Poll: Advice needed, Gunsmithing (night sight install) left my slide with a nick out of it...

[Velzey]

Yes, and Clackamas area!

 

[dobeman]

the only person that should booger up a gun is the owner. you certainly shouldn't pay someone to do it. If you were to try and sell the gun, I would expect a discount since it's damaged.

 

[mjbskwim]

Well I would have got angry and confrontational but I would never ask HIM to fix anything again.
I would ask him to buy my ANIB gun a new slide,since the perfect gun was perfect when I left it there. If he was a gun smith with any salt he would have asked you what was to happen next.
I mean If he can't install sights without scratching a gun,he needs to quit.
I would.
And I would have put the DA name out here to let everyone know he's a hack
Yes a hack. I can install sights without hurting the gun or sights.
I have done it many times on my own guns
He is a hack if he doesn't buy a new slide
BTW how is he going to fix it? Grind it down,smooth out the slide over a larger area and re coat it?
On a ANIB gun?

 

[rick benjamin]

I agree with mjbskwim
It's why I do my own work.
I use various texture stones to sharpen, smooth and cut metal surfaces.
I use a mill or lathe to do other stuff but not for this issue.
A new replacement slide $420
I don't think his idea of a diamond file is any better than your work.
You did a nice job blending your repair, btw.

 

[omenwolf]

Don't be afraid of a bench vice and brass punch. It sucks what happened, i would have asked for the install to be no charge and he repair the gun. If he got nasty I would have taken the gun and walked out. I have put the same sights on the same gun with a vice and punc with no issue, a little oil and patience and they went right in. I do not like the rear slide ears move around a little more now though. I scratched up the sight a little but a little gun blue and good as new. I love my Vp9, it is also a carry for me.

 

[Velzey]

I just fell out of my chair thinking of 6" bench vice jaw marks on a H&K slide....

That's ok tho, I have a diamond file I can hide it all!

 

[clearconscience]

I usually do my own work. That way if I screw it up it'a on me, but there's a satifaction with doing it yourself.
But if I took it to someone I would expect it to be like factory.

Any man (no matter the field) if they do a bad job should make it right. Not just filing it down and making it even more "custom" but buying you a new or like new slide and then he can fix the one he boogered up and sell it to make the money back.
Every does make mistakes, it happens, but you make it right.
Any person with any kind of conscience and integrity would do that.
And the fact he didn't mention it right away to you is appalling. He waited until you saw it and then acted like it was supposed to happen.

He probably did the same thing you would have, used the wrong tool. Lazy and cheap.

 

[Tirving]

Thanks for all the comments folks. I think the mark was made by the sight pusher. He has a meprolight sight press, the charging nubs caused it to move off alignment when he brought it to tension. I noticed this as well with my universal press... That's why I brought it to him; I didn't want to monkey around shimming it up to work around the nubs.
We will see about the fix. I mentioned Durafil and he is going to do that before filing the slide down. If it doesn't look brand new again, we are going to talk about a new slide and he can try and recoup some money by selling the repaired one. If he can fill the ding in, I think it'll be fine.
If you did this to your own gun and wanted to fix it, what would you do? I am open to suggestions and not married to the solution we came up with.

 

[EUGENE the REALTOR]

I would have been pissed even if he brought up the scratch first AND offered to not charge you. The fact that he was hoping you wouldnt notice is shady. I would have been calm and asked what he would do about it though.

I wouldn't have tried to do any repairs myself since he could've said you made it worse by trying to fix it. I think he owes you a new refinishing job (np3, hard chrome?) or a new gun. A new slide would have a different serial # and wouldn't match the frame. Or you could sell it, and he could give you the difference between what you got for it and a comparable, like-new VP9.

 

[Velzey]

The slides are not matched to the lowers. Well they are marked but are not mated..Hard chrome is not thick enough to hide that indent. As a gunsmith he can get a new slide at cost, it was mentioned that they were $400+. Dealer cost has to be less than that?

This is a tough one for sure, if its going to be a carry gun then just leave it be. BUT lets say your going to sell that pistol to me. First thing I notice is the ding in it, and then try to knock $150 off your asking price.

 

[Raidingtime]

Dude! If I damage a customers firearm I fix it! WOW That looks like it may be from the sight pusher itself. I assume its just on the side shown?
Man if I would have made a mark on your slide like that I wouldn't be able to sleep at night! And then to charge you for install?

Replacing sights you have to be very careful. With a sight pusher and delrin punches you still have to be very careful!

and that's because you understand both customer service and how much people care about their firearms.

 

[Tirving]

I'm mad, but I honestly think I caught him on a bad day. Everyone makes mistakes, unfortunately, I was on the wrong side of the equation on this one. I'm going to give him a chance to do the right thing. If he doesn't, he and I will have a problem, and you will definitely find out who he is.

 

[41Slinger]

I respect your position on this and your integrity. Personally I'm better at confrontation if I have a chance to chew it awhile cause if I'm pissed I'm not very smooth and that's usually not the best solution for me. Had to get older to learn this for myself. Some folks are better on their feet so JMHO I think your handling the situation just fine.

 

[The Heretic]

I am a low confrontation type of person.

If he didn't offer a discount then he probably wasn't going to make it right in any way, even if asked or demanded.

But I would not do any further business with someone who is incompetent (no matter how much I like them personally) and I would share the story with whomever would listen so they would not go through the same experience.

There are enough gunsmiths out there that know how to do things the right way, who know what good service is if something goes wrong, to not have to put up with a gunsmith who is incompetent and doesn't make things right when they go wrong.

 

[Tirving]

I respect your position on this and your integrity. Personally I'm better at confrontation if I have a chance to chew it awhile cause if I'm pissed I'm not very smooth and that's usually not the best solution for me. Had to get older to learn this for myself. Some folks are better on their feet so JMHO I think your handling the situation just fine.

Thanks brother,
If he had opened up the communication about the damage, I would have confronted it at the time. The fact that he didn't even mention it had me second guessing whether it was damage, a mark that was supposed to be there, or something that "just happens" with sight installs (Again, I've only been back to shooting for a few years and I previously had NO experiences with gunsmiths). Because this happened, my assessment of the situation was that it would only end up with tempers flared and my ultimate goal would not be obtained without slogging through the bubblegum. I really just want the sights installed and my gun as purrty as it was before I gave it to him. This will happen, it just might take a while now

 

[Tirving]

I am a low confrontation type of person.

If he didn't offer a discount then he probably wasn't going to make it right in any way, even if asked or demanded.

But I would not do any further business with someone who is incompetent (no matter how much I like them personally) and I would share the story with whomever would listen so they would not go through the same experience.

There are enough gunsmiths out there that know how to do things the right way, who know what good service is if something goes wrong, to not have to put up with a gunsmith who is incompetent and doesn't make things right when they go wrong.

Yeah, I am kind of on the fence with having him fix his mistake. I think it might be another mistake, but my ultimate goal of having the sights installed (which they are) and my gun looking like ti did before I brought it to him (which it doesn't) also comes with the caveat that I really don't want to pay someone else to fix someone else's mistake before I give the guy who made it a chance to make good.

 

[The Heretic]

My thought on having him fix it would be that it would be a mistake; this wasn't a typo on a document, it is something a lot more serious. If he is incompetent enough to ding it up in the first place, how much more incompetent would he be at fixing it?

In short, I would be afraid that he would mung it up even more.

Add to that the fact that he didn't offer to fix it, or give a discount.

 

[Velzey]

A few years ago I had a customer bring in a Remington 37 for me to cut the stock down on.. It's was the middle of winter.. We had an ice storm. I was walking from the shop to the house carrying the Remington stock I had just cut down.. Slipped on the ice and oh man I went down hard..
Yep and put a nice scratch in the buttstock..
Ughh nice 4 inch one! So I had to refinish it! All on my dime!
When I did the final bill I told the customer I had slipped and fell in the ice and scratched his stock.. And he said " oh don't worry about it" I'm giving this rifle to the grandkids to plink with....
Oh well they have a nice stock to plink with!

 

[Tirving]

A few years ago I had a customer bring in a Remington 37 for me to cut the stock down on.. It's was the middle of winter.. We had an ice storm. I was walking from the shop to the house carrying the Remington stock I had just cut down.. Slipped on the ice and oh man I went down hard..
Yep and put a nice scratch in the buttstock..
Ughh nice 4 inch one! So I had to refinish it! All on my dime!
When I did the final bill I told the customer I had slipped and fell in the ice and scratched his stock.. And he said " oh don't worry about it" I'm giving this rifle to the grandkids to plink with....
Oh well they have a nice stock to plink with!

That's because you know how to do business.

 

[EUGENE the REALTOR]

The slides are not matched to the lowers. Well they are marked but are not mated..Hard chrome is not thick enough to hide that indent. As a gunsmith he can get a new slide at cost, it was mentioned that they were $400+. Dealer cost has to be less than that?

This is a tough one for sure, if its going to be a carry gun then just leave it be. BUT lets say your going to sell that pistol to me. First thing I notice is the ding in it, and then try to knock $150 off your asking price.

I would want my serial numbers to match. Especially if the scratch was not my fault. Ford's Custom can "remove" mill marks off P7M8's so I dont think they would have any problems filling this scratch.