keano44
Member
On or around the middle of January 2004 I brought my Ruger .44 carbine to my gunsmith. My idea was to have built a custom "scout" mounted red-dot/ghost ring sight rifle, perfect for hunting hogs at my lease, and deer at woods ranges. Scope of work: 1) Make custom mount for red-dot sight ("scout" style; low and forward on the barrel) with removable return-to-zero rings. 2) Install ghost ring sights as backup for the red-dot. 3) Finish metal parts, base, rings, sights, etc. to match the parkerized finish (previous job custom finish) on the rifle.
The first delima was to figure how to mount the base for the red-dot sight. My preference was for no new holes to be drilled and tapped into the barrel, but to use existing front scope mount holes and the rear sight dovetail (like the XO scout mount for the Marlin 336 rifle). The ghost ring sights were easy; XO makes a set for the 10/22 which fit my .44 Carbine. The tallest front post available was eventually installed.
Early on in the project (March) I called to see if he had recieved the red-dot sight I had originally decided on (Burris SpeedDot 135). He hadn't yet ordered it, so that day I changed my request to a Tasco PP3. The Tasco is 30mm as opposed to the Burris' 35mm size, and I wanted to use return-to-zero rings. My gunsmith recommended Warne return-to-zero rings instead of Leopold because "he had them in stock", I agreed.
In April (three months since I brought the rifle) I saw him at the local gun show and inquired about my rifle's progress. It hadn't been done yet, but he told me he had everything there, just needed to do the work. "Next week" he promised.
In May I called again to check progress, left a message, no call back. Saw him at another gun show, "Next week", he promised again.
In the middle of June I saw him at the grand opening of a private rifle range, where I am a member, and he is very well known amongst the members. Again he told me "Next week".
Finally, in July, he called me and said the ghost ring sights had been installed, and the rifle had been shot, to figure which height front post to use. The conclusion they came to was; with the tallest available front post, and the rear ring sight screwed all the way down (bottomed out) it still shot about 2" high, at 50 yards, with 240 gr. jacketed bullets. The base had been mounted and all they were waiting for was the rings for the red-dot sight. (Notice that in March he had the rings in stock).
Another week went by and last week he called me and told me my rifle was ready. I went the next afternoon, picked it up, and paid him cash. We had never even discussed price, because I knew what I wanted from the start and was prepared to pay whatever it cost. I have no problem with the charges; decent prices on all the third party parts, about two hours labor, and $15 range time.
My first impression when I saw the rifle was that they had mounted a base directly on the barrel, not a custom cantilever utilizing existing holes as we had originally discussed. But, it looked good and I trusted that a gunsmith should know, better than me, the best way to do this type of job. I asked him how many screws they used to mount the base, and was told straight-up, "four". I asked him if everything had been lock-tighted down as I was anxious to try out the rifle. He assured me everything was secured tight with lock-tite and I should be ready-to go, and that the red-dot had been bore-sighted but not sighted in.
At home that night I read the literature that came with the sights, bases, etc. to familiarize myself with them. I removed the red-dot sight with the removable rings to look through the ghost ring sights. The first thing I noticed was there were only three screws holding the base onto the barrel. Inside the other screw hole, I could see where they had drilled the hole in the barrel OFF CENTER! the off center hole was not tapped, and was half lined up with the hole in the base. This upset me very much. I believe that if I am going to spend money to customize the finish (looks), and features of a rifle, with a professional gunsmith (20+ years), who builds custom rifles for benchrest shooters for a living, the work should be done to perfection.
Then I noticed that the rear ghost ring sight still had threads showing on top. I loosened one of the windage adjusting/set screws and was able to turn it down three full turns without ever hitting bottom. I wondered why, if they had shot the rifle, and the best it would do at 50 yards was two inches high, would they set the sight three (+) turns up.
This past Sunday afternoon, I had a chance to shoot the rifle. I first shot it at 25 yds. with the red-dot sight. It was way off (I doubt that it could have been bore sighted at all). I adjusted the red-dot sight until it was "on" and then removed it to try the ghost ring sights. I was pleasantly surprised how well they worked, and how accurate they were, and how easy to use. Next, I backed off to 50 yds. and shot the ghost ring's some more; again pleased with the results. So then, I re-mounted the TASCO to see how well the "return-to-zero" rings worked. It started hitting a bit high, but horizontally "on", so I made a few adjustments to get it hitting vertically "on". In the next few shots I noticed some horizontally "off" hits, one left and one right of center. Thats when I noticed that the whole base was loose on the barrel, and about to fall off. Two screws were backed out completely, and one on the forward end was barely holding. The sight was now cocked on the barrel, and could be moved around by hand. This was after a total of no more than 25 shots. Also, there was no evidence of lock-tite in the threaded holes and on the screw threads. During this shooting, the empty brass was not ejecting properly and was jamming the gun regularly. This should have been obvious to them when they supposedly shot it. I don't didn't have this problem when I last used this rifle.
Now I am furious. All the lies, the six month wait, and the sloppy work, which I could have done better myself, and I don't claim to be even a backyard smith, caught up with me.
Yesterday, I brought the rifle back, told him the butchery of the barrel was unacceptable, and how upset I was with all the obvious lies over the last six months. He was upset with his workers, whose word he took when talking to me about my rifle, (although ultimately he is responsible, as it is his business, and he is the only one I spoke to there, concerning this project). I am giving him a chance to make-this-right, whatever it takes, which is what he now promises to do. I told him I did not want to have to wait another six months to get it back this time. I won't mention his name associated with this matter, yet. I'm giving him one more chance to fix this.
What are your opinions? What should I expect?
The first delima was to figure how to mount the base for the red-dot sight. My preference was for no new holes to be drilled and tapped into the barrel, but to use existing front scope mount holes and the rear sight dovetail (like the XO scout mount for the Marlin 336 rifle). The ghost ring sights were easy; XO makes a set for the 10/22 which fit my .44 Carbine. The tallest front post available was eventually installed.
Early on in the project (March) I called to see if he had recieved the red-dot sight I had originally decided on (Burris SpeedDot 135). He hadn't yet ordered it, so that day I changed my request to a Tasco PP3. The Tasco is 30mm as opposed to the Burris' 35mm size, and I wanted to use return-to-zero rings. My gunsmith recommended Warne return-to-zero rings instead of Leopold because "he had them in stock", I agreed.
In April (three months since I brought the rifle) I saw him at the local gun show and inquired about my rifle's progress. It hadn't been done yet, but he told me he had everything there, just needed to do the work. "Next week" he promised.
In May I called again to check progress, left a message, no call back. Saw him at another gun show, "Next week", he promised again.
In the middle of June I saw him at the grand opening of a private rifle range, where I am a member, and he is very well known amongst the members. Again he told me "Next week".
Finally, in July, he called me and said the ghost ring sights had been installed, and the rifle had been shot, to figure which height front post to use. The conclusion they came to was; with the tallest available front post, and the rear ring sight screwed all the way down (bottomed out) it still shot about 2" high, at 50 yards, with 240 gr. jacketed bullets. The base had been mounted and all they were waiting for was the rings for the red-dot sight. (Notice that in March he had the rings in stock).
Another week went by and last week he called me and told me my rifle was ready. I went the next afternoon, picked it up, and paid him cash. We had never even discussed price, because I knew what I wanted from the start and was prepared to pay whatever it cost. I have no problem with the charges; decent prices on all the third party parts, about two hours labor, and $15 range time.
My first impression when I saw the rifle was that they had mounted a base directly on the barrel, not a custom cantilever utilizing existing holes as we had originally discussed. But, it looked good and I trusted that a gunsmith should know, better than me, the best way to do this type of job. I asked him how many screws they used to mount the base, and was told straight-up, "four". I asked him if everything had been lock-tighted down as I was anxious to try out the rifle. He assured me everything was secured tight with lock-tite and I should be ready-to go, and that the red-dot had been bore-sighted but not sighted in.
At home that night I read the literature that came with the sights, bases, etc. to familiarize myself with them. I removed the red-dot sight with the removable rings to look through the ghost ring sights. The first thing I noticed was there were only three screws holding the base onto the barrel. Inside the other screw hole, I could see where they had drilled the hole in the barrel OFF CENTER! the off center hole was not tapped, and was half lined up with the hole in the base. This upset me very much. I believe that if I am going to spend money to customize the finish (looks), and features of a rifle, with a professional gunsmith (20+ years), who builds custom rifles for benchrest shooters for a living, the work should be done to perfection.
Then I noticed that the rear ghost ring sight still had threads showing on top. I loosened one of the windage adjusting/set screws and was able to turn it down three full turns without ever hitting bottom. I wondered why, if they had shot the rifle, and the best it would do at 50 yards was two inches high, would they set the sight three (+) turns up.
This past Sunday afternoon, I had a chance to shoot the rifle. I first shot it at 25 yds. with the red-dot sight. It was way off (I doubt that it could have been bore sighted at all). I adjusted the red-dot sight until it was "on" and then removed it to try the ghost ring sights. I was pleasantly surprised how well they worked, and how accurate they were, and how easy to use. Next, I backed off to 50 yds. and shot the ghost ring's some more; again pleased with the results. So then, I re-mounted the TASCO to see how well the "return-to-zero" rings worked. It started hitting a bit high, but horizontally "on", so I made a few adjustments to get it hitting vertically "on". In the next few shots I noticed some horizontally "off" hits, one left and one right of center. Thats when I noticed that the whole base was loose on the barrel, and about to fall off. Two screws were backed out completely, and one on the forward end was barely holding. The sight was now cocked on the barrel, and could be moved around by hand. This was after a total of no more than 25 shots. Also, there was no evidence of lock-tite in the threaded holes and on the screw threads. During this shooting, the empty brass was not ejecting properly and was jamming the gun regularly. This should have been obvious to them when they supposedly shot it. I don't didn't have this problem when I last used this rifle.
Now I am furious. All the lies, the six month wait, and the sloppy work, which I could have done better myself, and I don't claim to be even a backyard smith, caught up with me.
Yesterday, I brought the rifle back, told him the butchery of the barrel was unacceptable, and how upset I was with all the obvious lies over the last six months. He was upset with his workers, whose word he took when talking to me about my rifle, (although ultimately he is responsible, as it is his business, and he is the only one I spoke to there, concerning this project). I am giving him a chance to make-this-right, whatever it takes, which is what he now promises to do. I told him I did not want to have to wait another six months to get it back this time. I won't mention his name associated with this matter, yet. I'm giving him one more chance to fix this.
What are your opinions? What should I expect?
