Machinist fixed my bullet mold

[Bfh_auto]

Some are tougher than others to get out. I always want to be the first to look at it, hate going behind the first guy.

Totally agree.
A friend of the family was a excellent Gun Smith. He charged 2 rates. One for him doing it. A second for fixing after your mistake.
Most of his was money was from fixing after people.

 

[shootbrownelk]

I snapped a bolt off on my bullet mold, I had a machinist take it out for me he had to manufacture a new bolt. He said he's it's going to cost me $115!!!! does this seem ridiculous it does to me or am I just clueless. Would you pay this price? I could buy two. New molds for this price.

Not these days you couldn't buy 2 molds for $115.00. That's less than what they get on Ebay for one.

 

[Howland937]

Sure, it seems like a lot of money to do what needed done. I tell customers (tire kickers really, our customers understand) all the time that the labor rate is the labor rate. It covers the work I'm performing, the training and experience I've received to know how to fix it right, and the tools I've invested in that enable me to do the work.

They're in no way obligated to have repairs done by me and if they feel the price is unfair, they can always stop by the vo-tech campus and see if the instructor will accept it as a class project.

 

[tallpaul]

We agreed on $50
I explained to him that I could have bought 2 brand new molds for that cost. I understand what some of you are saying but I feel that's a rip off.

What do you do for a living? and again you are not getting two new molds for that 115... not anymore

 

[Swampman]

...they can always stop by the vo-tech campus and see if the instructor will accept it as a class project.

This can work out better than you might think.

I took a two cavity Lee .309, 230 grain, 5R boat tail 300 Blackout mold in to our local technical college. They modified the cavities so that one was a flat plain base and the other was a flat base gas check. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I felt better when they requested a couple of my gas checks to make sure they did the GC base correctly.

Both bullets shoot better than they ever did as boat tails.

My total cost was 200 soft cast .452" 206 grain hollowpoints.

No way I would've spent what a pro would charge to do that work, especially on an aluminum mold that cost less than twenty bucks brand new.

 

[Howland937]

This can work out better than you might think

I'm sure it can. Occasionally I'll have a customer that had their car fixed by the auto-shop class that I'll check over and it's done fine. Sometimes not.

Sometimes I just want to say "hey pal, I didn't come to you begging for work, you came to me asking me to fix your problem"
Of course I never actually behave like that, on the outside.

 

[CJ8281]

One of the reasons the bolt might have stuck is the bolt might have galled the threads of the aluminum mold. If this is the case, the repair is going to be a bit more work than just a broken bolt removal.