I'm Glad I Called!
When A 30 Minute Job Takes 8 Days
Just called the gunsmith at Gander Mountain this morning to check the status of the Mauser I'd left to be headspaced last week. They hadn't even started on it!
Now, normally this would not distress me so much, except that I was told it would only be two or three days. I drove all the way out there this weekend, and found the gunsmith department closed for inventory. OK, my fault for not calling ahead. I needed to buy ammo there anyway. Incidentally, when did standard-quality rifle cartridges get so damn spendy?? $1 a round for 8x57 Mauser?!?!?! I've gotten spoiled by shooting pistols and surplus ammo.
I just looked up the price on a set of headspace gauges on Brownells. Sure, they cost 3 times as much as the gunsmith is charging, but I could always sell 'em on eBay for at least 2/3 the price after I get done with 'em, making it a wash, really. Hell, I just checked eBay, and they're selling new gauges there even cheaper!
Sigh... I knew I should've gone the gunsmith route. I have (ok, had) the machine shop experience, I have the firearms interest and knowledge, and I would have actually enjoyed it, I think.
Then again, boring holes with gundrills for custom barrels is a massive PITA. You really need to be a full-service gunsmith to make any $$$. It's hard to feed a family if all you can do is mount scopes and glass-bed stocks.
Well, they assure me it'll be ready Thursday evening, so I'll just swing by there on the way out of town on the way to the Hill Country Blogfest. Leaving Houston via 290 will put me on a weird path to New Braunfels. It's better to go out I-10 and turn north at Seguin. I just suppose I'll have to back track down to I-10 on the insanely long stretch of stoplights known as "Highway" 6.
I wouldn't go to all this trouble, but I just can't wait for these AK & AR shooters to get a taste of what 8mm recoiling through a steel buttplate feels like!
Just called the gunsmith at Gander Mountain this morning to check the status of the Mauser I'd left to be headspaced last week. They hadn't even started on it!
Now, normally this would not distress me so much, except that I was told it would only be two or three days. I drove all the way out there this weekend, and found the gunsmith department closed for inventory. OK, my fault for not calling ahead. I needed to buy ammo there anyway. Incidentally, when did standard-quality rifle cartridges get so damn spendy?? $1 a round for 8x57 Mauser?!?!?! I've gotten spoiled by shooting pistols and surplus ammo.
I just looked up the price on a set of headspace gauges on Brownells. Sure, they cost 3 times as much as the gunsmith is charging, but I could always sell 'em on eBay for at least 2/3 the price after I get done with 'em, making it a wash, really. Hell, I just checked eBay, and they're selling new gauges there even cheaper!
Sigh... I knew I should've gone the gunsmith route. I have (ok, had) the machine shop experience, I have the firearms interest and knowledge, and I would have actually enjoyed it, I think.
Then again, boring holes with gundrills for custom barrels is a massive PITA. You really need to be a full-service gunsmith to make any $$$. It's hard to feed a family if all you can do is mount scopes and glass-bed stocks.
Well, they assure me it'll be ready Thursday evening, so I'll just swing by there on the way out of town on the way to the Hill Country Blogfest. Leaving Houston via 290 will put me on a weird path to New Braunfels. It's better to go out I-10 and turn north at Seguin. I just suppose I'll have to back track down to I-10 on the insanely long stretch of stoplights known as "Highway" 6.
I wouldn't go to all this trouble, but I just can't wait for these AK & AR shooters to get a taste of what 8mm recoiling through a steel buttplate feels like!
posted by El Capitan | 12:59 PM
<< Home