The Joy of the Problem Child

[Rod Slinger]

They say that true insanity is when you think you are the only sane one.  As for as our government is concerned,  I am there.  As for as firearms not quite there. I freely admit to not being the sharpest tool in the shed and yes crazy.   This fact was brought to mind thanks to a post by  bdb benzino Who was concerned that his new Witness with the rounded slide may experience slide cracking.  No one can fault this as an intelligent and sane concern.  What I did not tell Mr Benzino was that I bought my new 10mm compact Witness because this model was having slide cracking, crazy right? 

Allow me to tell you how I have arrived at this craziness.   It all started when I first started shooting and being a perfectionists I wanted my gun to be just right.  The problem was I could not find anyone who would do the work I wanted for a price I could afford.  I was forced to do the work myself, but how do you learn to do quality work?  Reading can only take you so far.  As in match shooting all the reading about shooting a match is not even close to actually shooting a match.  

Inter the Problem Child a gun you bought that was so screwed up that you could buy it for a few dollars and no matter what you did in the way of repairs, it could only be made better.   Yes I am a firm believer that if you want to learn to repair guns then you must repair guns to learn.  How about the Gun Smithing Schools?  If you can afford and have the time to invest this would give you a big leg up, but after the school you will still be learning by repairing guns.  

I am at a point in my craziness that the Problem Child find me.  They come my way do to: Lawyers who  engineer a gun so it won't function,  manufacturing defects and my favorite the gunsmith want-a-be who want a short cut to learning gun repairs and are paying there dues the hard way.  

My most treasured firearms were Problem Children at one time.  What a boring world this would be if every gun was perfect.    R S

[bang bang]

buying a junker to learn on is an inexpensive way to learn.  as you stated about gunsmith schools, its nice if you can afford/time and such.  I belive, schools are good and hopefully they can teach you somethings that you can avoid in the furture, but that of course would depend on the teacher.

i also think that some people are just too cheap to do it right the first time.  they "dont have the $$ to do it right" but  have the $$ to do it twice.

good luck in your schooling.

[jwc007]

I think that's an excellent way to learn!  Sometimes it's also an excellent challenge to find out just what is wrong with some guns.  In the end you will always have learned something.

Also, necessity can be the encouragement to learn new things.  

Having bought more than a few used guns, you quickly learn to fix problems yourself, rather than trust the work to some so-called Gunsmiths, who may have had some formal training, but little real experience with Semi-Auto Pistols, and would rather be working on someone's 1911, S&W Revolver, expensive Trap Shotgun, or high dollared high powered Rifle.

Now to be fair there are now more Pistolsmiths around now working on other regular handguns, but they are almost non-existent in my area.  The nearest one that works on Tanfoglio Pistols, other than myself, is a good two hour drive away.  That guy is very good, but also quite expensive.  At least according to my budget.

I used to occasionally buy some handguns that the owner thought was broken beyond repair, take them home and fix them, then resell them.  Tanfoglio's, one CZ, P38's, and Taurus 92's were my favorites for pickup. I will also fix AR15's and FAL's, but I don't buy them.

Bought one .45 Witness from a fella, did some minor repairs (New Manual Safety, New Extractor, Extractor Spring, Firing Pin Spring, Recoil Spring, and Magazine Springs.) and was shooting it down at the Range when the guy that sold it to me saw that it was working and wanted to buy it back.  I made some $$ but I probably should have kept it.  It was one of the last Blued ones imported.

Those deals are rather scarce these days but not unheard of.  Could be an interesting sideline for some of you who like to tinker with things and are mechanically inclined.

[Rod Slinger]

jwc007..........Thanks for your usual thoughtful replay.  R S