[Howardk]

I've been asking myself lately why I try to work on my own guns. At first, I deluded myself into thinking I was saving money. But after looking at my bag of destroyed ambi safeties, triggers, extractors, etc., my repairs have cost me a lot more money than if I'd gone to a good smith. While I can now do some simple smithing, the learning curve was and is very expensive.

OTOH, I think I do it because:

1. It's recreational and I enjoy working with my hands.
2. It's a challenge. The 1911 is a horror for people with perfectionistic tendencies since there's always something else (getting out that last bit of trigger creep, etc.) to make it "perfect."
3. I don't like "black boxes," especially with things I use a lot. I wanted to know how the 1911 works.
4. I'm impatient and can't stand waiting weeks to get something simple like an ambi safety or a short trigger installed. Especially, since I knew that these mods wouldn't take more than an hour in the hands of a good smith.
5. I couldn't stand the attitude (arrogance and nastiness) of some (not all) of the smiths I've dealt with. I also think that some of the gunsmith prices on more simple mods is way too expensive.
6. UPS and Fedex overnight prices makes it very expensive to send a gun off for repairs. I can buy a lot of parts for what it costs to send off a gun.

In the end, a lot of it is the pride that comes from doing it myself.

 

[Spiked]

heh, saving money, I'll second that. I thought that as well. Dreams of doing work for friends. I could have bought a second Les Baer for what Brownell's has gotten from me. And so far I have been able to accomplish maybe $200 worth of smithing work + messed up 1 good frame. Ah, but it's so relaxing

Thing is, I worry about the stereotype image I see myself as - obsesive cleaning and such. That is always the character in movies just before the serial killings, right?

 

[LenB]

Certainly not to save money. Great excuse to spend it on more tools while not feeding UPS. Satisfaction of doing for myself plus not having to wait on someone else to get around to it.

 

[JSP]

HowardK

Couldn't have said it better myself

Spiked - LOL!...but glad you live in another state...

 

[col132]

I've got a real obsession with understanding how and why my guns work. Don't ask me why. I started by taking 45's and S&W revolvers apart, and then it proceeded to Sigs, Glocks, etc. Aside from the hobby part of it, I think it also greatly enhances an understanding of why a gun "doesn't" work.

 

[Wit]

I have to admit that it's a man's way of doing things. We never stop and ask for directions, we don't read instruction manual. Most of all, we trust our instinct. We will figure out how to do it before getting help.

Especially 1911, there are only few parts that make the gun work. And, we can fix or improve it too (even with a greater cost.)

 

[JoeMc]

I get a great deal of pride in my accomplishments. I also know my limitations. I can read and ask quetions, therefore I learn. I escape to the Fortress of Solitude,put on a good album and shut the world out. It beats drugs any day.

 

[Ken Neal]

I do it because:

I'm cheap
I think I can do it
It cant be that hard
To save money
To show off to my friends
So I can justify another gun tool
I really do enjoy it
I might make a buck some day

The truth,,,,,all of the above

 

[ParaDox]

Why do I work on my own guns?

Easy. I'm a machinist by trade and a dyed-in-the-wool, Tim Taylor Signature Series Tool Nut and Unrepentant Gadget Freak.

I work on my own guns, I maintain and modify my own cars, I fix my own appliances, I do my own wiring and plumbing, I do my own landscaping, I pour my own concrete. I weld it, I machine it, I cut it, I forge it. I've laid bricks, I've run sewer pipes, I've rebuilt differentials and transfer cases. I've plumbed hydraulics, troubleshot diesel injectors and bored cylinder blocks. I've done my own bodywork and paint, trued my own mountain bike wheels and assembled my own computers.

I've sewn my own holsters, reloaded my own ammo and cleaned my own animals.

It's natural.

 

[supercomp]

the guy who got me in to shooting always said, first you learn how to shoot, then you learn how to build your own gun.

 

[Ledbetter]

I agree with all those reasons. Here's another. I care more about the repair than all but the most dedicated smith.

I've given a well-known smith (Moderator at another board) two tries at installing a sight that will not fall out of my front dovetailed Colt Officers' after 100 rounds. Both repairs looked like s#i+ as well. Total cost--$85, total benefit--Zero.

Let a local "Smith" talk me into letting him do a "trigger job" on my 10/22T. Result, a trigger that occasionally doubles and occasionally fails to cock the trigger during recoil, even with hi-velocity rounds. His response: "I can't find anything wrong with it. I've been building these for years." Total cost $75 + ruined trigger group.

Easier to learn to be a craftsman than to find one.

Regards,

Ledbetter

 

[Poohsdad]

The first time the guy was going to put a new barrel on a full auto m11 i owned and he put the frame in the unpadded vice and cranked on it. The second time it was the guy who said he charges $40.00 to put a bt grip safety on a p12 and 2 months after i had gotten it back i had been keeping it in my truck i took it to the range to test fire it and it would not fire. Both of those BOZO'S profest to be gunsmiths. I will do ANY & ALL work that has to be done on my firearms from then on. I still cant figure out what the moron did to the p12 that it wouldnt work. PAT

 

[Dmitry]

1. Save money - it is what I was thinking when I start and what I'm telling my wife now.
2. Pleasure to work with such great creature as 1911.
3. Pleasure to do something by hand.
4. Amazing filling when it still working after my fixing.
5. Knowledge of your gun all the way from the ground up.
6...
and so on

------------------
Thanks,
Dmitry
www.murashko.com

 

[deputy tom]

I work on My guns just so I can then take them to My buddy the gunsmith and pay Him to fix them again.He's got to eat too,right?tom.

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N.R.A. LIFE MEMBER

 

[Mute]

For the pleasure of knowing I did it with my own hands. May not be perfect but it's my work.

 

[Metal Smith]

Hi ParaDox,
Oh boy!!!! You sure as heck got me beat out, and I thought I was a do-it-yourselfer. I’m sure you missed a few things on your list like nailing roofs on and digging your own wells, you do that too right?
I built my own house and all, laid the brick, concrete, electric, sheet metal, etc…but your list got me feeling like one of those guy with the sign saying “I’ll work for food”.
When I built our kitchen I never left room for a dishwasher, when my friends ask where’s the dishwasher I them I married one. Same goes for the close drier, it’s solar, and I went first class and bought her the nylon rope too.
Sometimes I feel guilty taking credit for my metal checkering because the machine does all the real work, I just spin the dials. My hat is off to the guys that files them nice straight rows in by hand on a Para front strap or a 1911.
ParaDox, have you ever thought of offering a stud service? I bet there are a lot of people that would like one of your babies. Make some extra money and it would be fun too. I’d take one but I have 4 now.
On a serious note, men of your high caliber are few and far between; the forum is graced by your presents.

For years I shot stock S&W revolvers and Smith & Wesson rebarreled them and fixed them-up from time to time at no charge. I was satisfied for years loving life and shooting. The big problem cropped-up when I bought my first 1911.

If my first custom 1911 was done the way I wanted it right off the bat I probably would have never started doing my own gunsmithing. I went through 4 smiths and was disappointed in all of them. 2 of them should be doing about 2 to 10 years in jail for all the people they ripped-off. It is not fair to mention any names because some of them are out of business and the other out-fits change employees so often its hard to say what kind of work they are doing right now.

It wasn’t till after I got my feet wet when I found some good smiths. One problem was I had to buy a small machine shop to do the stuff I wanted done my way. Metal Smith

 

[James]

1. So I know it is going to be done RIGHT.
2. So it will be done when I want it and on my time frame.
3. So I don't have to worry about sending my stuff to someone else and not getting it back.

 

[Watch-Six]

I will work on some of my guns, like AR15s. You don't need a great deal of skill with what I call the "erector set of guns". I won't try things that I don't think I can do. I hate paying UPS a fortune and waiting for weeks for simple things. That is to be avoided if possible. I'm starting to realize that I have worked on ALL of them a little. Oh well, so it goes.

P.S.
Real gunsmiths are to be admired. Some self proclaimed gunsmiths are a bigger risk than I am.
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Get your 1911s and AR15s while you still can!

[This message has been edited by Watch-Six (edited 05-30-2001).]