Local Gunsmiths?

[Quiz]

Hello, I was searching through my folk's basement today and came across an old single shot 12 gauge shotgun. The gun, though old, looks to be in good shape. Except, there is no stock. Im guessing it would be hard/impossible to find a replacement stock, as this gun was a product of an old Detroit hardware company, Fletcher Hardware Co. I assume a custom stock will need to be fashioned for this shotgun. Does anyone have any suggestions of where i can go (in Metro Detroit area) to get this gun looked at to see if it is still safe and potentially get a custom stock made? Also, anyone know how much a job like this may cost?

I was planning on purchasing my first shotgun this fall, but it would be much cooler to have this gun restored :)

~Mike

[POLARBEAR]

try shooters service in livonia. 6 mi and middlebelt. 1734 5251130? i think. i havent dealt with many others. shooters has always done right for me.

[Trushot_Archer]

Not exaclty "Metro" but there's a great shop out here in Lenawee county called Johnson's. Cabela's sends all their real gunsmithing stuff to them to have done (and than adds an axtra charge to you as well ;) )

It's on M52 btw M50 and US223. Great shop and extremely knowledgable staff.

[drwink]

Looking at where your at you might want to try William's they are in Davison.
Take US-23 north to I-69 @ Flint & head east for a few miles & follow the signs.
All highway from where you are at & open saturday.

[Burksee]

Quiz,

First and foremost; Welcome to the M-S.com website! You won’t be sorry you joined this group! And you’re a fellow Highland/White Laker!

We're having a "Meet & Greet" at the White Lake Inn on September 29th! See this thread for information:
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/showthread.php?t=74277
Hopefully you can make it!

On your gunsmith Question: I deal with Williams almost exclusively. I won’t go into detail but don’t waste your time at the Gun Barn in Highland. "Whites" in Union Lake is pretty good but not as consistent as Williams.

[CMR]

I'd recommend either Johnsons' in Adrian (thumbs up service and knowledge!!!) or Williams in Davison.
I used Shooters Service once....over priced in my opinion and they totally screwed (no pun intended) up my scope mounts on my 686. I had all the materials for a scope mount accept an extra drill/tap for the scope mount so I took it in. They gave me a price of $75 for a single drill/tap and an extra $50 for a scope mounted. I told them just to do the drill/tap. Got the gun back in three weeks and tried to secure the scope mount. Didn't fit!!! They redrilled each tap in a different thread so none of the screws I had fit!!! (mind ya, before I took it in I already checked) Man, I was :rant: :rant: :rant: PISSED. Well, after some intense conversations they refused to give me back my money...sure has heck wasn't gonna have them try and fix it, my trust w/them went out the door. So, I made a little venture out to Adrians after somebody recommended them. Showed the gunsmith what they did and he had this look of horror on his face. He told me he'll fix it and he'll call when he's done, which I was getting nervous because the season was right around the corner. Got a call three days later from Johnsons that the gun was done. The wife and I drove out there and picked it up. Cost was $25 total...for redrill/tap of all three PLUS he mounted the scope AND boresighted it.
Ever since then, I've dealt w/Johnsons for gunsmithing jobs. Got two projects for the winter I'm gonna have their assistance with...a .30-06 Ackley and a 6.5x55 Swede.

[ESOX]

Im guessing it would be hard/impossible to find a replacement stock, as this gun was a product of an old Detroit hardware company, Fletcher Hardware Co.
~Mike
Dang, I bet thats a turn of the century gun........thay also had bicycles and other stuff with their name on it way back when, I don't know if they actually manufactured them or had them labeled. Sounds like a case for Trout to look into.......got any pics and a further description of any markings on the gun?

[trout]

Most every Hardware had a gun with their name on it at one time.
What I'd do is to go over to gunshop.com and ask where to find a stock.
Be polite over there, and post a pic if you can.
Supply them with any and all numbers or names etc on the gun.
I know there are members over there that have 100s of surplus goods from all type of guns like yours.
Some of the nations top ranking gunsmiths and collectors hang out there.
Hate to send you to another site but you'll find what you need at a very fair price there.

[Quiz]

Thanks for the welcome Burksee! And thanks for all the input everyone! I'll take a look at Williams.. Davison is not too bad of a drive from here.. I've also heard good things about a place called "Flint and Frizzen" in Clarkston... I'll just have to wait till payday before I can take it to a gunsmith :)

Dang, I bet thats a turn of the century gun........thay also had bicycles and other stuff with their name on it way back when, I don't know if they actually manufactured them or had them labeled. Sounds like a case for Trout to look into.......got any pics and a further description of any markings on the gun?

Yea.. I do believe it is a pretty old gun... I was searching for info on fletcher's hardware lastnight but didnt come up with any real history on the company. As far as pics go, I have a terrible digital camera and any pic I would take would hardly do the gun justice. The gun is a hammerback break action shotgun w/ a blued finish. The markings are as follows,

Left side:

FLETCHER'S FIVE SQUARE
FLETCHER HARDWARE CO
DETROIT, MICH

Right Side:

PATENTED
DEC.15.91 OCT.2.94 AUG.11.96 AUG.14.00 MAY.27.02

There's a neat 8 point spiral design on the oil door on the right side of the gun

There's also a "12" on the underside of the barrell.. but I'm sure that's just to mark it as a 12 gauge.... I'm sure this is of little help, I wish I had good digital camera.....

~Mike

[Quiz]

Well.. i tryed my best to get some passable photos with my crappy digital camera and here's the result.... PLEASE excuse the quality of these pics!

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/539/5441pic1-med.JPG
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/539/5441pic2-med.JPG
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/539/5441pic3-med.JPG
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/539/5441pic4-med.JPG

~Mike

[PrtyMolusk]

Howdy-

First, 'Welcome' from another 'neighbor'!

Second, before shooting it I would have a competent gunsmith give it a going over to make sure there is nothing amiss with it, and that it will be able to stand up to today's loads.

Have fun!