Gunsmiths bemoan decline.

[Johnboy60]

MINOT, N.D. — In the Old West, the local gunsmith was as important as the farrier or harnessmaker. Today, gunsmithing is considered a dying art.
"There's less people shooting — a lot less than there used to be," said Dave Jacobs of Dakota Gunsmithing Specialties in Mott.

"The real heyday for gunsmiths came right after World War II when soldiers brought back rifles from the war and had them customized. That lasted until the mid-'70s to early '80s," he said.

"A lot of industries are consolidating," said Melissa Sheppard of R & G Gunsmiths in Dickinson, N.D. "The mom-and-pop entrepreneur has the most difficulty surviving. Sometimes it takes 20 years to build up a reputation."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-08-11-gunsmiths_N.htm

 

[MrJim]

Also something to consider: Firearm manufacturers are doing a better job of building reliable weapons. I've owned guns for a lot of years, only needed to visit a gunsmith once. Problems are often fixed by the factory. Couple this with a declining shooting population and gunsmithing will become like blacksmithing; hard to find craftsmen.

 

[Vylo]

Excuse my ignorance, but guns seem pretty sturdy to me. It seems like one of the few things still built to last in a disposable era.

 

[MrJim]

Excuse my ignorance, but guns seem pretty sturdy to me. It seems like one of the few things still built to last in a disposable era.

Yeah, but it doesn't always translate into reliablity nor accuracy. New technology, like everything else, is making it easier for manufacturers to do this.

In the old days you'd buy a new Colt .45 and have to take it in to get it throated & chamfered and have trigger work done and other things to make it reliable and shootable. Other manufacturers (Kimber, Sprinfield Armory, come to mind) said "Why not make them right the first time?". They created products that made Colt look pretty sad.

In the old days you'd buy a new bolt-action rifle and if you really wanted it to shoot well you'd take it in to get bedded and get some trigger work done. The rifle guys were a bit ahead of Colt in this regard, and regularly produce accurate rifles right from the box. Savage is a great example terrific engineering that has created very accurate rifles.

The 'smiths spent a lot of time working over old military weapons into usable sporting guns, and doing high-end custom work (sub MOA rifles and such), and those really are diminishing markets.

Be interesting to dig up U.S. weapon sales from the big name manufacturers, and from the weapon importers like Century International~that would be a better indication of weapon sales/shooting. ALSO ammunition sales-factory ammo and reloading components-that would be an even better indicator of shooting numbers.

 

[susanann]

We also now have a throw-away society in the US today.

IF a gun doesnt function the way we want, and if it also isnt under warranty, then we just buy another one.

We still have many more gunsmiths than tv/radio repairmen, or toaster repairmen, etc. More people now throw away stoves, refrigerators, washers, and dryers and buy new ones than get the one one fixed.

 

[soblessed53]

Excuse my ignorance, but guns seem pretty sturdy to me. It seems like one of the few things still built to last in a disposable era.

Well they do need re-bluing,and firing pins sometimes mess up. My late hubby was a gunsmith,and he did a lot of re-bluing shotguns,plus checkering and/or making gunstocks. Turkey shoots and trap-shooting is still big around here.

 

[MrJim]

We also now have a throw-away society in the US today.

IF a gun doesnt function the way we want, and if it also isnt under warranty, then we just buy another one.

We still have many more gunsmiths than tv/radio repairmen, or toaster repairmen, etc. More people now throw away stoves, refrigerators, washers, and dryers and buy new ones than get the one one fixed.

Don't throw that old gun away, save it for "gun buy-back" program day

 

[Billnew]

We also now have a throw-away society in the US today.

IF a gun doesnt function the way we want, and if it also isnt under warranty, then we just buy another one.

We still have many more gunsmiths than tv/radio repairmen, or toaster repairmen, etc. More people now throw away stoves, refrigerators, washers, and dryers and buy new ones than get the one one fixed.

When it costs more to fix the old one, why fix when its cheaper to get a new one?

We buy a mower every 3 years. No tune ups, just change the spark plug. When it quits working, we get a new. $45 -60 to get a tune up, $45 an hour with 2 hour minimum plus parts, new mower $200.

I've owned a used SF 9mm, have a used match qualtiy Dan Wesson .357, and a cheap Davis .32. The Davis is the only one that needs worked on, magazine isn't held in far enough. I bought the 32 for $70-12 years ago.
Gunsmith would charge more ot fix then it worth. Waiting for a gun buyback in Dayton(they had one but no one mentioned it until they were showing the trash...I mean the deadly firearms they had turned in.)

 

[soblessed53]

When it costs more to fix the old one, why fix when its cheaper to get a new one?

We buy a mower every 3 years. No tune ups, just change the spark plug. When it quits working, we get a new. $45 -60 to get a tune up, $45 an hour with 2 hour minimum plus parts, new mower $200.

I've owned a used SF 9mm, have a used match qualtiy Dan Wesson .357, and a cheap Davis .32. The Davis is the only one that needs worked on, magazine isn't held in far enough. I bought the 32 for $70-12 years ago.
Gunsmith would charge more ot fix then it worth. Waiting for a gun buyback in Dayton(they had one but no one mentioned it until they were showing the trash...I mean the deadly firearms they had turned in.)

Good point there,but since my hubby didn't even charge a "shop charge" for his gunsmith worth,guess he wasn't a very good businessman,LOL! It was more of a hobby,he was a crane operator at the steel mill.

I sure now what you mean about the high cost of repairs though. Forget VCR or DVD repairs I will toss it out first,instead of EVER paying a shop-charge just to get told " I can't get any parts for it anymore". If I buy an appliance or such, the salesman regrets mentioning a "Lifetime" warranty to me, with companies going out of business,closing re-opening under new name,or disappearing,that is a total farce!
Like my lifetime warranty on my stereo bought from the now-extinct Sun Electronics.

Sorry for the rant,and getting off-topic! I don't know where you live,but here in Northern OH. there are several licensed gunsmiths that do it as a sideline, mostly for Turkey and Trap-shooters,but they can take care of about any firearm repair, and I don't know any that charge by the hour or even a shop-charge,since they work in their home,or garage.All of them I know,as my husband did also,have metal lathes,so they can also machine any part they need to,plus they keep plenty of springs on hand,as they seem to cause a lot of problems.

 

[horuhe00]

It's cheaper to not have one.