He came highly recommended…I’m not impressed. I took an Aero precision usa 14.5" barrel and a PWS Fsc556 compensator to a local gunsmith to get pinned and welded. He was listed online on a couple custom gun sites as a “preferred local gunsmith”. He was also talked up by a couple guys at the range…im not impressed
I told him it wasn’t what I expected so he knocked $40 off the original $80 quote. Still…I think I could have done this with my mig welder.
Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.
-Robert E. Howard
That’s absolute freaking garbage and $80 is WAY too much. I charge $85 to pin and weld a titanium muzzle device. A proper pin and weld job should be near impossible to find or a nice, tiny and smooth weld button when done. I wouldn’t accept $40 either.
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Yes, that does look terrible.
I guess you should’ve made sure he had a TIG welder. Hate to say it but that looks like it’s stick welded. Just because you have a welder doesn’t make you a weldor.
Another lesson learned the hard way. I would use a file and hand file it where it’s smooth and clean up the edges. Then use a roloc pad and polish it. Then a coat of paint.
That’s pretty bad. Maybe too much coffee that morning? Or meth.
But you do assume some risk, when pinning and welding muzzle devices. Welding is an imprecise thing, especially for gunsmiths; most of whom have basically zero welding experience outside of welding blind pins on AR15s. You can’t exactly expect them to be expert welders, or they’d be out making a lot more money as professional welders.
Before I got into NFA, I would take my pin/weld jobs to a local welder, to ensure professional results. Even he ****ed it up a little, sometimes. There’s not much margin for error.
On the other hand, you should not advertise competence in a trade you don’t possess. The solution to something like this is a gray area, in my mind. Should he replace your muzzle device? That could be cleaned up with a little effort. I would ask him to clean it up some, straighten out those lines, and call it even. And then not recommend him to friends.
RayJays and ARs just don’t mix. As unsightly as that is, it beats the crap out of the last “gunsmith” perm job posted on here.
If you’re cool with leaving it permed, I’d just roll with it… or clean it up a little with a dremel and paint it. Some guys prefer to have a little of the work show so they can avoid speculation that it’s not really permed.
Let me start by saying I’ve never done this but I have a few muzzle devices that were permanently attached by my FFL. Anyway after reading this thread I thought why not drill a hole in the device, flux the threads and device, screw it on and then solder it the same way you would for connecting copper pipes?
This is why I prefer to do my own work, whatever it may be.
Before I had my own welder I had to take things to a local guy, a welder, not a gunsmith. I still use him occasionally. He welds everything, but is used by a lot of artists when they have something that they can’t weld or that they just want to look good. He’s usually 1 sheet to the wind by about 9:00am, and that’s when he does his best work. The most important thing is that he’s NOT a “gunsmith”, so he actually listens and does what I ask him to do. I usually have whatever I need welded ready to go, and welding something like a muzzle device takes him all of 8 seconds. He tells me to pay him whatever I think it’s worth, so I usually just slip him a 20. No wait, no fuss, just catch him before he gets wrapped up in something else. It’s not as if your asking for some foot long strength weld… its a freaking spot. If you can’t weld a clean spot you should have your card revoked.
On a slightly different note, wouldn’t it be interesting to have a sticky thread that was for botched/butchered projects as a reminder of what “it” should NOT look like, and “what” NOT to do? Kind of like “A Hall of Shame” of gunsmithing. This one, I would classify as an “Honorable Mention”!
For real… Let’s see if the mods pick this one up[emoji51]
Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.
-Robert E. Howard
Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.
-Robert E. Howard
I feel the same way…I took it to him because I didn’t want it to look like that
Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.
-Robert E. Howard
I have a local welder I use for all my odds and ends as well…I almost brought this to him. I plan on showing him and j know he’s gonna call me an idiot for not asking him to do it… I have been using him for years on boat projects, cars, motorcycle frames and even some antique bike resto. I just thought a gunsmith would be better…
Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.
-Robert E. Howard
im not impressed