Quote:
Originally Posted by bwsmg
Stan Andrewski (S.G.S.) 603-746-4387
Stan has a long track record of rebuilding all types of receivers. He realigned my MP40 receiver and redesigned a soumi coffin mag well to a Olyp.M16 RR receiver. Also he has repaired many M16 dewalts from years past that others screwed up...! He's turn around may be slow sometimes, but that's want happens when your in high demand.
This is very true. Stan Andrewski fixed two guns for me; a Reising with a rear "post" whose weld broke and a Stemple 76/45 with a list of problems.*
*One issue remains- not hollering at Mr. Andrewski, as I only found out about the remaining issue this morning.
M60Joe is also a solid choice. He repaired a poorly converted Oly for me.
You won't go wrong with either guy.
Mike
When was the last time you dealt with Stan's Gunsmithing? I bought a REWATT Thompson over three years ago. The gun was an Amnesty registered DEWATT. A hole was drilled through both the barrel and receiver at the chamber. The gun was also torch cut across the top and down the right side just in front of the rear sight. The SOT in Montana that reactivated the gun did a horrible job welding the receiver back together. I think he stuck a new barrel in it and applied some steel "bubble gum" for the front of the receiver. He stuck the bolt in the receiver (the gun arrived with an arc spot on the bottom of the bolt) and welded the top and right side from the outside only and parkerized it. There was still welding slag inside the gap of were the receiver had been welded. He hadn't even bothered to remove the ejector when he parkerized the gun. I know this because the original finish was underneath the ejector.
I asked over on Tom's board who would be a good Thompson smith to have the gun repaired properly. Diamond K and Stan's Gunsmithing were the top two candidates. Since I lived about 40 miles from Stan's in NH, I went to the shop in Webster, NH. Most of my dealings were with John Andrewski (Stan's son). This was the first week in April 2005 that I took the gun up to see if it was even safe to shoot and for an estimate to bring it back as close as possible to original factory specs. John said they would remove the weld that was there, straighten out the receiver (the receiver was so badly warped that at 15 yards I had to aim 6" left and 8" low to hit a target), reweld it 100%, match the original milling marks that was already in the receiver, restore the manufacturer's information on the right side and refinish in the original Du-Lite finish the Savage built M1A1 left the factory with.
John said that he wouldn't be able to start on it until late June or early July. I brought the gun up after the Fourth of July holiday. He called me in late July to say he was having a scheduling problem with the engraver. He said he was sorry and that I could leave the gun or come and get it and shoot it for the rest of the year. He said call after New Year holiday. I called and brought the gun up to him again the second week in January of 2006.
I'll spare you all the details about this problem, or that problem, etc. I would call and check in when he said there was supposed to be progress, but... I moved from NH to Las Vegas, NV in June of 2007. I had planned to go back and visit family for a week in New England for the second week in September. I called and told John in July, that I didn't care whether the gun was done or not. I would be picking it up in whatever condition the second day I was back in NE, because I would be in NH. I had to postpone picking up the gun and make a special trip until the day before we left because John said it would be done then.
What I got was not what I was promised. The receiver is straight, but John didn't get out all the previous repair weld which has some nickel in it. The nickel reacts with the Du-Lite finish. Instead of turning a flat black color of the rest of the gun those areas turned a deep copper color. There was also porosity in the welds. When I went to test fire the gun back in Vegas, I found the the barrel wasn't tight. With the barrel removed for repair by a local Las Vegas smith, I see that John just welded over the holes in the chamber area of the receiver, but didn't recut the threads in the receiver where the pin had been.
John asked me to pay him about half the original price I was quoted over two years before. Did I get the repair level I paid for? Yes, I did. I would have rather paid double and gotten the repair I was promised originally? Absolutely. Putting the repair issues aside, I really liked John. He was a personable guy. Because I liked him, I guess that is why I hung in there for over two years. At times I felt sorry for him.
John told me he didn't much care for working on modern firearms. He would prefer WW II designs back. I had an AR receiver weld project I wanted him to do when I first contacted him. He had no interest in welding on an aluminum AR receiver. In a couple of our later conversations, John talked about getting a day job as the work at the shop had slowed. The great smith shops have more work than they know what to do with. I'm sure I'm not the only person that has had similar treatment. Over two years for the repair, is completely is ridiculous.
The gun is shootable condition. I've thought about sending it to Diamond K because every time I clean the gun or some one asked to see or shoot it, I see the flaws and it brings this whole story back. For a straight iron sight, stick mag subgun, I don't think there are any better. The gun fits me well, the cyclic rate makes singles easy, and .45 ACP knocks steel down "hard". YMMV.
Scott
