I got the idea from another forum and thought I would pass it on. Let me make it very clear: I am not trying to pat myself on the back, but with the number of struggling people out there I'm sure we all can help. The idea is to do something for someone with the hope/stipulation that that person passes it on.

In my case it developed by accident. My son has an extremely generous heart and also delights in showing pictures of my various gun projects to the guys he works with. This has resulted in numerous requests to fix, restore, clean or refinish various firearms. Since I enjoy doing such things as an amateur, I was willing to tackle what I can. Suddenly I was faced with a backlog, all of whom agreed to my terms:

1. No firearms that might have their value decreased by restoration.
2. Nothing is to be disassembled before I get it.
3. No bugging me about when it gets done.
4. No firearms I deem to be unsafe unless I can repair them.

The only other condition is that other than any parts required (agreed upon) the cost is that they use any talent that they may have to help someone else. Since everyone my son works with has talents in other fields, this isn't a hard condition for them to meet.

A good example was the guy who brought me an old .410 single barrel that looked to have been left in a bucket of water for years to rust. The stock was loose, scarred and gouged and the forearm was held on with duct tape. It was all he had left from his grandfather and wanted it to look like it did when he was young. After polishing, bluing, glassing the contact areas of the stock and reinforcing the forearm latch, refinishing the wood and replacing the butt-plate with one from Numrich Arms it was done. He actually started crying when he picked it up. He offered me $50 for the job...I took the $10 it cost for the butt-plate and reminded him of what he had to do. He ended up mowing the yard of the elderly lady next door to him all this summer.

I have had a badly rusted Remington 1100 (plumbing job), damage stocked Savage 110 (computer lessons for an elder neighbor), rusted Winchester M12 (cleaning of neighbor's gutters) and several more. And the list grows!

Latest project:





This one is for a carburetor job on his neighbor's lawn tractor.

What can you do to keep the ball rolling?

Great restore ....


Did one myself a while back ....A marlin 258 bolt action 20-ga. an old old family heirloom ...

Thanks too www.gunpartscorp.com/ I was able too fix the missing part .of the safety,,,,,

SSL, I like your idea, it is fantastic and is similar to the Barter system I’ve seen out here in Australia. I wish I had the expertise to do both what you can do and also to assist others, although there is nearly always something you can do for someone else.

I am a Justice if the Peace here and regularly get called upon to assist the Police (I make myself availed 24/7 for them) as well as members of the community. This is purely voluntary, but provides a service that many need.

The other thing I do is assist the single Mum living next door to me, to do things around the yard she is unable. She can also call on me to look after pets when she has to go away with work, and simple things like put her rubbish bins out for collection and bring them in later.

I must admit, doing something for someone else who needs help, gives me a lot of satisfaction. When I was in the US last year, I intended taking one homeless person to lunch in every city I visited. Unfortunately this didn’t happen because they either stay well away from the mainstream areas or hide well.

I do quite a few of free engraving for donations to any cancer foundation.

I agree with this idea by Single Shot Lover. I am getting close to 90 summers of life, and this summer my young, 47 summers of life, neighbor, decided to keep my lawn cut. He does it in less than an hour. As I was getting older, it took me over three hours of mowing, interlaced with resting periods. In return I gave him access to all my tools, equipment and the key to my workshop and loading bench and I told him to help himself to a few beers from the refrigerator as needed. I told my wife that when I am gone to let him have all that equipment since I will not be needing it anymore.

we have a pay it forward on another forum...basically its a give it away for free section......just gave away 4 victorinox knives....and recieved some misl .308 brass.... its a great way to give to young guys....as long as they dont onsell stuff. got one chap who I think does it so nothing else goes his way.
love your idea even more....