Hi all, I was wondering if any of you have had any work work done by Mr. Kearcher? I need some ejector work done, a small stock repair job (filling in a gap bewteen the stock and action) and have the chokes opened on one of my SxS. He comes recomended and I was wondering what his turn around time is and of course the quality of his work.

Thanks for any info!

All the best!

Greg

He's done really great work for me and some that wasn't so great.

I have had Keith do two sets of barrels for me and they were quite nice. I did the prep workand his turn around time was also good.

Regards, Gordon

Ditto on good work and fast turn around.

I had him open up some chokes. I also on more then one occasion had him plug holes in barrels where swivels had been attached (German guns) and spot rust blue only that area. Work came out perfect in both cases and you could not tell the holes had been plugged. I think he's pretty good at metal work.

I was very happy with the first few jobs he did for me - nice work, good turn around, fair price. The last work he did just made a small job into a much bigger one, which I had someone else fix. I doubt that I'll use him again.

I would use Mile Orlen to open the barrels. Mike can also do the other work.

Similar to my experience, he relayed a rib and rebrowned a set of Damascus barrels which then began to weep rust from under the rib some months later. I had to have someone else redo the job, apparently the wrong flux was used.

Hi I have seen his damascus barrel refinish work and it was not correct. The parker barrels I saw came out gold and white not black and white. Maby his other work is ok?? I would send it to Mike also.

Keith has done excellant work for me both when he was at Longview, Washington, and now down in Bend, Oregon. Rust blueing barrels, removing dents, browning a set of Laminated Steel barrels for my Parry hammer gun, lengthening chambers and forcing cones, relieving chokes, fixing safeties, recutting checkering and refinishing wood.

I had Mike do barrels for two guns. One gun was done well, and the other very poorly, almost ruined. I won't use him again. I sent a friend's barrels up to Steve Bertram and the work was excellent. That would be my choice.

Ditto. His barrel jointing and trigger work seem to be first rate; damascus refinishing is "correct" for Brit guns but not for most American doubles; wood work is iffy.

Keith is not alone in his inconsistency. I had a gun refinished by a nationally known smith (he even has a plaque in the Cody Museum, so he must be good, eh?), and when I got it back it still needed several adjustments and corrections and replacements to make it right. Replacements included internal parts that had been poorly welded, and we had to rehead the stock to make it fit again. That's twice with that guy, so probably no more. I have only been unequivocally and completely satisfied with two guys, and they are hyper-expensive and backed up for maybe three years.

In Keith's defense, he stands behind his work and seems willing to re-do anything that is not satisfactory.

Restoration of my LeFever A drade was excellent. This included wood work, redoing checkering, Damascus barrel rebrowning and minor pit removal. He will get my next project.

I sent a Parker to him for a leather covered butt pad and to be tightened up. When I got it back the leather pad looked like a road apple that had been rolled sort of into the shape of a buttpad and then glued on with very visible super glue. To tighten the gun he'd soldered a piece of sheet metal to the roll pin. I didn't send it back or complain as it wasn't worth the trouble of returning it but I never sent him a gun again and whenever somebody asks me I tell them about this piece of work. As with everybody else, your experience will vary.


Destry

I hired him once. The bill came to $400 after the $25 discount he offered for a choke reaming he botched. Apparently he thought a correct choke job was worth $50, but a botched one was worth $25.

The gun came back with issues it did not leave with and those cost me $400 to have another gunsmith correct.

I think he is capable of very good work. He has browned barrels for me; one came out very well, one stunk.

That seems to be the problem, i.e., you never know which Keith will do the work on your gun. Before I sent my barrels to him for polish and blue, I looked closely at another set he had done for someone else (same make and grade of gun, same vintage). That set was perfect. Mine came back with multiple issues.

He did very well on the tubes of a high grade Parker, Blue, chokes,chamber length and polish bores.
bill

Sounds to me like Mr. Kearcher is a Jekyll and Hyde gunsmith. From what I've heard here, it's a roll of the dice with him. I wouldn't risk my gun with him.
JR

It reminds me of automotive painters. Every guy who has a paint shop will have a bunch of awards on his wall of car shows he won and photos of cars he's painted. There's no doubt the guy can paint.

But the real question is, "Will he that kind of work for YOU?"

I have sent work to Keith and the work was impeccable (hinge pin replacement and other small things). I have sent work to Mike Orlen and was seriously disappointed.

I think when you send work to most gunsmiths, you need to be specific about the work you want done, know how you want it done, and what the final product should look like. Otherwise the end results may not match your expectations.

I have a sterlingworth 16ga double barrell shot gun that is my dads. the right hammer is cracked and i cant find any one who knows how to fix it or where to get parts. what i did find on the internet is according to the serial #, the gun was made between 1926 and 1927. the only info on the gun is as follows the right barrell says sterlingworth fluid compressed steel. the left barrell says made by A.H.Fox co.Phila.PA U.S.A. if i posted this on the wrong forum i am sorry i am having a hard time figuring all this out. i am very computer stupid!!! if any one could help i would really appreicate it. the gun is special becuase it is my dads. my email is mabedors@juno.com

Start your own thread about it and you'll probably get a better response.

Destry

I too had Keith do a leather covered pad, not good.

tim

Try posting on the Fox forum, http://www.foxcollectors.com/My%20Forum/...f046e2ad7ebde5b

I also live in Bend and all the work Keith has done for me has been excellent. That includes rebrowning, barrel pollishing, action tightening, dent removing, and some wood work. He is very quick.

Black and white work on American Damascus guns is tough. It requires very toxic chemicals and lots of practice. I don't know anyone who does it superbly after Oscar died, but would certainly like to know.

Pete - Dale Edmonds in Kansas City is currently one of the best out there. Ask about him on the Parker or L.C. Smith site. Bill

I would not recommend Keith for any action work. When he was in Longview, I sent him two D grade Parkers to have the barrels put back on face. When he was finished, light was still visible between the barrels and face of the action. The Tig weld he used was pitted and poorly done. One of the guns would not close completely and the forend was loose. I returned the guns three times. The problems were not corrected. He finally admitted that this was the best he could do and that he was not a great Tig welder. I have since sent the guns to another gunsmith who has correctly placed the guns back on face and the repair in undetectable.