Gander Mountain Gunsmiths, experiences???

[sturmruger]

Does anyone have any expierence dropping a gun off with the gunsmiths at Gander Mountain?? I have a Ruger .44 mag rifle that I would like to have the Trigger tuned up a bit. They seem to be reasonable and there are plenty of them in the metro area.

 

[HankB]

I spoke to a GM gunsmith (IIRC, his name was Jim Tertin) some years ago at an SCI convention, and looked over some rifles he'd done. They seemed quite nice. I don't know if he still works for GM.

Problem is, when you go to a big shop, generally speaking, you've NO idea of WHO is going to work on YOUR firearm. It might be the master gunsmith, it might be an apprentice who's just learning his trade. It's like rolling dice.

See if you can talk to one of the gunsmiths - preferably, the one who will do the actual work on your rifle - and ask him what a trigger job includes. If all he does is put in new springs, well, you can probably do that yourself.

 

[Stoney]

I had a Novak 3 dot put on my Sistema by the Smith at the Hilliard (Ohio) Gander Mountain. He did a great job and the cost was low.

It was a simple job for the smith,but the quality was apparent.

 

[Pheonix]

Curtis, the N Canton GM Gunsmith, has not done any major work for me so I cannot speak of his quality. He, however, has opinions that he shares with some of the less than honest and knowledgeable salsmen.
















It makes sense to me!!

 

[Bix]

Had a set of XS sights installed on my 870 by a very plesant smith at the Geneva, IL Gander Mountain a couple weeks ago. In spite of the sign which warned of a _minimum_ three weeks on any gunsmithing job, he did it while I waited.

Front sight needed to be milled a bit to fit the dovetail, and he did a fine job. I had the gun back in 15 minutes, and he wouldn't accept any payment. Thumbs up.

 

[HSMITH]

Some of them are OK, some are good, and some are absolutely as good as you will find. The Wilmot WI store is where most of the real deal type guys are, the local stores have guys more attuned to 'general duties' type gunsmithing. There are a couple guys at the Wilmot store that can build an exceptional rifle from scratch. They also have some honest to goodness world class engravers out there, one that used to work for Kolar even.

 

[cracked butt]

Experience by me is hit or miss.
I took a rifle in about 5 years ago to have a new scope mount and scope put on. I also ask that it be bore sighted, which was about a $15 service at the time. They did a nice of putting on the maount and scope, but the bore sighting makes me wonder- The first time at the range it was off by 18" to the left at 25 yards
If there is something that I can't do myself, I'd just as soon find a gunsmith that was reccommended to me whether he/she worked for a chain store or had his own shop and make sure that person does the work.

I had less than satisfactory service when I had the string on one of my compound bows reserved- they did a terrible job of it, it took them two hours to do it, and it came apart after 5 shots- I took it to an actual archery shop and the guy there did a beautiful job in 5 minutes. I know, different department.

 

[sturmruger]

I think I will give them a try. Depending on exactly what they do if it is screwed up I will just purchase some new parts from Brownells, and install them myself.

 

[hksw]

How much were the sight installations in the Ohio GMs? (Need to put a new rear sight in on a P7.)

 

[Stoney]

hksw
My Novak 3 dot cost was 120.00. Cost of the front and rear sight included.

 

[OH25shooter]

Columbus has two Gander Mountain stores. I've used the GS at each one. I had a little trouble with light strikes on a trigger job. I returned it and he was most helpful in making the necessary repair. Even allowed me to shoot 100+ rounds in the test fire drum. He fixed the problem and I'd recommend his services. I believe they also do rifle warranty repairs.