Enter the lucrative custom gun market without the headaches - role of brokers in the customized gun business - Lethal Force - Column

Shooting Industry, Feb, 1998 by Massad Ayoob

It's a good bet that most of your customers read gun magazines. Then they come into your shop with visions of the latest custom pistol or revolver dancing in their heads. They want something that's cool, preferably on their gun, though they're not necessarily averse to having it on a base handgun you sell them. Regardless, they want it now!

The small number of gun dealers who are set up to do custom 'smithing on site know it can be profitable. They also went through a helluva lot of work to set up their 'smithing operation. How would you like to tap into the 'smithing market and gain some profits with a whole lot less work'?

I call the concept "Brokering."

Brokers are widely known in the investment world. Why do we pay a broker to invest for us? Because we don't have the time for the laborious market analysis, the chasing down of track records, the research to show what's likely to work and what isn't. The broker already has that knowledge. We have the money to invest, and we pay a broker a percentage to advise us on what's hot and what's not, and to handle the transaction for us.

It's the same thing you're doing now but you're not getting paid for your advice. You often spend large chunks of your time advising customers on what custom gunsmiths have a good rep for quality of work, speed of delivery and stand behind their product. Your knowledge and experience have made you the logical source of the advice. Your customer thanks you for the great tips and leaves your shop and contacts the gunsmith. The time you spent buys you goodwill, and that's well enough, but how about some money?

Why should a customer pay you to handle his gun customizing? Simply because, in most cases, he doesn't have the time to do the laborious analyses, the chasing down of track records, the research to show what's likely to work and what isn't. You, the broker in this case, already have the knowledge. The customer has the money to invest, and he pays you a percentage to advise him on what's hot and what's not, and you handle the transaction for him.

There's more than one way to do this. You can put together a network of the best specialists you know in each field: best Ruger 'smith, best 1911 'smith and, of course, the best Smith 'smith, etc. Remember, though, you're being paid to handle the transaction for the customer. That means you can be spending a lot of time on the phone or fax with a lot of different artists whose milieu is blue steel or stainless, and more than one or two of whom can be temperamental in the way of many artists.

You can do all that, or you can do what I'd do: Hook up with an armorer certified by all the major makers to do the stuff the customers mostly want in customizing: new finish, new sights or sights made to shoot spot-on. As you know, action jobs tend to be the big thing for customers. A factory certified armorer can do all these jobs.

The guy I'd recommend is Rick Devoid in Boscawen, N.H. He does excellent work on, alphabetically. Beretta, Glock, H&K, Ruger, SIG-Sauer, and Smith & Wesson handguns and is factory certified on all of them. His finish specialty is the Sentry Solutions that is self-lubricating. He installs night sights and most of all he does splendid "action hones" that slick-up triggers and feedways and still leave the guns 100 percent reliable. From personal experience, Devoid goes the extra mile to make sure customers are satisfied.

Action jobs go about $50, wheelgun or auto. 1 recommend the fine polish job on the trigger for another $25. Literally mirror like, it's instant visual proof that the gun has been professionally customized, and the finger's glide across it noticeably improves shooting performance, especially on a double action. The Sentry Solutions job is $80 for detail cleaning and application on all parts, and $110 for the deluxe version in which all parts are additionally hand-burnished with BP-2000 powder, a dry lubricant finer than graphite that bonds to the metal. If you've done your shopping, you know these prices are dirt cheap. Night sights -- Trijicon, IWI, or Meprolight to cover all the price ranges -- are competitively priced.

Devoid is also the source for the Murabito modification that turns an S&W or Colt revolver's cylinder latch into a double-duty manual safety. He also can add a lever for that purpose on the Ruger wheelgun. Price is $119.95. He is, to my knowledge, the last remaining source for MagnaTrigger conversions of the S&W K-frame or larger revolver.

With the conversion, the revolvers are insuperable except by someone wearing a special magnetic ring. They work great and go for $345 including two rings. Return shipping is included free with Murabito or MagnaTrigger orders. Shipping runs $15 per handgun for everything else, fully insured.

Turnaround is two to four weeks. Devoid is readily accessible at (603) 7962551, and if you hit the answering machine it gives you a pager number he responds to. His web site is www.tamhelm.com.

There's no special discount for dealers, but the customer shouldn't mind an additional $20-30 per gun, plus work cost and postage, for you saving him chasing the gun and doing the market research to find someone he can trust. It turns the time you spend giving advice into a quick, clean profit for each advisement.