Las Cruces Gunsmith question

[TennesseeTaylor95]

Has anyone here made a purchase from Tom Hanson at Las Cruces Gunsmith out in New Mexico, especially for reproduction 1921 Colt parts? If you have, how long did it take for you to receive your order once you placed it? I ask because I placed an order for some trigger frame parts (safety, rocker pivot, and magazine catch) just over a month ago and I am wondering if this wait time is on par for others' orders or if I should be concerned about this. I understand that things take time and not everyone has parts in inventory to immediately ship out orders as soon as they comes in, but there was no mention of a lead time for these parts. This has left me wondering if I should be more patient and wait for an update or if I should call to get a status update on the order. I'd appreciate any insight that you guys have, thanks.

[Got Uzi]

First Ive heard of this firm offering repo Colt parts.

 

Ill leave it like this on the time tho-I quote people 45-60 days on MP5 builds but real world time could be longer due to unforeseen issues. I wouldnt get my boxers in a bunch just yet. Not everything happens over night.

[SP Sarge]

The owner is a really nice fellow and also a member of these forums. I had ordered some checkered levers from him last year and we communicated a bit. It does take a while so I wouldn't be worried. He's legit.

[TennesseeTaylor95]

First Ive heard of this firm offering repo Colt parts.

 

Ill leave it like this on the time tho-I quote people 45-60 days on MP5 builds but real world time could be longer due to unforeseen issues. I wouldnt get my boxers in a bunch just yet. Not everything happens over night.

Thank you for the respnse Got Uzi and also giving me a glimpse into the lead time that you give your customers. I didn't want to come across as naggy because no one likes an impatient, naggy customer, so I will give it another month before reaching out.

 

I only discovered his 1921 and 1928 style parts after looking around for affordable alternatives to purchasing hard to find and pricey original Colt Model of 1921 parts for my display gun. From the photos, these parts look good to my untrained and will work perfectly for what I need them to do (look nice while sitting on a wall hanger). I look forward to seeing the parts in person and having them on my display gun.

[TennesseeTaylor95]

 

The owner is a really nice fellow and also a member of these forums. I had ordered some checkered levers from him last year and we communicated a bit. It does take a while so I wouldn't be worried. He's legit.

Thank you very much for the response and the assurance to be patient and wait. I guess that I am just a bit too excited to get my order and put those parts on my display gun. I am glad to hear that you have purchased some of the parts that I ordered as well. Judging from the photos on the website, they look great and are finished nicely.

[SP Sarge]

Tennessee, As I recall from speaking with him he he at 1 time worked for Numrich I think, and then retired out west.

[TennesseeTaylor95]

Yes, I believe that you are correct. According to his about section on his website, he mentions that he was employed as a gunsmith for Numrich Arms after he left from being a warranty gunsmith for Browning, Colt, Remington, and H&R. Mr. Hanson certainly looks like he has quite a bit of experience that the gun community is lucky to have (too bad he is almost a 21 hour drive from me so I will have to stick with only being able to do business with him through his website).

[Ivan]

Las Cruces Gunsmith is Chopper-O here.

He did some SBR work on a semi- Auto Ord/Numrich Thompson for me a while back. Good work , good price. Got it back in about 2 months which is good turnaround time for any custom gunsmithing IMHO.

[TennesseeTaylor95]

Las Cruces Gunsmith is Chopper-O here.

He did some SBR work on a semi- Auto Ord/Numrich Thompson for me a while back. Good work , good price. Got it back in about 2 months which is good turnaround time for any custom gunsmithing IMHO.

Nice SBR and also thank you for informing me on what Tom Hanson's member name is on here. I might message him just to see if I can get an estimated time on when the parts will ship out (not to rush him, but just to get an idea when to expect them).

[Vettom]

Tennessee,

he has modified/made 21 parts for me and is and can be slow, was for me both times. I did have to ping him as a reminder and he did follow through. Good work and price was fair. I would use again hoping he would go just a bit faster.

[TennesseeTaylor95]

Thanks for the input Vettom. It's only been 42 days since I placed the order/40 days since my bank account was charged for the parts so I not too far into the wait; I'm just getting excited to try and finish the display gun. When I placed my order, I figured that he would have had a small supply of these parts pre-made and sitting in inventory to quickly ship out which is why I went for purchasing them as opposed to sending in parts to be modified. I shouldn't have assumed that though so I just need to sit and be patient.

 

If you don't mind me asking Vettom, what parts/modification services did you purchase? I'd love to see what parts he made or modified for your gun.

[Steelflood]

On 9/11/2022 at 8:20 PM, TennesseeTaylor95 said:

Has anyone here made a purchase from Tom Hanson at Las Cruces Gunsmith out in New Mexico, especially for reproduction 1921 Colt parts? If you have, how long did it take for you to receive your order once you placed it? I ask because I placed an order for some trigger frame parts (safety, rocker pivot, and magazine catch) just over a month ago and I am wondering if this wait time is on par for others' orders or if I should be concerned about this. I understand that things take time and not everyone has parts in inventory to immediately ship out orders as soon as they comes in, but there was no mention of a lead time for these parts. This has left me wondering if I should be more patient and wait for an update or if I should call to get a status update on the order. I'd appreciate any insight that you guys have, thanks.

Talked to him today, ahhhh, you'll get what you ordered.  Tom said he's backed up and does not give completion dates.  I didn't memorize the minimum amount of time he said, but it will be awhile.  Tom said the Thompson business is rockin and rolling, sounds like he's in a good business.

Had a nice conversation, he has been around Thompsons and experienced some ups and downs.

He will take an Auto Ordnance and rework it with a selector switch that holds open the bolt. 

He will also take a GI 28 lower and reuse parts from the semi 1927 in the SMG 28, so you get to brag about the GI frame...but have a semi.

Sending him an ATF lettered short blank firing barrel is no problem. Altering the chamber so it does not accept .45 ACP was also not a problem.

I haven't read how he cuts down the Auto Ordnance during the rework, so I surely don't know everything.

The new springs go in so I guess that helps.

I think Bob brought up the markings on an Auto Ordnance.  Well, if your choices are a Japanese Model Gun, an Indianapolis Ordnance BFO for maybe $4000. Or to put it another way...Indianapolis Ord gives you a receiver, bolt handle, welded barrel, and that's it. And of course you can buy a full auto Thompson. So I have the choices I outlined, or I can have nothing.  So if I want an actual semi or BFO in my hands, I can only choose from the options available.

Where am I going to get really nice engraving on a BFO or semi-Thompson receiver?  No where, because I can't make the receiver.

 

[TennesseeTaylor95]

Thanks for the update on Tom of LCGNM. He is a nice and polite guy to talk to and when I called him last (back in November), he was telling me how it is busy around his shop and another thing that slows his turn around time is waiting on getting parts back from outsourced services such as bluing if I remember the conversation correctly. He did assure me that I would get the parts by Christmas as only one of the three parts that I ordered was being held up from the aforementioned outsourced service, but the parts haven't arrived yet. I will call him in the beginning of February to see where the progress is on the one held up part, so I can hopefully receive my order and complete my display gun. 

[peter kohler]

bought several parts for my semi 28 to convert it to a removable stock    had my parts for that and a mag catch in a week

[TennesseeTaylor95]

Dang, I wish I could have gotten mine that quick. I don't mind waiting for things, but it would be nice if he had a notice on the website for items that are on backorder to manage expectations. I didn't expect it would take about 6 months for three 1921 style parts (magazine release, safety, and rocker pivot), but here I am. 

[TennesseeTaylor95]

Not to revive a dead thread (rather to close it), but after a bit over 9 months after ordering and paying for the parts, they have finally arrived to finish my display gun. 

[SP Sarge]

Glad they came, how are they? 

[Steelflood]

Well dang, hearing they came in is great to hear! Pictures?

 

[TennesseeTaylor95]

Here's a good up close photo of them installed. The magazine catch is a modified Savage, the safety has a "P" marking with serifs (I don't remember which manufacturer exactly but Pitney something is a knee jerk guess on it; I need to look in American Thunder to check), but the rocker pivot is blank.

Since I don't have any first hand experience with genuine Colt 1921 parts (just what photos I can observe online and in books), I can't attest to their quality in comparison to originals, but they look the part for what I need. The rocker pivot is the only one that has a bit of a rough look if you look at the photo zoomed in. I'd say that the finish on the parts isn't as high polished as seen on some pictures of early Colt parts that I have observed. Other than that, no complaints.

Edited March 19, 2023 by TennesseeTaylor95
Info added

[rpbcps]

Tennessee,

They look good to me, I'd be happy with them for sure 👌

[timkel]

Nice looking parts. There are very few things worth waiting 9 months.

[jojeep]

Thanks for posting photo of 1921 Style Magazine Release.  I was planning on buying one after seeing his Advertisement. I have no problem with a waiting or manufacturing time, as long as the Parts are shipped and I receive them.

[TennesseeTaylor95]

5 hours ago, rpbcps said:

Tennessee,

They look good to me, I'd be happy with them for sure 👌

I am happy with the parts too and they are much better than anything I could ever do with a checkering file by hand. I'm just glad that they finally arrived.

[TennesseeTaylor95]

5 hours ago, timkel said:

Nice looking parts. There are very few things worth waiting 9 months.

I wouldn't have minded the wait as much if I knew that it was going to take this long (i.e. management of expectations). Without a stated lead time, I incorrectly assumed that these parts were sitting in inventory ready to go for incoming orders. This led to me expecting the parts to arrive in a few weeks rather than over half a year. Aside from that, I have no complaints. 

[TennesseeTaylor95]

4 hours ago, jojeep said:

Thanks for posting photo of 1921 Style Magazine Release.  I was planning on buying one after seeing his Advertisement. I have no problem with a waiting or manufacturing time, as long as the Parts are shipped and I receive them.

If you want to grab a set, I say go for it before he runs out the batch of parts that he has on hand currently. I have no problem with lead times on parts either as long as I am aware that there is a lead time and what the expected wait will be. I genuinely though that my order was forgotten about when the first month went by after payment and nothing showed up since there was no advertised lead time on the website when I placed my order.