Stock Refurb/Refinish Service

Hello All,

I have been refinishing/refurbishing stocks for quite some time now. I have always done this for friends and family and people locally, but I have recently decided to try and expand my services to the internet. My idea is to do both military and non-military gunstocks and repair when needed. What do you guys think? Any opinions on whether there is a market for this? I put a couple of listings up on ebay as a tester but there has been no activity there. What do you guys think? Good idea or no? I posted some pictures below as an example of the work I do.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...100_5707-1.jpg
The only problem I have with this picture is that my 98k now looks like a Mitchells Mauser (witch its not) because of the refurb
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...100_5708-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...100_5712-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...100_5711-1.jpg

Thank You,
mdrim13

I think it's a nice idea, it's pretty hard though to get people to pay good money for what they THINK they can do themselves. The hours rack up quickly on these jobs, do you really think that you can bill out enough on jobs like these to get a worthwhile hourly rate?

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Originally Posted by tbonesmith

I think it's a nice idea, it's pretty hard though to get people to pay good money for what they THINK they can do themselves. The hours rack up quickly on these jobs, do you really think that you can bill out enough on jobs like these to get a worthwhile hourly rate?

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An interesting point...what they THINK they can do :)

I usually always have one job on the go fro external clients. I pick what I will do, and definitely don't rely on this to get food on the table! For me, it's a leisure activity (which I treat seriously though).

I think that building a reputation that'll be widespread enough to get a regular inflow of jobs takes time, and some sort of business plan.

Lou

I was thinking of it as a way to earn a bit of extra cash. I wont be quitting the day job :thup:

I think you should go for it! So long as you like it and get something for your trouble, sound like a very rewarding sideline...

Love it...... care to take a crack at the Mosin M44 stock set I totally/royally flubbed up?

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Originally Posted by Amsdorf

Love it...... care to take a crack at the Mosin M44 stock set I totally/royally flubbed up?

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I would love to. Lets see some pictures :)

There is always room for good folks providing this service. I've done business with a number of excellent ones over the years. The main problem is the work load for refinishing services is highly variable depending on the economy, time of year and other factors beyond one's control. If you keep it as a second job generating money you don't rely on, it is a good business model. If you come to rely on it, as one of my friends did, inevitably something will come along to cause a blip in demand or your ability to maintain the pace and a downward spiral starts. Figure out what you can do for a price and stick to it. Don't take on more than you can do with a smile and for gosh sakes, don't plan your life style around the extra income. Also, at a small scale, this is a word of mouth service highly reliant on repeat business and recommendations. A web site with lots of before and after pics of your work is the best way to generate new leads. Keep in mind that many folks will want to send you a complete firearm....for which you will need a Gunsmithing FFL at a minimum in order to send/receive.....and if you go the route of touching complete firearms (vice just the wood) liability insurance will be a must since if anything goes wrong with a firearm after you've touched it leaves you exposed.....whether you had anything to do with the problem or not.