Wow. Drill and tap for scope - $100 +++ ???

[cajuntec]

Decided to have my son's Christmas present (Henry Mini-Bolt) drilled and tapped for a scope. Started calling local gunsmiths - first one quoted me $155. Second one said it "started at $100, but the final price could be more". I stopped calling after that.

Two holes - drilled and tapped for the Henry cantilever scope mount - cost half the price of the actual gun. Wow. I need to become a gunsmith. What a rip off.

Called Henry. Seems like a great company. She said to ship the gun back to them (probably will cost me about $20), and they would do it for free, since I was buying the scope mount from them anyway. Glad I bought a Henry.

All the best,
Glenn

[cosmiccowboy]

Labor is expensive. In my mechanical contracting business we had to go to $100 an hour a couple of years ago...It's almost embarrassing to quote some jobs but we simply can't stay in business if we don't. I'm sure that reputable gunsmiths have the same problem.

[Codie]

it's either charge a premium and don't get a whole lot of business or charge a respectable price and get run over with business. It all comes out the same, but I would rather be the guy with the respectable prices and the good word of mouth going around than the one that charged so much for my work. I would not have paid that either, the same way I won't pay the archery shop in weatherford 35$ labor to change a dang string on my bow. Blasphemy

[trad"Doc"53]

Codie, Drop on down to PRSR in Stephenville next time, you can get premium strings foe 3/4 or less than what you will pay elsewhere and they do not charge for labor ever!!

[jlptexashunter]

For me the value comes not in the time the gunsmith spent its MY time. Phone, packing, shipping, waiting + postage combined is worth way more than $100.

If I can have a local guy spend 1 hr doing the work and it only costs me $100 and 20 minutes of travel time then that is worth every penny. Let's not talk about the value of having a local throat to choke is something goes wrong too.

[Gerald S]

Why don't you or one of your buddies just do it yourself?

[Giddings_TX]

I ran into this recently and I will say that it's alot harder to do it yourself than you think.

Scope mounts usually have a special Gun threading of a 6-48. Which means that you will have to find a tap for it (try MSC) and a good hard bit (carbide or colbalt). The reason it is difficult is because the metal you are drilling into is typically case hardened. In order to drill into it you typically need to anneal the metal where you want to drill. I hear the best way to do this is to chuck up a nail (fairly large), cut the tip off the nail flat and place it against the spot you would like to drill the hole. Heat the nail red hot and you should see some discoloration on the gun where the heat was applied. Once you have done this is should be easier to drill since you have taking the case hardening out.

All and all it may be worth the 100 bucks if the company isn't willing to do it.

[brushsniper]

Why don't you or one of your buddies just do it yourself?

ditto on this...

[cajuntec]

For me the value comes not in the time the gunsmith spent its MY time. Phone, packing, shipping, waiting + postage combined is worth way more than $100.

If I can have a local guy spend 1 hr doing the work and it only costs me $100 and 20 minutes of travel time then that is worth every penny. Let's not talk about the value of having a local throat to choke is something goes wrong too.

Since I still have the factory box, it won't cost me anything for packing material. $20 shipping cost is well over 1/5 of most quoted prices. The closest gunsmith to me is still a 1/2 hour drive (post office is 10 minutes away), and none of the gunsmiths have a 1 hour service. None of them. First shop I called said they "might" have it before Christmas. Second shop said they would "put me in line", which currently was about 2 weeks long. No guarantee of when it would be done. Factory said "no problem" to having it back by Christmas. And since it is the factory, I'm 100% sure that if something goes wrong, it will be fixed or replaced before shipping it back to me. No need to have a "local throat to choke".

All the best,
Glenn

[cajuntec]

Why don't you or one of your buddies just do it yourself?

Gerald,
If I had the means (or the friends with the means) to do it, I would have taken care of it already. I really wish I knew someone that could do it right. Unfortunatly, I don't. Giddings_TX explained it pretty good.

All the best,
Glenn

[Gerald S]

Gerald,
If I had the means (or the friends with the means) to do it, I would have taken care of it already. I really wish I knew someone that could do it right. Unfortunatly, I don't. Giddings_TX explained it pretty good.

All the best,
Glenn

And that, my friend, is exactly the reason they can charge so much.

Sounds like you have a nice solution by sending it back to the factory.

[cajuntec]

And that, my friend, is exactly the reason they can charge so much.

Yep. You're right, of course.

And to think - I let people use my bowpress and arrow cut off saw for free, along with teaching people how to custom dip, crest and fletch their arrows. Maybe I should start charging $100 an hour for these services? Naw. Can't do that! That would make me no better these gunsmiths, wouldn't it?

Point is - no matter whether its specialty tools or techniques required (that I don't have right now), I've had it done in the past on another firearm, and it didn't cost anywhere near these prices. I know inflation drives everything up, but it's drilling and tapping two shallow holes with tools they already own and use all the time.

I learned to change my own strings, cut my own arrows, and dip/crest/fletch my own because of some of the rediculous prices bow shops were charging to do these things. Maybe it's time I buy my own gunsmith tools as well? I already know how to hand checker stocks and forearms, blue or Duracoat metal, and am pretty adept at taking apart / cleaning / fixing small items. If I charged a reasonable price for doing such a thing, I could probably pay off those tools in short order. Especially considering what my competition would be charging.

All the best,
Glenn