Anyone know a good reasonably priced gunsmith in Texas?

S

snowman748

New member
Anyone know of a good gunsmith in the Texas area that is reasonably priced? I have two bolt actions I'm going to have to get the barrels set back on. Both are 30-06 and I noticed they were both leaving a ring on spent cases so I looked into getting a smith to check the head space for me, to my surprise I was only able to find one local that had the correct gear to do it. He wanted $35 per rifle. So for $50 I just ordered a 30-06 No-Go and field gauge. BOTH rifles close on the No-Go gauge and one even closes on the field gauge. I understand what is invloved in setting the barrel back BUT I don't have the equipment to do it myself. I don't want to rebarrel either one because they are both old rifles with original barrels (one is a Savage Model 40 Super Sporter, the other is a Springfield 1903 (Sporter). I'm not against sending them off but I have never sent a gun off to have work done so I am clueless on the procedure.

Any help would be much appreciated.
 
Easy to ship
Box up rifle(s) and send to the gunsmith
You can use UPS/FedEx or US mail.
Enclosed instruction and your contact info and return address.
 
Setting the barrel back on that Super Sporter might be more than a modern gunsmith would want to tackle. Or more than you would want to pay.

I would take the Guffey Approach and fit my brass to the chamber.
Neck up to a larger diameter - or just start with .35 Whelen brass - and gradually set a false shoulder back until it just chambers freely. Fireform and adjust sizing die to not set the shoulder back any more than necessary for easy chambering.
Note that this is a rear lockup gun and might give more case stretch than the Springfield.

Setting the barrel back on the Springfield will include recutting the cone breech and extractor notch.

Setting sporter barrels back and keeping iron sights on top requires a full turn. That is going to leave a gap in the inletting. Maybe it won't affect accuracy, maybe it will.
 
Inletting

Both rifles are free floating, inletting shouldn't effect accuracy. I understand setting the barrel back on both rifles could be a real pain but I'd like to get the Savage done because it has sentimental value (given to me by my dad) and I'd like to pass it to my children. In doing so I don't want them guessing "how did dad shoot this rifle", "what did he load in it", etc. now that I think about it I'd probably be open to rebarreling it and having it drilled and tapped. The Springfield however I'd REALLY like to keep the original barrel on. Also I don't reload, I used to but just wasn't a big fan of it.
 
The Texas area? That's a LOT of area. :)

Any decent gunsmith with a lathe can set your barrel back and, if needed, ream the chamber to the proper depth.

Jeff

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
 
If you want a gunsmith who was a machinist for 17 years, consider sending it out. My friend generally has a two week turn around time. I'll PM you.
 
nomad636 said:
What part of Texas are you located? If your in the DFW Metroplex, I can recommend a few excellent ones.
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I would be interested. I have tried a few around dfw and have not been impressed. From recoil pad installed by a rabid beaver to a 1911 thumb safety installed improperly i have had a rough tike of it smith wise the last few years.

I still miss lone star guns in plano, they always did excellent work for me.
 
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