16ga.com ~ View topic

Member Joined: 08 Nov 2005 Posts: 3440 Location: Illinois

Would appreciate any comments on their service---My Superposed lever won't stay open--Tired of waiting on the local smith taking two months plus for simple jobs--Thanks

Are you asking about the Gander Mnt. near Kenosha on route 50?

Member Joined: 08 Nov 2005 Posts: 3440 Location: Illinois

Closest one is in Terra Haute,In--

Nope, sorry I must be north of you. I go to the one in Wisconsin. Are you near Charleston Illinois?

Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Posts: 787 Location: Indiana

Hoa: I don't know how the Gander gunsmith at Terre Haute will do but I took a Winchester Model 62A (.22 LR slide action rifle as you no doubt are aware) to the Gander gunsmith in Ft. Wayne, IN last November. After a couple of calls (it seemed the gunsmith was very seldom actually there working) finally my wife picked it up in February of 2009. I had had a problem with the spring in the magazine tube not properly feeding rounds into the action, and also a problem with the hammer/firing pin...the gun though cocked, would not always fire when the trigger was pulled.

They told my wife "It's ok, we fired it 35 times to make sure it worked.."
But, you guessed it, the first trip to the range--same old problem. It would not fire. They may have DRY fired it in the comfort of the shop 35 times, but if they had really tried to fire it at the range with live ammo, even four or 5 times, they would readily have discovered they had more work/investigation to do....

The TH gunsmith at Gander may really know his stuff and be very timely but this one individual experience I had with them was not so good...problem is, it is really hard these days to find a reputable, reasonably priced smith you would trust to work on a valued firearm. FYI, years ago when I lived in the Terre haute area there used to be a good gunsmith in the town of Lyford, in Indiana just east of Clinton. Don't know if he still is there or not.

Member Joined: 16 Dec 2007 Posts: 592 Location: Minnesota

I don't have any recent experience but I tried the GM gunsmith once and that was all I needed to never do it again. You'll gain nothing by going that route - certainly not a faster turn around time.

In dealing with any gunsmith I've just accepted the fact that regardless of what I'm having done it's going to take between 4-8 weeks. If you have a gunsmith you know, trust just wait the two months and have comfort it will get done right the first time.

Good luck.

Member Joined: 30 May 2007 Posts: 216 Location: Tennessee

Or send the Superposed to Art at Art's Gun & Sport Shop in Hillsboro, Missouri or MidWest Gun Works in Peveley, Missouri and know it will get fixed right. Two of the best places in the country to get a Superposed fixed/restored.

Hello
Art's is simply SUPER

http://www.artsgunshop.com/price-list.htm

He can do it WELL

Mike

I am sure it varies by site but I took three SxS to the Gander Mountain shop in Wilmot and Kenosha and they did not fix any of them although they gave me a pretty good bill. I tried another smith with a similar result and finally took them to H. G. Lomas Gunmakers in Elkhart WI and he fixed all three the first time for less than either of the other folks charged me. He is an English smith and I have no idea what he knows about Brownings, if anything.

Sounds like others have pointed you in the direction of a good Browning smith.

Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 728

HOA Shooter

You are wise to seek references for a good gunsmith. Even better if you can get a referral to a gunsmith who has done good work on the model or type of gun you want repaired or modified. You can waste a lot of time, money and energy with your gun sitting in the wrong gunsmith's shop and get a poor quality repair or modification or you can spend the time and effort to find the right gunsmith to do the work correctly. I recommned the second method.

Member Joined: 08 Nov 2005 Posts: 3440 Location: Illinois

Appreciate the replies---Probably take it to the Grand in August-Now I have a reason to go Cool

Member Joined: 30 May 2007 Posts: 216 Location: Tennessee

Browning should be able to fix it at the Grand, but if they can't/don't have time/parts with them, you are not all that far from Art's Shop or Midwest Gun Works. I would also recommend Stu Wright over at Pickneyville, Illinois. Stu is a great Winchester gunsmith and the Model 12 guru but works on all types of guns. I would give him a call before riding over there (about 30 minutes from Sparta). Stu may be at the Grand.

Joined: 04 Jul 2008 Posts: 16 Location: Ashland, KY

Member Joined: 16 Dec 2007 Posts: 592 Location: Minnesota

A gunsmith from one location who send it to another location without previously discussing with the owner Shocked

I would be on the phone with the Gunsmith at the Kenosha location ASAP making sure everyone is on the same page Exclamation

That's pretty standard procedure for Gander. Kenosha is the "Home" store and is where all the warranty work for the manufacturers is done, unless it is deemed to difficult for them, then they send to the respective manufacturers. Kenosha has a pretty large shop in the back of the store.

I'm from the area, and have only once had them mount a scope. Only to go back home and remount it myself because the scope was tipped to the left so the elevation turret was on the left side of the rifle not above the action like it should have been. Maybe an honest mistake by a newbie, but I've been looking for another smith since.