Community Highlights: Meet Mike Charter of Ponderosa Arms and Gunsmithing

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike Charter.

Hi Mike, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We are a home-based Gunsmithing and FFL dealer here in Saint George, Utah. I got started in Gunsmithing at a young age when I rebuilt my grandmother’s Stevens .22 rifle. From there I started working on the Russian Mosin Nagant rifles that were flooding the surplus market. I would buy them for $90 apiece, take them home and refinish them and then turn around and resell them to folks on the private market for $150-$200.

As I started repairing my own guns and friends’ guns in my middle to late teens I got more and more interested in the firearm world. After completing my Associate’s Degree in Gunsmithing last October we opened a shop in November. We have repaired many old family heirlooms that our customers thought they could never be able to shoot and enjoy. We do the deep research to find the parts that most of these old guns need, but most shops won’t take time to do.

We often hear that other shops have deemed a firearm a “wall hanger” when oftentimes it’s just a spring that needs replacing, or the broken stock needs repairing, or even sometimes, just a nice deep clean and lube service. Not only do we provide Gunsmithing but we also buy, sell, and trade firearms.

We also have a partnership with ShooterLube and HSL ammunition you provide our customers with excellent products such as gun oil and solvents and ammunition.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
The road to where we are today has been long but fortunately not riddled with too many bumps in the road. As everywhere else, COVID has played a major role in the hangups in the industry. Along with shortages of ammunition and firearms, the increase of new firearms owners also has played a role in delays.

The new increase of gun owners is very exciting to see though and with that increase, it’s only a matter of time before that brings larger production and manufacturing to the economy.

As you know, we’re big fans of Ponderosa Arms and Gunsmithing. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We are a full-service FFL and gunsmith. We specialize in firearm repairs, upgrades, & professional optics mounting. We have a soft spot in our shop for the older guns, but we also work on the newer firearms as well.

Nothing is more satisfying to us when a customer brings in an old gun that has sat in a box or safe for years because it was broken and then comes back to pick up a working firearm.

We also provide an in-house rust conversion/refinishing. Most shops send out that work to other professionals but we have a technique that has been used for over 100 years that matches the finish of the older firearms.

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
As a gunsmith, you take a risk every time you agree to work on a firearm. Whether it’s a modern gun or an antique, you always want to be sure that you can return that firearm back to the customer in the same condition or better. I feel more comfortable with that risk because everything we do, we do in the house.

Where most shops send out guns to various others to help complete a project we handle everything in-house or not at all. We do the research to find genuine replacement parts for those collectibles, and we shop to find the best quality upgrades for those modern firearms.

Pricing:

• Shop Rates for Gunsmithing- $50 minimum, the hourly rate is $100
• Gun transfers- $25

Contact Info:

• Email: ponderosaarmsandgunsmithing@gmail.com
• Website: ponderosaarmsandgunsmithing.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/ponderosaarmsandgunsmithing/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ponderosaarmsandgunsmithing/

Image Credits
Gun Mats provided by ShooterLube