Looking for a good gunsmith in Utah

DeerHuntin101 · Feb 21, 2014

So, my dad has had an old Springfield Arms 30-06 for as long as I can remember. It hasn't seen a lot of use in the past 20 years or so but I knew it still had some life left in it.

I ended up taking it over from my dad this past fall and began completely refurbishing it so as to give it to my daughter as a Christmas gift. I re-blued all the metal, restored the stock and topped it off with one of my older Leupold VXII 3x9 scopes.

Everything looked great until I tried to bore sight it. It appears as though who ever initially tapped the holes for the original scope back in the late 60's must have been eye-balling it because they are no where near center and even if the scope had enough adjustment in it I don't feel it would ever be accurate at varying ranges.

At this point it looks like I will need to have someone fill the original holes, heat treat it and then re-tap the mounting holes.

So - the question is - who would you suggest I take this gun to for that type of work? And how much would something like this cost me? I will pay what it takes considering the sentimental value of the gun but I am just curious.

I didn't think to take any "before" pics but here are a few pics of some of the wood burning I did on it and the finished product.

And the finished product...

Thanks in advance for your help!!

Jeremy

deerslayer88 · Feb 21, 2014

You can make shims out of pop cans, check your bore sight to make sure its not off, pull the bolt put the rifle in a padded clamp and look down the barrel (make sure the barrel looks round) then look out the scope and see if your on the same spot,or you can buy a new gun. I would not put all that money into it to re tap it when for one it will cost as much as a new setup and you have perfectly good open sites right there. That is my $0.02 on this, as it will be anywhere from $20-60 a hole to re drill, and the heat treat is not cheap to have it done right. I could re tap if you had it filled and heat treated but to me it seems like you should just use open sights and buy a new gun if you want a scoped rifle and this one won't be fixed with any of the above listed tricks.

trophyhunter · Feb 21, 2014

You did a nice job on the rifle. Instead of filling the original tapped holes. Would you be able to just run the screws down flush. If those are to long maybe a gunsmith may have shorter screws just to fill the holes. Then could just tap new holes next to the old ones.

Seems odd ...your problem...if everything is out of line did that rifle ever hit anything? Maybe as a last resort before you go spending a bunch of money try reversing the bases. If that doesn't help try modifying the bases unless you can confirm for sure that the rifle tapping for the scope mount is off line.

Let us know what you come up with after more research and fix it.

))))------->

2lumpy · Feb 21, 2014

Call Joe Ashman in Fillmore, Utah. (435) 743-5355 Explain your problem to him and he'll either fix it for you or tell who can fix it.

I understand family hairlooms, they're priceless. While it's true a new rifle may be more practical but you weren't interested in practical when you burnt that heart in the stock. Sometimes a guy just wants Dad's rfle for his daughter, regardless of the cost or inconvenience. Good for you and your Dad's granddaughter.

DC

maxcarp · Feb 21, 2014

Check out Burris Signature rings.The inserts they use can make up for a good deal of offset from the bore line.An old style dovetail base will allow a good deal of adjustment for windage.Chances are if the rifle is that old it came with dovetail rings and base.I would try these before anything else.