Australian Market Question - Rebarrelling

G'Day Fellow Enfielditis Patients,

Please excuse this question being directed to the locals, I don't mean any disrespect to our Northern Hemisphere cousins, just considering economics.

I'm considering barrelling a couple of my collection. I live in Brisneyland - yes, finish laughing please so we can go on... Finished? Thank you.

I'd welcome some opinions, based on your personal experience of service, price and quality of workmanship of gunsmiths you'd recommend for rebarrelling a range of Service Rifle models.

Disclaimer: I'm a little old fashioned in my views of business. I am pretty keen to have the smith turn and fit a barrel, not simply buy a foreign imported barrel and screw it in to the action. I do believe in maintaining skills and the economy by keeping trade as local as possible. And, yes, I am a capitalist by nature, but believe there's always a spectrum of what's reasonable. So, if the local wants 40% more to do the work than an import, then you can predict the choice.

Thank you for you considerations and sharing you experience, in advance. :thup:

One of the Friends and Sponsors of this site would be well worth contacting. Did some work on a No 4 for me recently which I'm very pleased with.

What's wrong with Brisneyland? Luxury that is, compared to the provinces....

I think Tbonesmith may be your man I have heard good reports of his work he rebarreled a friends No.4 Sniper T not long ago , #2 "Provinces!" deary me Maxwell try living on the other side of our great country like Western Australia its like the dark side of the moon......?

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Originally Posted by Maxwell Smart

One of the Friends and Sponsors of this site would be well worth contacting. Did some work on a No 4 for me recently which I'm very pleased with.

What's wrong with Brisneyland? Luxury that is, compared to the provinces....

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Thanks 86, much appreciated.

---------- Post added at 06:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:34 PM ----------

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Originally Posted by CINDERS

I think Tbonesmith may be your man I have heard good reports of his work he rebarreled a friends No.4 Sniper T not long ago , #2 "Provinces!" deary me Maxwell try living on the other side of our great country like Western Australia its like the dark side of the moon......?

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Thanks Cinders, T Bone had appeared on my radar, and due diligence is working fine.

Cinders is right. Contact Tom Smith of T-Bone Shipwrighting in Sydney.

T-bone Shipwrighting Specialising in Firearm Services and Importation

Tom is a moderator on this forum. He is the only local that I know that can rebarrel your rifle and sort out your bedding using his amazing woodworking skills.

For a Syneysider he is not a bad bloke.

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Originally Posted by paulseamus

For a Syneysider he is not a bad bloke.

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lol....

The only other person I know who advertises Lee Enfield knowledge is Island Accuracy in Tasmania who seem to do some pretty neat 4T repros

What does the "range of service rifles" contemplated consist of?

"Capitalism" is a marxist term for "free enterprise" by the way. ;)

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Originally Posted by Surpmil

What does the "range of service rifles" contemplated consist of?

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Surpmil,

Probably a No 1 MK III*, No 4, M1903 and still iffy about P14/M1917... Extent is entirely economically dependent...

And yes, your're right about free trade. I'll not be political, but the 'locals' may aprpeciate that not everyone in our society believes that trade is how we make our living... Enough said before the worms multiply!

On 09/05/2012 I received my replica M-40 from Isl Accuracy the subsequent dealings left a very bad taste in my mouth and I will never go back there nor recommend them please see the pics;
Some of the issues found; poor bedding job, cracked stock, pillars not going all the way through to the action, compound stuck to action, bolt lugs were not lapped, chipped land, bad chatter marks on the 11 degree crown, scuffed stock from sling clamp I paid $3000 up front waited 6 months after many e mails and phone calls with where is it the rifle turned up in this condition the pics were taken 15 minutes after unpacking it so my gunsmith could inspect it (I always have this done even with new rifles). When I said I was sending it back for a full refund I was told by Dave Watson the owner of Isl Accuracy that would not happen as I would have to pay the full postage from and to Tasmania at a cost of $300 so did my dollars and sent it back never again to deal with again. I do not care if Dave reads this as he knows what went down and why would I wait another 6 months for perhaps a same condition rifle to turn up infact the stock was stained and my gunny was not sure of the type of wood used to make it. (pics show part of the story)

I think another member had a bad experience from the same company with the fitting of pads for a replica T but will let them explain what went down as they know the full story all I know is the action had to be scrapped after they were fitted
...."BUYER BEWARE"..............

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Originally Posted by CINDERS

On 09/05/2012 I received my replica M-40 from Isl Accuracy the subsequent dealings left a very bad taste in my mouth and I will never go back there nor recommend them please see the pics;
Some of the issues found; poor bedding job, cracked stock, pillars not going all the way through to the action, compound stuck to action, bolt lugs were not lapped, chipped land, bad chatter marks on the 11 degree crown, scuffed stock from sling clamp I paid $3000 up front waited 6 months after many e mails and phone calls with where is it the rifle turned up in this condition the pics were taken 15 minutes after unpacking it so my gunsmith could inspect it (I always have this done even with new rifles). When I said I was sending it back for a full refund I was told by Dave Watson the owner of Isl Accuracy that would not happen as I would have to pay the full postage from and to Tasmania at a cost of $300 so did my dollars and sent it back never again to deal with again. I do not care if Dave reads this as he knows what went down and why would I wait another 6 months for perhaps a same condition rifle to turn up infact the stock was stained and my gunny was not sure of the type of wood used to make it. (pics show part of the story)

I think another member had a bad experience from the same company with the fitting of pads for a replica T but will let them explain what went down as they know the full story all I know is the action had to be scrapped after they were fitted
...."BUYER BEWARE"..............

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Holy s*&%^, that's terrible!

I consider myself warned!

The bedding on that 1903 has to be an early April Fool surely! Horrifying, Looks more like rat damage than bedding!

I am quite shocked to be honest, worst I have seen...

The bedding looks like it was done by the work experience kid.

I know that pretty and functional aren't always the same but i honestly think i could do a far neater job and I've never bedded a rifle before.

It is a Rem-700 action for the then clone M-40 they advertised

Sorry Cinders, you did say that mate, the shock of that bedding pic made me loose my memory, I had to sit down and and have a stiff drink to steady my nerves :lol:

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Originally Posted by CINDERS

poor bedding job,

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Pic number 2 shows use of a dremel to hog out wood...much like we were told a member did to fit wood to his #1Mk3 some time back. There would be what it looks like...if you've never seen. Yes. that's a rough one.

Some forumers quietly chastise me when I mention amateur tinkerers, enthusiastic amateurs, home gunsmiths, self taught gunsmiths, so-called or supposed 'armourers'............., call them what you will. Now you see the pretty-well typical standard/result of their work. Not all, I have to agree but GOOD percentage............. The real, time served, apprenticed craftsmen will not present work like this. We had a sign above the door of Mr Ayleys class room door that you read EVERY time you exited the class room. It said Near enough isn't good enough. But exactly right is near enough. And I remember it to this day

Peter: I find owning and using old milsurps to be like trying to ride an older British motorbike as daily transport. If you can't maintain and repair it yourself you're out of luck in much of the world. Right now I have a mint 74 Norton Commando sitting in the garage for years because I can't even find a shop that will give it the rudimentary Alberta safety inspection. Regarding Lee Enfields, in Calgary, a city of 1.4 million I've only run into one fellow (ex Canadian forces armorer) who does this type of work professionally. Not surprisingly, he charges a fair bit for his work.

Rudolph

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Originally Posted by Peter Laidler

Near enough isn't good enough. But exactly right is near enough.

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That Peter, is a first class saying ... I started in the motor trade at 16 working for VW Audi in the body shop, at one of (at that time) their top UK dealerships, uncompromising quality was hammered into me from day one and its something you take right through your life no matter what you end up doing.

"Near enough isn't good enough. But exactly right is near enough."

Love that saying Peter. It seems that the old style apprenticeship is long dead. The youngsters I've got at work cannot remove a broken stud or bleed screw, they have no idea how a carburettor works, let alone how to adjust a set of 4 webers on a V8!
When I started my apprenticeship at Jaguar Cars (Coventry) in 1979, every apprentice spent the first year in a their training school learning the basic skills of turning, milling, welding, sheet metal and technical drawing etc. After those 12 months we went into the specialised fields. (many hours dropping cylinder heads in the trich' tank etc)

MANY thanks for threads 17, 18 and 19. You just lit up my little world with the mention of my beloved 750 Commando, my famlly workhorses Golf GTi, and Polo's) and the v8 powerhouse I had in my MGB GT V8. Made my evening. What about your Commando being your next avatar Ridolpho.

Re the rudimentary inspection for your Commando Ridlopho, surely someone like a chartered graduate mechanical engineer (me not chartered!) could write a certificate on his headed paper stating that I..... of....... am a ......... with a BSc in ...... at ..........Uni and have XY years experience in motor vehicle engineering have examined a 1974 .............. and can confirm that............. Would that be acceptable? Some years ago when my son was due to take his test in his little cheap Renault Clio, it was announced that you couldn't take your test in them because the bonnets were prone to opening due to, well....., French workers basically! UNLESS it had a certificate from Renault no less that it had been modified and was blah blah blah and so on. Cost from Renault locally (and nationally, £55) So I did no more that write out a headed note, put my quals, dates, uni and stated that I had inspected it and could certify that it had been modified with the steel hook in place of the plastic crap. The examiner accepted it and off he went. I don't suppose it would have worked if you were a graduate in Abyssinian Pottery before 2000bc. or Needlework

Peter: Avatar added! Regarding the Alberta "MOT", we have many hundreds or thousands of unemployed engineers here in this province but their qualifications don't matter. What is needed to be a tester is a license purchased from the good old government which costs enough that only big shops or dealers have one. My local Honda dealer laughed me out the front door when I inquired about testing a seventies Commando. The "good thing" is that once you get a vehicle "safetied" it will never, ever be tested again even if you keep it on the road for 50 years. Regards.

Ridolpho