doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Gunsmith loses Parker barrels

I've had a local (<100 mi. away) seemingly knowledgeable fellow work on a nice set of 16 ga. Parker Bros. barrels doing some rust re-blue work. He seems to think the barrels are worth about $2k. He has been paid in full for the work.

He was having trouble planning a trip my way to deliver them. Without my permission or knowledge, he packaged the barrels and gave them to a woman he didn't really know very well (a friend of his wife) to carry them back to my neighborhood. He didn't tell her what was in the tube, nor even indicate the package was valuable.

Well, she "forgot" about them, and left them in some fourth party's car, where they have now been for a couple nights. He called the "friend" and upset her and her husband so badly they are now seeing red, and took it out on me when I contacted them.

Should I be in a snit about this too? Is this just a couple increments of bad judgement on the gunsmith's part, or just bad luck on mine?

What would you do?

Looks to me as though he owes you some matching number barrels for your Parker. Since it just happened, keep a log of the conversations and see if it irons itself out in a week or so. If not, see an attorney. I would also stay out of the conversations with the people who were to deliver them. As it may have already happened, it will make for bad blood. JMHO

First I'd get the barrels back and then, I would write it off as a bad dream and move on. Probably wouldn't use that smith again.

Tell us the serial number and we will keep a sharp eye out for your barrels should worse come to worst.
Good luck.

Dean

Have that .... for brains get those barrels back to you in timely manner. Why do you waste your own time and energy by contacting delivery lady or her family. And next time..... Well, you know the drill.

Hello Dave and Walter:

Good suggestions about contacting a lawyer and never using this “Smith” Rbt. Harris, again. His seem a pretty serious series of blunders and lapses in judgment. Very unprofessional and below average, as assessed by members of this board.

And Jagermeister, 'Thank You' for putting it so bluntly...it needed done. I couldn’t agree more. The funny thing is, the guy actually does some pretty good stuff. The problem is, he burns bridges all around him along the way, usually over situations most anybody else could have handled a lot better. Quite a legacy for him, Robert Harris of Conner, MT, no matter which way this episode turns out.

To the readers here, if you've not followed the previous thread of a few days ago entitled 'Lead Phase-out Proposed for Montana Uplands', I'd encourage you to do so as it is a real eye-opener as to how nefarious things can get. In fact, there is NO PHASE OUT OF LEAD PROPOSED FOR MONTANA UPLANDS. There is a STUDY of the impact of a phase out proposed. But heck, sometimes people cut corners with the titles of their threads, and give a completely wrong impression. Robert doesn’t do much by mistake… just via misjudgment and bad attitude. So I don’t think it was an accident when he handed my valuable barrels over to a naïve third (then fourth) party for “delivery.”

If it quacks like a duck, and smells like a duck… it’s a vendetta! Rob now belongs to one less upland bird club, and a lot fewer Christmas card lists over this!

I can't help but feel that there were a number of better ways to go about this than what this man has served up to me and others. Beware!

Sounds to me like the guy stole yer barrels and is making up this Cock and Bull story.

Better tape your conversations with this wacko.

First thing I'd tell him was...

That I would be contacting the state ATF...(if he's taking in guns to work on he's supposed to be licensed)....

The local authorities (you may learn some surprising things about this guy)

After that he would be hearing from my attorney....If he's lying I'm betting your barrels will miraculously appear.

Wow, and we said we were all in the "big tent" and would hang together to avoid hanging separately. Nothing was said about us hanging each other. The Montana "lead war", in which our ideological hero and our victim of not-so-subtle harassment appear to be engaged, suggests that we will do exactly that. The barrels are merely the first hostage in the war. Return of the hostage won't be the end of the war.

jack

You didn't really say if you can get the barrels back. Were you able to do that? And is this the same Robert Harris who is on this board all the time?

This reminds me of what happened with a local taxidermist. He did a caribou mount for a local guy and was delivering it. He couldn't just pass his favorite watering hole without stopping in. When he came out someone had stolen the mount out of his truck.

Have you considered offering the people a "reward" for the return of the barrels? 100 bucks might just solve your problem.