Posted By: LouieTiger
Lohman Gunsmith in Houston - 08/24/23 01:16 PM
Avoid at all costs. As a business owner, I couldn't imagine a worse experience in my 45 years than my experience with Brian Lohman and Lohman Gunsmiths.
I brought my wood stock Remington 700 to have pillars added and the action bedded in epoxy. This was a brand new rifle and not an antique, etc. I specifically asked Oliver and the gunsmith (didn't get his name) to bed the action and stop 1" in front of the recoil lug, as this is customary for Rem. 700's and is "the way" the industry does these bedding jobs to ensure the barrel is 100% free-floated. We visited for 30+ minutes about the job and I made sure we were on the same page for scope of work. They both agreed with the work. They quoted $470 for the work and I agreed to the price, without question. Is $470 a fair price? Probably too high, but I thought paying the premium would deliver an exceptional job.
They require 50% down payment to be paid before they will start any work. I paid before I left the shop and was quoted a 2 week turn-around.
I went back 3 weeks later to find out that they had not started on the gun and were waiting on pillars to come in. The pillars are an in stock item at Brownells, etc. and I don't think they ever ordered them. Either way, the communication could have been made from Lohman's to me that they needed more time.
Another two weeks later and I went to pick up the gun...In hindsight, I should have thoroughly inspected it before paying the balance and taking the gun home. Oliver did take it apart to quickly show me the work, at which I immediately pointed out that they epoxy bedded the entire barrel and did not stop at the recoil lug! The barrel is not free-floated - this is exactly the opposite of the service I asked them to do! I told Oliver that if the gun shot well, I'd be OK as all I really wanted was the accuracy to be improved (hence the bedding of the action and the pillars). When I got home, I inspected in greater detail and discovered that the action screws were stripped, the release agent wasn't cleaned from the gun, the epoxy overflowed onto the wood and wasn't cleaned up, and the wood stock was damaged from their work. The bedding and pillar work were exceptionally poor quality - see the attached pictures.
Lohman and Oliver quoted a "30 day warranty - go shoot the gun and let us know if there are any issues and we'll take care of them for you".
I can't shoot the gun as the action screws are stripped!
I called Lohman and spoke with Oliver and asked that Brian Lohman call me to discuss. As a business owner, I can relate when the service and/or product is not as good as the customer wants and I wanted to talk to Brian directly. My expectations were that he would agree that the product and service were not acceptable and they would make it right and/or refund. After repeated voicemails missing each other, I spoke to Oliver and he relayed that Brian's decision was: 1. The stripped action screws weren't their fault and I needed to pay ANOTHER $216.50 to get them fixed. 2. The pillar & action bedding were done perfectly and didn't need any repairs/rework. 3. It's not their problem that they completely ruined the wood stock by epoxy bedding the entire rifle stock even though I hired them to stop 1" in front of the recoil lug.
Whether or not they or I damaged the threads is of point of contention, but it's a 10 minute job for them with equipment and tools they already have in house. The idea that they refuse to help at all, considering the complete fail on the original project, is difficult to understand. $216.50 is an absolute slap in the face when it shouldn't take $20 worth of time or equipment to re-tap the threads.
It gets worse. In addition, they stated the ONLY way I could get my rifle back (mind you, there is a $1,500 scope attached to it, the gun is presumably worth $1,000 when new, and it's stored in a $250 case that they also have) is if I came with CASH to pay the $470 so they could credit my Amex credit card as they are now fearful I'd cancel the payment from Amex (made months ago on the first 50% and 3 weeks ago on the remainder). This is of course a violation of Amex's merchant agreements, but I doubt they care about that part either.
Long story short, they do bad work and are dishonest human beings. This life lesson cost me $470 in cash + a new stock for the gun + another gunsmith to fix the action screws. $1,000 "all-in" to write this review to save you from the same headache. AVOID AT ALL COSTS AND OPTIONS!!!
![[Linked Image]](https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/pics/userpics/2023/08/full-2906-398326-3.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/pics/userpics/2023/08/full-2906-398327-5.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/pics/userpics/2023/08/full-2906-398328-6.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/pics/userpics/2023/08/full-2906-398329-8.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/pics/userpics/2023/08/full-2906-398330-9.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/pics/userpics/2023/08/full-2906-398331-2.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/pics/userpics/2023/08/full-2906-398332-1.jpg)
I brought my wood stock Remington 700 to have pillars added and the action bedded in epoxy. This was a brand new rifle and not an antique, etc. I specifically asked Oliver and the gunsmith (didn't get his name) to bed the action and stop 1" in front of the recoil lug, as this is customary for Rem. 700's and is "the way" the industry does these bedding jobs to ensure the barrel is 100% free-floated. We visited for 30+ minutes about the job and I made sure we were on the same page for scope of work. They both agreed with the work. They quoted $470 for the work and I agreed to the price, without question. Is $470 a fair price? Probably too high, but I thought paying the premium would deliver an exceptional job.
They require 50% down payment to be paid before they will start any work. I paid before I left the shop and was quoted a 2 week turn-around.
I went back 3 weeks later to find out that they had not started on the gun and were waiting on pillars to come in. The pillars are an in stock item at Brownells, etc. and I don't think they ever ordered them. Either way, the communication could have been made from Lohman's to me that they needed more time.
Another two weeks later and I went to pick up the gun...In hindsight, I should have thoroughly inspected it before paying the balance and taking the gun home. Oliver did take it apart to quickly show me the work, at which I immediately pointed out that they epoxy bedded the entire barrel and did not stop at the recoil lug! The barrel is not free-floated - this is exactly the opposite of the service I asked them to do! I told Oliver that if the gun shot well, I'd be OK as all I really wanted was the accuracy to be improved (hence the bedding of the action and the pillars). When I got home, I inspected in greater detail and discovered that the action screws were stripped, the release agent wasn't cleaned from the gun, the epoxy overflowed onto the wood and wasn't cleaned up, and the wood stock was damaged from their work. The bedding and pillar work were exceptionally poor quality - see the attached pictures.
Lohman and Oliver quoted a "30 day warranty - go shoot the gun and let us know if there are any issues and we'll take care of them for you".
I can't shoot the gun as the action screws are stripped!
I called Lohman and spoke with Oliver and asked that Brian Lohman call me to discuss. As a business owner, I can relate when the service and/or product is not as good as the customer wants and I wanted to talk to Brian directly. My expectations were that he would agree that the product and service were not acceptable and they would make it right and/or refund. After repeated voicemails missing each other, I spoke to Oliver and he relayed that Brian's decision was: 1. The stripped action screws weren't their fault and I needed to pay ANOTHER $216.50 to get them fixed. 2. The pillar & action bedding were done perfectly and didn't need any repairs/rework. 3. It's not their problem that they completely ruined the wood stock by epoxy bedding the entire rifle stock even though I hired them to stop 1" in front of the recoil lug.
Whether or not they or I damaged the threads is of point of contention, but it's a 10 minute job for them with equipment and tools they already have in house. The idea that they refuse to help at all, considering the complete fail on the original project, is difficult to understand. $216.50 is an absolute slap in the face when it shouldn't take $20 worth of time or equipment to re-tap the threads.
It gets worse. In addition, they stated the ONLY way I could get my rifle back (mind you, there is a $1,500 scope attached to it, the gun is presumably worth $1,000 when new, and it's stored in a $250 case that they also have) is if I came with CASH to pay the $470 so they could credit my Amex credit card as they are now fearful I'd cancel the payment from Amex (made months ago on the first 50% and 3 weeks ago on the remainder). This is of course a violation of Amex's merchant agreements, but I doubt they care about that part either.
Long story short, they do bad work and are dishonest human beings. This life lesson cost me $470 in cash + a new stock for the gun + another gunsmith to fix the action screws. $1,000 "all-in" to write this review to save you from the same headache. AVOID AT ALL COSTS AND OPTIONS!!!