Update: Sportman's Warehouse now offers full-service gunsmithing through all of their stores! They work on everything from antique and black-powder guns to customizing new production firearms.
By Dan Kidder
Managing Editor
Starting this month, Sportsman’s Warehouse is offering nationwide full-service gunsmithing. Taking advantage of these services is as simple as bringing your gun to your local Sportsman’s Warehouse, choosing the services you would like from a menu of offerings, and letting the store associates package and ship your gun off to the Gunsmith at Sportsman’s Warehouse.
To accommodate these services, Sportsman’s Warehouse has created a gunsmithing shop in the corner of their Salt Lake City Distribution Center. This new facility features 4,500 square feet of space with 600 square feet of retail and local customers can drop off their guns directly at the shop. The workspace features four stations for gunsmiths to tear down and work on rifles, shotguns, pistols, and muzzleloaders. They also have added a full production lathe that is designed for 24-hour-a-day operation, as well as a large end mill for a variety of metal working operations. Finish tanks, a spray booth and oven for Cerakote, along with other pieces of equipment that will allow them to perform almost any gun service or customization are being installed and should be ready to roll for nationwide operation by mid-March.
“The only thing we won’t offer is custom wood stock building,” said Bill Sturtevant, Head Gunsmith. “The time necessary for that service takes too much time and pulls our gunsmiths off of other projects for too long. But just about anything else, including refinishing stocks, is on the table.”
Sportsman’s Warehouse has made significant investments in both people and equipment, with more than 34 years of combined gunsmithing expertise on hand. Additionally, the facility is large enough that they can add four more benches and additional machines to expand their capacity in the future. Plans are also in the works to set up key stores in the chain to handle certain services on location.
While we toured the facility, Sturtevant was turning a barrel blank on the lathe and reaming the chamber. The end mill was standing by to carve out the receiver. These experienced gunsmiths were working on creating a custom rifle for a customer. Sturtevant is no stranger to custom guns, with many of his rifles winning precision shooting competitions.
The full menu of services includes porting, laser engraving, accurizing, mounting optics, Parkerizing, custom Cerakote, bluing, nitriding, wildcat chambering, threading barrels for suppressors or muzzle brakes, reprofiling handgun frames, glass bedding, installing precision stocks, trigger jobs, repairs, and many more.
The range of guns they can service goes from fabricating broken or missing parts for antique guns, to rounding off all of the sharp edges on your carry 1911 (dehorning), to deep cleaning your modern sporting rifle, and everything in between.
Having the ability to perform a full range of services sets the Gunsmith at Sportsman’s Warehouse apart from many gunsmiths who simply specialize in one single service. It makes them your one-stop shop for a wide range of gunsmithing work on a wide variety of firearms.
A few other benefits of using the Gunsmith at Sportsman’s Warehouse include collecting Sportsman’s Warehouse Loyalty Reward Points with every dollar you spend on your gunsmithing and paying for gunsmithing with Sportsman’s Warehouse gift cards. In addition, those who have purchased a Firearm Service Plan (FSP)* from Sportsman’s Warehouse have a place to send their guns for covered repairs and free shipping of the firearm. Any work not covered by the FSP is given a 15 percent discount off the total gunsmithing price. Since the Gunsmith at Sportsman’s Warehouse is a dedicated full-time gunsmith shop and not a part-time or hobby operation, the turnaround time is measured in weeks, not months or years. All of the repairs are backed by the customer service of Sportsman’s Warehouse and are covered by a satisfaction guarantee.
Getting started is as easy as dropping the gun off at a local Sportsman’s Warehouse gun counter, shipping it yourself, or bringing it directly to the Gunsmith at Sportsman’s Warehouse, 1630 S. 5070 W. Ste. 200, Salt Lake City, UT 84104-4753. The gunsmith will contact you to get a full rundown of the services you want and to provide an estimate before any work is started. Check on your state and local laws regarding shipping firearms, but federal law allows direct shipments since the Gunsmith at Sportsman’s Warehouse has a federal firearms license (FFL). Some states may require shipment of guns from an FFL to another FFL. To find out the details and get a quote, call the Gunsmith at Sportsman’s Warehouse at (800) 761-1252, email thegunsmith@sportsmanswarehouse.com, or visit sportsmansgunsmith.com.
*Firearm Service Plan (FSP) not available in all states
