A new shop opened up in the next town over. I was thoroughly impressed with the owners who both claimed to be gunsmiths. One wouldn't quit talking about how a slug gun is all I need for coyote killing. The other kept talking about the 90 different jobs he'd held in the last 2 or 3 years. Both of them looked like they lived behind a dumpster. They were both in total disbelief when I said that I used my .17 for the majority of coyote killing. They nearly shit themselves when I let them take a gander at my .300blk pistol that I had in the truck. They insisted that it was an illegal SBR (should go without saying that it is not). They seemed perplexed when I mentioned that I was waiting on a suppressor transfer, which made me really question the legality of the <18" shotgun they had in the back room.... Anyway, when they mentioned that they were expert smiths, I asked (just for shits and giggles) for an estimate on barrel threading. The "lathe guy" said his rates were $85/hr and that setup alone would be one hour, then at least another hour for threading. The look on his face and the way he spoke gave me the impression that he'd never threaded a barrel before. A buddy of mine has a lathe and tooling in his shop that I have unlimited access to, so their business practices matter none to me. I was just curious as to what the average rates are. I can't believe anyone would pay $200 to have a barrel threaded. I know setup is a bit of a hassle, but if I can center a barrel in less than an hour, I'd have to believe that a "pro" could do it a little faster. Regardless of the price, I wouldn't let that clown recrown my pellet rifle, much less cut threads for a suppressor host.
