Dixie Gunsmithing
Moderator Emeritus
I do not return the gun to factory specs because I do not have either the time or money to put parts into a gun that I might not get paid for.
Same here, plus, if you did, and they refused to pay, you're stuck holding the bag, as they have the right to refuse work not ordered. Some might say put a mechanics lien on it, but why get court involved, and gain a bad name in the business? If I took a car into the garage, and asked for four tires, but then when I came back, finding not only four tires, but a new motor too, I would be pretty pi##ed off. I would most likely squawk to my friends too.
What we gunsmiths have to worry about, being as our customer base is as small as it is, especially in rural areas, is word of mouth, and it wouldn't take long to get black balled, and our business ruined over it. Everyone has cell phones on them these days, so its not nothing to call the customer up at the bench and say, "Hey Al, your gun is going to require so and so to be safe, do you want me to continue to fix it"?
Unforeseen problems in firearms are found all the time, even after taking one in, and after the initial examination, so what do you do? You do the right thing, of course.
A huge majority of firearms can not be put back to factory spec, since the factory had a bunch of hand fitted parts in it to start with, along with no new parts available, making you have to buy a used part, or make something from scratch that will work. I don't know how many cylinder hands and stops I've built back with weld on old Iver Johnson and H&R top-break revolvers, even a complete hammer nose on one, etc. Plus, all the custom springs I've made, since there was nothing available. Where would somebody find original parts, or know the factory specs, for a Chicago palm pistol? Plus, if you want specs, you would need the parts print, and or complete gun prints to get the tolerances from. Those are not readily available, and the ones that are, are generally from military info. Remington and Winchester did provide good service manuals to use at one time, but they were one in a few.
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