Discussion Forums

Nathan Foster

Hi Guys, just a heads up that I am going to have to put the price of our accurizing service up to reflect labor content more accurately. I thought I would put this in the forums so that you could have your say.

Over the last couple of years, the quality of factory rifles has gone down considerably. To this end, it is taking me much longer to accurize factory rifles. A good example would be a recent Sako A7. The rifle was shooting over 6" at 100 yards when it arrived. It took quite a bit of work to get it down to .5" at 100 yards. It is now a very reliable sub MOA shooter and will shoot under .5MOA- but it involved a great deal of labor and I must admit, a degree of stress.

Labor content has been averaging 35 hours per rifle. Occasionally, I can zip one through in 30 hours, but it is more than likely that the job will go on for 40 hours. I have now set the package price to $600 for an accurizing job. Cost of bedding consumables is usually around $50. So 35 hours labor divided by $550 comes out at $15.70 per hour, still a lot cheaper than a typical tradesman in NZ at the current rate of $60 per hour. But its enough to put food on the table for us while trying to keep the price of the service to half that of the cost of the rifle.

Now for the caveat, there is still the possibility that a rifle won't shoot after all of that work. This will be because of a flaw in the bore such as poor tolerances or malformed lands or temper of the steel. In rare cases, the temper of the action can be at fault too. The trouble is, after a week of accurizing (problem rifles will take a full 40 hours), there is still a chance that the rifle won't shoot. It is rare, I can often get away with such practices as fire lapping to improve tolerances etc but it does happen very occasionally.

What I need clients to understand, is that I can't work on a rifle for a week, then not charge the client if the rifle is not accurate. I could consider a discount, but the fact is, I still have to pay weekly bills just like the rest of you, I have to put food on the table, its as simple as that. So if a discount is offered, it will likely be marginal- feel free to have your say about this please.

When a rifle turns out to be a complete dud after accurizing, the client has to choose between selling the rifle off cheap, to be used as a donor or re-building from scratch. If rebuilding, the action is blue printed and checked for tolerances (the bolt sleeved if need be to take up slop) and then a custom barrel is fitted. Cost is the same as a typical custom build with supplied donor action, usually averaging $1600-$1800 depending on specs. Sometimes the client will opt for a very cheap re-build but the problem with the cheaper re-builds is that clients tend to have an idea of sub .5 MOA groups in their mind and end up disappointed if the rifle groups .75 MOA. I usually do give a discount if we have to go through a full rebuild on a rifle that I have already attempted to accurize but again, it comes down to what I can actually sacrifice.

For those on a limited budget, there is always the option of using a DIY bedding kit themselves. And in truth, the trickling sales of the kits helps soften the blow of a low hourly rate on the rifles. I am also hoping that over time, our many readers will be kind enough to donate in turn for the knowledge base. At the moment, the donations are few, limited to a handful of kind souls.

One last thing I don't really want to talk about but I suppose it has to be mentioned, is that there are other shop operators offering accurizing services at a cheaper rate than myself. The ugly side of it is, that I am having to rework those rifles steadily throughout the year. With a dog doo accurizing job, the group tests are usually done before the barrel is run in. Experienced shooters will attest that with a new bore, you'll get what I call fluke groups. But within two shooting and cleaning sessions performed by the client, this one time sweet spot is gone. The clients end up frustrated, they lose confidence, they try this that and the other and it really is a horrible situation. Even with a run in bore, fluke groups occur and operators who lack empathy towards clients use such groups to get the jobs out the door.

You would be forgiven for thinking that re-working these rifles gives me great confidence in my skills and abilities. It doesn't. By the time the rifles arrive, the clients have already spent a great deal of money, they are upset, they have usually been spoken to curtly and they are now confronted with the issue of having to start all over again with my services. I take this very seriously and I try to cushion the blow however I can. Re-working these rifles is not a nice affair. So if I can offer any advice, it is that you should be looking for an operator who is willing to put in a good deal of labor content because thats where its at. The same applies to international readers because quick buck accurizing jobs are now a worldwide problem.

OK, your thoughts.