Blog Posts

We have added a “local pickup” option to all of our Gunbroker listings! If you’re in our area and buy our items on Gunbroker.com, you can now pick them up, by appointment, here at Indian Valley Gunsmithing. This beauty is one the Gunsmith just finished up: https://www.gunbroker.com/item/918082359 We have quite a few parts available online,…

Until our first snow here in Minnesota, I thought the snow on “Game of Thrones” (GOT), was staged. Now I know better. Snow here in MN is so much different than the snow I experienced in California. Snow in the Sierra’s is nicknamed ‘Sierra Cement’ because it’s wet, heavy, can fall 8+ feet overnight and…

Hi again…Mrs. Gunsmith informed me that I should write about jamming guns… I will try. Due to the variety of designs out there there are no, real, hard and fast rules about why a gun jams. It can be as simple as a bad magazine, something that’s loose inside the action, damage elsewhere in the…

Ha Ha… thought you had gotten rid of me!!! I’m back again with more info on cleaning. One of the things that I look for when customers bring in their guns that don’t work is what they look like inside and, more importantly, how they “feel” in operation. Often a gun will come in that…

Hope that everyone’s year is going well and that hunting season has been successful. One of the things that we are asked is if we clean guns. Yes… we clean guns. From a simple field strip clean to a deep clean to removal of cosmoline from storage (you wouldn’t believe how difficult this can actually…

Hi All…   Hope that everyone had a great summer. Hunting season is almost upon us and it’s time to get the guns out and get them ready for another season. What follows will be old news for most of us but with all the new gun owners out there I thought this might be…

There are a multitude of websites to buy firearms online. The Gunsmith and I sell guns on Gunbroker.com. There is also guns.com, cheaperthandirt.com, midwayusa.com, gunbuyer.com to name a few. I am not familiar with all or most of them by any means, but as a current Gunbroker seller and former top rated eBay seller, I…

Military Service runs strong in our family, both our fathers and Uncles have served, The Gunsmith served, His 2 youngest daughters and their spouses have or are serving now. Our Marine sent us a link from “Terminal Lance” (posted on Mrs Gunsmith FB page). It’s a poignant essay about the war and withdrawal by an…

Recent ammunition shortages caused a lot of people to dig out the old stash and use it. Even The Gunsmith’s collection of odd ammo brought in a bit of change when we auctioned it on GunBroker.com. Unfortunately, just because it’s in a box doesn’t mean the ammo is still good to fire, especially since most…

Fire damaged guns, continued… Additionally, time is important. Once you get them into oil it’s ok to let them sit, but anywhere oil isn’t, rust is guaranteed to form along with the associated pitting. We had a few come in from the Camp fire that I had to condemn. It’s a sad thing to have…

Many in the nation have heard of Greenville, CA, because it recently was burned up in California’s Dixie fire. It’s the Gunsmith’s hometown, he lived there over 55 years. Nearly everyone we know was affected in one way or another, it’s a very helpless feeling. What we can do offer advice for fire affected firearms,…

Minnesota is a wonderful place, though I do miss authentic Mexican food. Taco Bell Mexican is not at all Mexican, with the possible exception of some of the sauces. Even in our small town, population 1,129, we had an authentic Mexican restaurant. Small, family place with a small menu and amazing flavors. Americanized Mexican food…