What do I do when the custom gunbuilder sends me garbage?

[wahkahchimaol.com]

Hmmm I've got an interesting challenge. Essentially I'm a long-term novice blackpowder shooter. I ordered a Baltic cheekstock flintlock from a reputable custom builder, for $1,800. I waited years, and paid in full when he informed me that the gun was ready. The gun finally arrived, covered in rust which is obviously from some sort of treatment. it was so rusty it was fuzzy. I didn't know what else to do so I placed it in a climate-controlled gunsafe and pondered my next action. Just now, a few months later, I took it out and the metal parts are flaking black powder which is falling all over the kitchen. It's absolutely unshootable now,and there is obviously some sort of chemical reaction taking place in the metal parts. All metal parts are fully engulfed in some sort of chemical rust. What do I do now? I'm thinking of small claims court. Buying used is vastly better than this: at least it's shootable!

 

[Coot]

What did your builder say when you contacted him about the condition of the gun?

 

[Alden]

He'll tell you it was browned (and maybe Aqua Fortis'd the wood) and you failed to maintain it after receiving it from that point. How's the BORE?

 

[44-henry]

You really should have photographed it and spoken to the builder right away. Now I doubt you have much recourse. Why did you leave it in your safe for so long?

 

[Birddog6]

You should have IMMEDIATELY contacted him & told him the Browning process has not been stopped & you are not pleased with the gun, AND you are returning it for a full refund Immediately. :idunno:

Why in the world you would put a rusting gun in the safe & leave it is beyond me. :shocked2: :nono:

But YOU let the gun deteriorate to it's existing condition. So basically he started the problem & You let it end as it is today.

You may take him to court, but you will lose. YOU let the problem accelerate & never said nothing & now months later you are whining ? You are S.O.L.

The guy did ya wrong..... but YOU let it snowball into a disaster...

Keith Lisle

 

[Birddog6]

Maybe you can disassemble it & take some 0000 steel wool & some Barridcade & scrub the bejesus out of every single part of it, & especially the bore.

Maybe it is not as bad as it appears & is salvageable, and what have you got to lose ? Seems it can't get any worse, so get to scrubbin'.

Keith Lisle

 

[Tom Compton]

I agree. By not contacting the builder immediately, you accepted it as received.

The best you can do now is minimize the situation. Strip it down and refinish everything. I hope the bore is OK. If not have it bored and rifled.

JMO
TC

 

[Micah Clark]

Wow, that's terrible So sorry to hear of this. Obviously, the builder made a big mistake in the browning process, though I've heard it is hard to stop it sometimes, but he surely knew well how to do so.

Did you oil the gun at all when you got it? That seems to be my natural reaction to rust.

The others posts are correct, he may argue it wasn't his fault, though your pics even now MIGHT prove that the browning never stopped. I'd take pics immediately, lots of them, THEN after that grab steel wool and a good rust stopper like barricade from Birchwood Casey, or and some may correct me . . . it's stinky, but penetrating oil might be worth trying with 4 0 steel wool.

Just my two cents. Best of luck with the builder and you gun.

 

[wattlebuster]

You are talking to the wrong people. As soon as you opened the package you should have been talking to the man who built it. If I read and understand your post all you did was put it in a gunsafe an let it sit till now. Its your baby now and only thing you can do is follow the advise already mentioned :idunno:

 

[Vaino]

It's the gunmaker's fault for not completely neutralizing the browning, but your fault for the gun's present condition.

Contacting the builder immediately after receiving the rusty gun would have possibly solved the problem...if the builder is an honest man. But, how is he supposed to know of your displeasure if you don't talk to him?

I'd still contact him and see what could be done...at least he'll know he "screwed up" and might want to rectify the problem or at a minimum, tell you what to do to rid the bbl of rust.

Presently, care should be taken if the bbl is pulled....it might be rusted onto the wood.

Neutralizing browning can be difficult, especially if the browning is too thick and crusty....putting oil on won't help. I "kill" the rusting process by using ammonia which is a lot better than baking soda, but sometimes numerous applications of ammonia are necessary if the rust layer is too heavy.

Call the builder and talk to him in a polite manner and see what comes out of it......Fred

 

[wahkahchimaol.com]

This is why people like me should only buy Pedersoli or some other factory-made gun. Custom guns are wasted on us.

 

[wahkahchimaol.com]

The challenge is that I didn't know what I was looking at, and I was guessing it was "antiqued".

 

[Billnpatti]

Ooooh! You screwed up by not contacting the builder right away. Bad mistake! But, the problem may not be as bad as you think. If the rust is confined to the exterior of the barrel, the gun is quite salvagable and is likely going to be a good shooter. Take the gun apart and carefully examine the lock, the triggers, the stock as a whole and carefully examine the barrel channel of the stock for any signs of cracking that may have been caused by the expansion of the rust on the barrel. If it is okay, the rust on the barrel did not do any damage to the stock. Now, examine the bore. If it is not badly rusted, your only problem is the rust on the outside of the barrel. That may not be so much of a problem as it appears. Having set this long, the rust has most likely penetrated deeper than one would want and the surface of the barrel could be pitted to one degree or another. Even this is not a complete tragedy. Just grab some 0000 steel wool and some motor oil and start scrubbing. The 0000 steel wool, when used with a good oil, will not cut into the hard browning that is under the rust. Use plenty of oil and scrub the manure out of it until you have removed all of the loose rust. It's just possible, but don't hang your hat on it, that under that loose rust may lie a nice looking browning job.

If the rust is confined to the exterior of the barrel and scrubbing with steel wool and oil doesn't solve the problem, you can always use some emery cloth to polish the barrel back to clean metal and then use some Laurel Mountain Forge browning solution to re-do the browning on the barrel. It isn't all that hard to do, it is just applying the browning solution to the barrel and letting it rust. Then you scrub off the rust with water and some kind of rough cloth such as burlap or terry cloth and apply another coat of the browning solution. Keep doing this until you have the depth of brown that you want. At that point, you scrub it again with water and rough cloth, neutralize the browning solution with baking soda, dry it off and oil it with a good grade of oil. Then you must let it sit for a few days to let the browning (rust coating) harden. Finally, rub it with some rough cloth and more oil to remove any remaining soft rust and it is ready to go back into your stock.

All may not be lost. With a bit of care and a bit of work, you could still end up with a fine rifle. :thumbsup:

 

[wahkahchimaol.com]

By FAR the best gun I've purchased to date has been a Pedersoli Jaeger, followed shortly thereafter by a Pedersoli Brown Bess. Leonard Day does superb work too. Also Leonard is very accessible. Besides that...custom builders haven't been worth the money at all. Philips head screws, cracked stocks, and now this. I'm the kind of person that a custom builder would want to cultivate. I can pay for the gun, and I can wait. I don't think you can charactarize what I'll do now as "whining". It will be more like "warning", to stay away from custom builders unless you are a competent gunsmith yourself.

 

[Dean2]

You have to be pulling our collective leg. :slap: Even if you didn't call the builder before, call him now. Talking to us won't solve the problem, but at least hose the gun down well with EWD 40 then oil so it doesn't keep getting worse.

Some builders are so good to their clients that he might even fix it. The rust process was out of control when you got the gun so the 4 month wait only made it that much worse. Sounds like it probably wasn't recoverable when you first got it.

Would LOVE to hear what he has to say.

 

[coloradoclyde]

I think you should let us see some pictures of this fine builders work and let us know who it was... :hmm:

 

[Vaino]

Just wondering.....did you have "words" w/ this builder. Somehow I get the idea you did and burnt "your bridges" and now don't want to contact the builder because of hard feelings?

Call him anyways.....Fred

 

[omarick1948]

LET'S SEE SOME PICTURES OF THE GUN!

If the custom builder is TRULY REPUTABLE, he should work with you and fix the problem!

I don't know about you, but I think $1800.00 is a lot of money for only a wall hanger!

Rick

 

[ZUG]

Me Thinks something is "fishy" with this scenario :hmm: . From the discription of both the gun in question and some of the discriptions (such as "Phillips screws") this just does not make sense to me :idunno: . I've never seen or done a "rust job" on a barrel that was flaking as discribed unless it might have been left in salt water for 5 years.
I think the OP has a BIG BONE to pick with the builder :hmm: or has a dislike for custom muzzle loading gun builders in general :idunno: . My two cents - :v .

 

[Katahdin]

First,,,, start with contacting the builder !!!!Plane and simple,,give him/her a chance to make it right,,,then go from there.Lots of "advice" on this posting however not one who has/will post can solve your problem,,Go to the Light and contact the builder,,,,,