Batchelder sale
 

From Facebook

ONE FINAL BLAST!
We are closing permanently and are having a final sale. Saturday, June 21st from 10am-4pm. 250 firearms, parts, accessories, cases, and ammo. Credit cards with 3% fee, or cash only. If you do not have a CPL, make sure to bring a purchase permit. No holds.

250 firearms. Do all of them belong to the sellers? Where do we see the sale ad? Why is there no mention of this on their website?

Maybe they will have a "list" they can post in the for-sale forum... Just sayin...... Too soon ???

Following Lori's death I guess the current management couldn't sustain the business.

I called the old number I had for Brad, and said they were no longer monitoring the number and would not respond. They suggested sending email to a number with Lori's name in it. She passed several years ago. The plot thickens

Several years ago???? Lori passed away April 9th of this year. No plot!

It was Brad who passed several years ago.






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Received a FB message from Bachelder’s that there will be no published list of what guns are for sale and I should use the photos as a guide. It was also intimated that they won’t be shipping any guns.

They should contract Josh to sell the guns for them.





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I will guess that there are no guns that Josh would handle, much less put in the Guyette and Deeter auction.

Here is the link:

https://www.facebook.com/bachelders

Wow just saw this! This whole thing went bad

Josh has his own business as well as G&D and of 250 guns for sale there are probably some in the mix.




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Yes, and some day we may find out what they are.

Lori passed several months ago not years

Sorry. My mistake. Misread the obit I guess

If they're guns they worked on I would steer clear.

…post-Brad’s demise.





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Anytime

And that's the voice of experience.

I (by no means) the connoisseur the fine guns, or even in the same room as the names and reputations of this forum, did have Brad restore a few guns for myself... In particular I asked him if he would do a set of Sterlingworth's (as I found the candidates) because I had wanted a set of the "working mans" guns as they would have appeared in an old town hardware store in their day. These guns have served me quite well over time, without issue and have brought to fruition what I was looking for... I have been a member of the PGCA since 2012 and was fully aware that Brad was also a fellow member of this organization (and at times a participant of this forum). That makes me wonder, why I cannot remember criticism of his name, upon this PUBLIC forum, while he was still alive... That surely would have been the better time gentlemen... And from what little I knew of Him; I have to think Brad would have been happy to respond... In kind...

My troubles with them are well known amongst my friends.

Absolutely, I sure wish this would have hit the presses a few years ago so I could have asked about it.. Now all I have to show for is a few shit guns restored by Batchelder's... Damm it.... No worries though, I also have a few from Delgrego's as a hedge..

Like John, I have guns -- quite a few -- that Brad worked on for me. All of the work was top notch. I really miss going to GR and visiting with Brad and Lori.

I had only one experience with Brad about 12 yrs ago. I had him fully restore my grandfathers 16 ga VH that I inherited. Brad said to expect it back in about a yrs time. And it took a yr but I was extremely pleased with the results. Brad was always a perfect gentleman in my dealings with him. His work was first rate. Rest in peace Brad.

I once owned a Ithaca 4E 32 inch vent rib 12 ga that had a single trigger. Brad tried his best to make it work properly as it doubled often. Try as he could he couldn't make it function properly so it went down the road.
I probably have close to the last set of Damascus barrels he restored. A lovely CHE 20 that he did an amazing job on.

My experience with him was always first rate

A few years back I bought a VH 16...O frame..straight grip..26" M/IC. Blue and wood was great..but the lack of much color bothered me every time i looked at it. I finally sent it to Brads for color only. After about 6 months I was told it was "in the works". I kept checking, and a few months later I got a call it was on the way. By this time, Brad had passed..The work was exceptional...A shame to hear about the family business.....

Like others, my experience with Brad was always positive and the work he did on my Parkers was exceptional. The last time I saw him was when I dropped off a set of GH barrels for bulge removal and refinishing. This was late January 2018. During the shop tour he showed me a rack of sxs barrels that were being prepped for refinishing. There must have been 20 or more sets in the rack. He told me that barrel refinishing was a big part of their business and he had a shop employee who was expert at it and, in fact, barrel refinishing was all he did.

Brad passed in March 2018 and I got a call in June that the barrels were finished. I couldn't have been more pleased, the barrels were like new again. Sadly, my later experiences were not good and filled with broken promises and excuses. It was very clear that without Brad, the shop simply lacked the expertise that we had all come to expect. RIP Brad and Lori. We miss you.

Forgot to mention those barrels he refinished for me were Damascus. Beautiful job.

…and lacked the professionalism and honesty that Brad had always tried to instill.





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So real curious if anyone went to this sale? If so found anything of Quality that made it a good day for them? Only business I ever had was long ago, had a Hammer replacement on a Colt Python and barrels checked on a Parker GH. All when Brad was there and before they moved to the Plymouth Ave location. I'm only 25 miles away but felt it was in my best interest to not show up for the sale. At my age I'm content with my inventory and try to enjoy all of them.

To my way of thinking, the effect on their business model after Brad's death was, as Frank Zappa put it, "Phase One of 'Lumpy Gravy'"

I see an ad on GI for a 16 ga vh
CJ Bachelder .
Is this the same outfit ?

I doubt it. Brad Batchelder was the gunsmith and they were located in Grand Rapids MI

The one son has run his own gunsmithing business for a while.

That is Brad’s older son Carson. After Brad passed he split off and runs his own shop in Northern Michigan. Carson is a stand up guy, an honest gunsmith and does a lot for our local club and youth shooting.

Carson doesn’t do the restoration work like his family shop, he concentrates more on mechanical and wood repair. He is also the importer and warranty center for Upland Gun Company.

Carson does good work and he stand behind it. He gives reasonable timelines and sticks to them and if he runs into an issue he is transparent and updates the customer. I have been using Carson now for 6 years and he is a great gunsmith to work with and and have never had any issues with his work.

Andre, thanks for your review.