Trigger Job - Questions

WELCOME TO THE NO BS ZONE OF TEDDY JACOBSON

LOOKING FOR AN OLD WORLD CRAFTSMAN, CHECK THE CEMETARIES OR THE NURSING HOMES.


I decided to write a commentary about trigger jobs for handguns because I have been getting countless emails and phone calls about this subject. I am going to be unusually blunt and as HARRY TRUMAN used to say, " I TELL THEM THE TRUTH AND THEY THINK I AM GIVING THEM HELL " The BS is over and people are being very blunt in asking me where will they go and to who for their trigger work when I am dead. I welcome the brutality and the reality of the question, try the cemetaries and the nursing homes because the majority of the craftsmen of our world are long gone. GET REAL, its the end of an era where the average person goes home after work to play with his or her gameboys. NOT MANY PEOPLE CARE ABOUT A SCRATCH ON A HANDGUN ANY MORE OR A POOR FITTING SET OF HANDGUN GRIPS, ETC.


I have turned down at least 35 to 40 jobs in the past 2 weeks. I will still do some work and I will now pick the jobs as there will never be anymore jobs that have been butchered by some one else, there will be no more Baer 1911 pistols so I can break my fingers and work 8 hours to refit the slide and barrel properly. Those days are gone forever. Its not only about work but its also about money and to prove my point, if I were to give some one back there gun even with the very smallest balance due there is and always has been at least a 50% chance that I will never get that money. I often test people to see how honest they are. ONCE A PERSON GETS THEIR GUN, THE CHANCES OF YOU GETTING YOUR MONEY IS ABOUT FIFTY PERCENT. And people wonder why there are not that many gunsmiths, BECAUSE THEY CAN NOT MAKE A LIVING. People fight me for the cost of a spring. NOW FINALLY IN MY LIFE I CAN SAY, GO SOME WHERE ELSE CAUSE I DO NOT WANT THE JOB.


There are some very nice people that I like that I have turned down because they just do not understand what a person like me goes thru in order to give them a glass smooth action. GO TO the chat rooms and read the advice from the brain dead wannabbeeeeessss that know so little they couldn't even fill a thimble. Its beyond my comprehension of understanding how people could follow advice from these legends in their own mind. OF COURSE every one has a right to learn but not from unknowns, you must learn from people that have a proven track record. In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king.


I feel very bad when I have to tell people that own a handgun that I do not know anyone that can work on your Sig Sauer or H&K or Beretta or S&W Sigma or revolver or whatever. What I regret is that they do not have people with eyes of the old world craftsmen that look at a handgun as a work of art. For example a man called me today who I like and I know and hes looking for a gunsmith or pistolsmith to work on a Colt that is going on a hundred years old and he gets nothing but a line of BS anytime he asks some one if they can do the trigger work. Sure we do it all the time has been a response, can you believe he found a guru that does these all the time. Now what will he do when he or she has this mans handgun ?? How will he refine this gun, what is his procedure ??.


I decided after hearing countess stories like this for the past couple of weeks that I will shed some light on the subject of triggers jobs on a handgun. When a person specializes on one particular model, lets for example start with the 1911. This SMITH who does 1911 pistols may be very good at that design but does that qualify him to work on your Walter P5 or your Walther P88 or Walther TPH, etc. YOU HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO ASK A SMITH FOR HIS PROCEDURE OF WHAT CONSITUTES HIS TRIGGER JOB, HAVE HIM OR HER DEFINE WHAT A TRIGGER JOB MEANS TO THEM. After all you are asking some one to work on a gun for protection of life and property. You have every right to ask questions. Do not be intimidated and it is my personal opinion that you should not have to pay to speak with a genuine SMITH who is dedicated to help you.


Lets touch base on these big name gunsmithing shops and also large plating operations that employ gunsmiths. YOU HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO ASK WHO WILL WORK ON MY HANDGUN.
YOU HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO ASK TO SPEAK WITH THAT PERSON.
YOU HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO HAVE THAT EMPLOYED SMITH TELL YOU WHAT HE OR SHE WILL DO, AND HOW MANY THEY HAVE DONE LIKE YOUR MODEL.
You must ask the following questions;
1. What do you recommend that I do ??
2. Will you sub out the actual work ??
3. How long will it take ??
4. How much will you charge ??
5. Will you provide me with a written preliminary estimate ??
6. Will you provide me with customers names of similar handguns you have worked on so that I may call them (you will need their phone number) ??

I AM NOT BEING TO HARD ON ANYONE, BECAUSE I WOULD HAVE COMPLIED WITH ALL THESE QUESTIONS WITHOUT ANY HESITATION OR RESERVATION. ONE OF THE VERY LAST BUT VERY IMPORTANT QUESTIONS IS; Will you be cutting my springs ?? REPEAT, "WILL YOU CUT MY SPRINGS" ??

How will you ever be certain who works on your handgun unless you know them very well and they have a flawless reputation ?? YOU WILL NEVER KNOW. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but this is the very world we are living in. In the old days people like me had to earn a reputation by blood, sweat and tears. Its always been there if you had money to buy a reputation but the key is to keep that reputation which is an entirely different ball game. High dollar advertisers have always had the luxury of buying full paid ads in magazines. Now with the internet some one can be destroyed over nite by just one NUT. Quality handgun work and years of having satisfied customers is the only way I ever knew how to earn a reputation as a very qualified SMITH.

There was never a waiting helicopter available to fly me to the top of the mountain. It never worked that way for me, all I ever did was make a living and I took in work that I should not have as I always felt sorry for the gun owner that had a butchered gun done by a BS artist. You must use common sense when having work done on any gun you own. If you want a better trigger pull and want to refine it thats ok, but DO NOT FIX IT IF IT AIN'T BROKEN. Your very life and the lives of your family may very well depend on the decisions you make and especially on who works on your survival handgun. Do not take this too lightly.

The fact that a person makes a 1911 pistol in his or her spare time does not make him or her qualified to work on your HK 70Z pistol. Use common sense. I deeply regret having had to turn so many people down these past two weeks but they had years to call me and have it done. My work is better now than ever and I know more than ever but my neck is gone and so is my back and shoulder joints, I had no choice to decline some of these jobs. SADLY I pass no legacy on to anyone, when I am gone there is no more Actions by "T" . That is the reality of the situation and I would like to be able to give you a name of a Smith that I know can do a superb job on your new HK 2000 SK or your SA "XD" pistol, but I honestly do not know anyone that has the attention to detail and will spend day after day after day working on your handgun for what I made. And give you the results I have given you.

I am still going to do what I can to point you in the right direction. I can not expect these other people to jewel the internals of your handgun parts using ceramic particles like I do. These top names just have people working for them, I do not know who they are or what they know. You can not risk you life on some one that may spend 15 minutes on your handgun and cut your springs and pack your gun full of grease. You are going to eventually have misfires as you will ruin the timing of your springs and when you need your survival handgun it will go "CLICK" instead of "BANG"...........

Please do not ever lie to your self, IT IS WHAT IT IS, whether we like it or not. If you do not like the reality of this commentary, then leave and do not come back. I do not like the reality of this commentary and I must deal with this situation the best I can. I ain't dead yet so you are free to call me most any day after 10 am central time or just send me an email. The good side of my life and my work is that I will leave a legacy that will live a long time. Not many people can say that, I did not just have one article written in a magazine, I had over 60 and I understand there is another one that was written. I did not know about this last one until I got notification via US Mail.

Hopefully this commentary will give you something to think about so that when you need some work done you will now have some guide lines as I outlined above.

I want to thank all of you for the nice emails I have gotten from around the world and I am sincerely trying to answer everyone. have not written many commentaries this past week because of the problems with the blogger equipment. One day I typed for hours and lost it all.

THANKYOU FOR COMING HERE TO MY WORLD OF REALITY.

AUTHORS PERSONAL NOTATION: This commentary as well as all my previous commentaries are my personal opinion and my personal viewpoint only.

Teddy Jacobson - Pistolsmith (semi retired) www.actionsbyt.com 281 277 4008 tjacobson@houston.rr.com jaj45f@alltel.net www.actionsbyt.blogspot.com/