your mind if you are not used to them. And to think old John dreamed up those complicated designs mostly in his head!!

[Hobie]

Back in the day, I used to regularly get all sorts of guns into the shop in pieces in boxes paper bags, rags, you name it. The excuse was always the same, "my 90 year old Grandmother took it apart to clean it - my buddy took it apart------ - my dog took it apart----- - my 2 year old son took it apart ------, etc.
No one wanted to take the responsibility for themselves. Is this still the case with you current 'smiths?

Yep. Had one brought in with "It worked yesterday, I've got no idea why it won't work today," and was missing two internal parts... "No, never took it apart..."

I tried, once upon a time, without a manual, guidebook or what have you, to work on my Lyman/Pietta Remington New Army .44 repro. BROKE the trigger in two at the hole. I owed up to it. Jon said, probably knowing before he opened his mouth, "what happened?" I told him, and apparently it was only the first or second time he'd heard such judging by his expression, "I put it back together wrong and broke it!" That was a cheap lesson for me.

We did have a young man who tried to fix his grand-dad's Official Police by taking it apart... *sigh*, that one is thoroughly muddled.

[rjohns94]

I know my limitations. Rugers Mk1 and Mk2 .22lr semiautos kick my butt. HATE putting it back together. I have never gotten the hang of that. May be why I like revolvers so much.

[2ndovc]

I can safely say that I have never had to have someone else re-assemble any gun I have taken apart. It may take me a while to do it, but I always get them back together. They usually work--correctly!--when I do get them together, too!

Same here.

I will NEVER take a Winchester '95 apart again!
Mauser Broomhandles are no fun either!


jb

[AJMD429]

Reminds me of the folks who come in to the office with foreign objects stuck in embarassing places; they always say they were just sitting on the kitchen stool when they came downstairs for a snack, and 'oops' something was on the stool...

You just have to humor them and deal with the issue; it does no good to confront and embarass them.

[awp101]

I know my limitations. Rugers Mk1 and Mk2 .22lr semiautos kick my butt. HATE putting it back together. I have never gotten the hang of that. May be why I like revolvers so much.

Putting the MKI/II series back together is EXACTLY why I'll never stray from my Buckmark again... Well, that and the fact it outshot both MKIIs I owned.

Someone makes a "speed strip" kit for the MKI/IIs. Forget who it is but I did install one and it worked pretty well.

2ndovc, Broomies are just a 3-D puzzle with real world applications. The best part is there's only one screw to lose!

[Modoc ED]

I know my limitations. Rugers Mk1 and Mk2 .22lr semiautos kick my butt. HATE putting it back together. I have never gotten the hang of that. May be why I like revolvers so much.

I don't have a problem with the Ruger Mark I and Mark II semi-auto pistols but I did have a heck of a time with a first issue Remington Model 760. Man, working that barrel out was a real bear.

[Bogie35]

I even had a hard time getting my Marlin back together!
I kept insisting on putting the extractor in backward. I finally agreed to do it like it was supposed to be done.


bogie

[Ysabel Kid]

I will admit I have taken a pistol to a gun store and asked for help getting her back together. I just couldn't get a replacement part to fit, and wasn't willing to damage the gun or part to do so. Did make me feel better that neither could the gun smith, and he had to work on the part a bit to make it fit.

[20cows]

Kinda' like a "puzzle".

[Bear 45/70]

They are just embarassed......

You ought to know. You have me or Sure-Shot do all the real work on your guns.

[Buffboy]

Both most recent and most memorable for me was the Beaumont Vitalli I was given. The previous owner had traded a half pint of whiskey for it 20 years ago(I think it was twice that) and told me it was a 45-70(glad he didn't try to shoot it with the ammo he got with it). He took it down to his basement and took it apart to "clean" it, then never did. I got it as a pile of parts. He said it was all there, it wasn't, and there were "parts" extra in the coffee can that didn't go with it. He took it all apart, as in every screw. Since I didn't know what it was, it was a pretty good puzzle. I learned what it was after posting a picture on here. That lead me to other forum and what parts I still needed to get it complete(it is now 3 years later, parts ain't easy to find). He did own up to taking it apart and since he'd gone blind since the event, I didn't fault him for not putting it back together.

[geobru]

In my college years, I was reassembling my model 12 winchester after cleaning it and one of my roommates asked me if I knew how to put guns back together. I told him I was no gunsmith but I could usually figure things out if I saw the gun assembled. He went into his bedroom and came out with a box of parts for an 1897 12 gauge that he had taken apart one night after having a few too many.

I told him that since it was the forerunner to the model 12 that I might be able to figure it out. The first attempt left me with a gun that was together except for one part. I studied the assembled gun until I identified the place where that piece most likely fit, and was able to get it back up and running for him. The amazing part to me was that all of the pieces were there after a 2 year stint in a shoe box!!

It was during that period too that I decided I was going to try to disassemble my dad's old 86. I remember loosening the hammer screw and feeling the spring tension push it to the side as soon as it was out of the threads. IIRC it took several minutes or so to get the screw started again. It was over thirty years before I tried that again when I did tear it down. It is amazing what a difference removing the butt stock and the hammer spring makes when working on an 86.

[Mokwaw]

I had just the opposite experience. I took a Herter's .401 powermag, all together in a pistol case, to a recomended gunsmith working in a gun store. It needed new hammer and trigger account the guy I bought from liked to fan it for fun, broke the sears off. After 2 weeks I went back, he handed me the case with the gun all in pieces said he couldn't get parts. I took it home, called Herter's (they were still in business then) had the parts in about 3 days and proceeded to figure out how it all went back together. Needless to say I never recomended this "smith" to anybody.

[Sixgun]

I "brown bagged" TWO handguns, a Ruger S.S and a Colt Woodsman. This was back in the seventies when I was in my early twenties. It embarrassed me to the point I decided I needed to learn it proper. I have since spent about 3 million dollars on assembly/reassembly books and have got quite good at it. I can rip most any Winchester, Marlin, SA Colt, S&W, or Ruger down to nothing and put her back---right. -------------Sixgun

[Blaine]

They are just embarassed......

You ought to know. You have me or Sure-Shot do all the real work on your guns.

I would never hide the truth....That's mighty *expletive deleted* of you to think of me It's a fair trade off, though...you help me with 'smithing and I teach you how to act in public.....

[Bear 45/70]

They are just embarassed......

You ought to know. You have me or Sure-Shot do all the real work on your guns.

I would never hide the truth....That's mighty *expletive deleted* of you to think of me It's a fair trade off, though...you help me with 'smithing and I teach you how to act in public.....

If what you say is true, then you have fallen down on the job badly.

[piller]

I have taken a gun to a smith once. It was a catastrophic failure in a Llama .45 junker. The metal just gave way while shooting a magazine full of PMC 230 grain hardball. The smith was able to cobble it back together, and it works, but I still don't fully trust it.