reputable gunsmiths

[David]

Nevermind a Dremel, most people could do better with a drill bit and a hand drill! I'm shocked that they tried this with anything less than a milling machine. Unbelievable. I've only bought a handful of guns from Joe's over the years, mostly because they aren't geographically convenient for me, but also because I've gotten attitude from a couple of guys there before. Some of them have been pretty pleasant though, so it's not everyone. I'll definitely never take anything to get worked on there after seeing this. Good grief!

[zachkuby87]

I know im I'm jump starting an old thread but I saw some things at joes that amazed me today so I did a search to see if anyone else had any issues. I normally buy just ammo there and go there to hold guns before I have thunderjohn order them for me. The prices suck mostly other than average ammo prices I go because its a 2 minute drive if that. Buuut back to the subject today I stopped in to grab ammo and check out some cases well while I was checking out their selection of pistols a guy comes in talking about trading a shotgun in. The convo is a normal convo you would expect the guy asks what they will give him for the shotgun "browning 10ga bps?" It was a nice gun he had a few extra chokes and it had some nice traditional etching/engraving with really nice wood stock. They offered him 275 I was thinking that's low I almost offered 3 so I could have it but I feel like an ******* doing things like that. They negotiate for a few minutes but stick at 275 he decides to go ahead with it and picks out a rifle he'd like to put the money towards and plays with it for a few minutes and says ill take it. Then he says I'm going to grab my scope and make sure it fits before anything is final the salesman seemed irritated by this. Well the guy walks away to go grab his scope the salesman takes a scissors to cut the tag off the trigger gaurd and puts a nice 3-4 inch gouge in the side of the gun. Played it off like nothing happened and grabs a sharpie and colors the scratch in. I was shocked. Oh and during this chain of events another guy came in to pick up his pistol they've had for a month and haven't touched yet. I was still hanging around. Browsing and I asked to see a bushnell scope he was trying to "sell" it for a minute and as soon as some guy in a suit walked in looking at the two shotguns tey have in a glass case seperate from anything else he grabs his keys and runs to him damn near mid sentance with me. Like I didn't matter because he had someone that wanted to spend more money with him. No ill be right back nothing. And there were 3 guys working behind the counter s it wasn't like he had to go help the guy. I decided I'm done doing business there at all after today... almost forgot my bro had a winchester 30/30 that jammed 8/10 times we brought it to joes it spent 3-4 months back and forth the gun kept getting worse after they "fixed" the problem. We finally took it to another gunsmith and he refused to even touch it after it was worked on by some self taught "hack". Now his 30/30 hangs on his wall for sentimental value as his first rifle.

[RAGGED]

I know im I'm jump starting an old thread but I saw some things at joes that amazed me today so I did a search to see if anyone else had any issues. I normally buy just ammo there and go there to hold guns before I have thunderjohn order them for me. The prices suck mostly other than average ammo prices I go because its a 2 minute drive if that. Buuut back to the subject today I stopped in to grab ammo and check out some cases well while I was checking out their selection of pistols a guy comes in talking about trading a shotgun in. The convo is a normal convo you would expect the guy asks what they will give him for the shotgun "browning 10ga bps?" It was a nice gun he had a few extra chokes and it had some nice traditional etching/engraving with really nice wood stock. They offered him 275 I was thinking that's low I almost offered 3 so I could have it but I feel like an ******* doing things like that. They negotiate for a few minutes but stick at 275 he decides to go ahead with it and picks out a rifle he'd like to put the money towards and plays with it for a few minutes and says ill take it. Then he says I'm going to grab my scope and make sure it fits before anything is final the salesman seemed irritated by this. Well the guy walks away to go grab his scope the salesman takes a scissors to cut the tag off the trigger gaurd and puts a nice 3-4 inch gouge in the side of the gun. Played it off like nothing happened and grabs a sharpie and colors the scratch in. I was shocked. Oh and during this chain of events another guy came in to pick up his pistol they've had for a month and haven't touched yet. I was still hanging around. Browsing and I asked to see a bushnell scope he was trying to "sell" it for a minute and as soon as some guy in a suit walked in looking at the two shotguns tey have in a glass case seperate from anything else he grabs his keys and runs to him damn near mid sentance with me. Like I didn't matter because he had someone that wanted to spend more money with him. No ill be right back nothing. And there were 3 guys working behind the counter s it wasn't like he had to go help the guy. I decided I'm done doing business there at all after today... almost forgot my bro had a winchester 30/30 that jammed 8/10 times we brought it to joes it spent 3-4 months back and forth the gun kept getting worse after they "fixed" the problem. We finally took it to another gunsmith and he refused to even touch it after it was worked on by some self taught "hack". Now his 30/30 hangs on his wall for sentimental value as his first rifle.

Sounds about right, Joes is not the Joes of 20-30 years ago, not the same qaulity of people and their smith is a know nothing hack. Most of the guys working the counter are worthless including Doug the manager.

[zachkuby87]

Yeah they suck. I've actually had one of em tell me that they don't know much about pistols. Oh and you should have heard a sales pitch I heard one of these guys use a few months back. Customer who just got his carry permit was looking for a pistol to carry. Well he was looking at the usual glocks xd's and 1911's. The salesman pushes him away from the fullsize pistols towards the smaller pocket pistols I mean th tiny ones .380 .22 things of that sort. Well this is why he told the guy he should get a pocket pistol instead of a full size. He said think about it in a real life situation your not gonna have time to draw and fire and besides if the bad guy hasa gun and you try to draw on him he's just going to shoot you. Well if you have one of these babys u can just put your hand in your pocket and aim for their knees and they'll never know what hit em. This time I stepped in and explained that his entire reasoning for needing a pocket pistol over full size was just plain stupidity. That shooting a bg in the knee isn't going to do anything but give him a limp and a really bad attitude. The guy ended up walking out with an xdm45 after I highly recomended xdm's. That was just te dumbest and most ignorant sales pitch I've ever heard. The customer wasn't buying it either.

[samginko]

can any of you recommend a reputable gunsmith in the metro or surrounding area? I figure it's always good to have a contingency plan in case my rifle needs servicing.

Fred @ Woodbury Gander Mountain. Be prepared for a wait.

Pat Laib out in Spicer.

IMO you should avoid "Bob" at Joe's Sporting Goods in Roseville.

Fred does great work, I had a scope base mounted on my dad's backup mosin-nagant for his birthday. Fred not only mod the bolt, but cut a bolt groove in the stock and best of all, first shot at 25yds was only 2" off. Be prepared to wait, as his good work is well known.

[traveler]

In a galaxy far, far, away, at the nexus of three arterial streets related to a city park, a grassy opening in a wooded area, and a beginning (Como, Dale, Front) I purchased a Model 1895 Marlin from a certain gunshop and police equipment clearing house located there. I also purchased an upscale recoil pad at the same time and requested ol' Joe to have same applied to the latter.

What I got back was an abomination. The pad had been "sanded" down by what appeared to be a rasp. To top it off they must have done that while it was attached to the gunstock. The last 1/16" to 1/32" of the stock had its finish removed and chipped. It was never made right until I had a friend re-do the entire thing.

I had made a lot of purchases from that place up to that time. After 1979 I have never spent another cent with them.

[zachkuby87]

Maybe we should tell the owner to re staff that department...

[tim]

I did send a link to this thread to Joes. I’d like to see them explain it from their side. I have the old emails from Doug, the original claim slip detailing the work that was to be done (or should I say not done). I can pull up the old credit card charge for the work (I did pay them for the bore work).

Did they ever reply when you sent them the link to this thread?

[RAGGED]

I did send a link to this thread to Joes. I’d like to see them explain it from their side. I have the old emails from Doug, the original claim slip detailing the work that was to be done (or should I say not done). I can pull up the old credit card charge for the work (I did pay them for the bore work).

Did they ever reply when you sent them the link to this thread?

Nope, sent it a few times, some more info on here now so it might be time to send again

[Seismic Sam]

Actually, back when Joe's was on Dale, there was a young guy (I was probably already 35, so he was younger than that) that I had spoken to a few times while I was window shopping for stuff. I come back in, and half of his index finger on one hand was gone. I asked him how that happened (I'm missing parts of three fingers myself) and he said it was an accident while he was cleaning a gun. I asked what kind of gun, and he said a 357 revolver. (!!!) I started asking him how in hell you could miss a loaded chamber in a revolver while you had the gun open for cleaning, and he basically clammed up and said he didn't want to talk about it any more. To this day I still can't figure out a scenario where this could have happened.

Edit: In thinking about it, I have actually figured out a disgraceful way you could do this: You pull the gun out of the holster (if it even had one), don't even bother to open the cylinder to check it, and jam a jag with a patch down the bore and into the cylinder. Then you pull it out, then pull the trigger to rotate the cylinder and repeat. Obviously, your non gun hand is going to be by the muzzle with the cleaning rod.... Yep, nothing but rocket scientists at Joe's..

[Anokamnman]

I just want to say thanks to you guys for sharing some of your bad experiences with Joe's. I have purchased 5 firearms in the last few months, and I can guarantee.... I will never waste my time going there.

[shadeslanding]

Try my son at:
http://www.TacticalFirePower.com/

[2in2out]

Anybody use Ahlman's in Morristown? I've got an older gun that I want someone to work on, and thought of them. Never known anyone who had any experience with them, however.

I have heard people say that a lot of people who buy guns at the larger outdoors stores usually go there to have the guns fixed.

Sorry, I didn't mean to NOT bash Joe's.... carry on.....

[Apestoso]

Ryan at Bill's. He works at Robbinsdale but of course you can drop off at Circle Pines, too.

I will second this one. Ryan has done some work for me and did a great job at a more than fair price.

+1

Another +1

Great work at a very fair price. Not the nicest guy in town, and you may need to wait weeks to get it done as they are frequently very backed up, but it will be done properly at a very fair price.

[Snowgun]

Ryan at Bill's. He works at Robbinsdale but of course you can drop off at Circle Pines, too.

Great work at a very fair price. Not the nicest guy in town, and you may need to wait weeks to get it done as they are frequently very backed up, but it will be done properly at a very fair price.

Right now is hunting season so he is SWAMPED, so don't expect to get a 2 day turnaround...