REPAIRS ON YOUR MATCH GUNS
A Short History
Fixing and making shooters happy about their guns is what Pilkington Competition has been about from the very beginning. Scott started gunsmithing as part of the National Guard Marskmanship Training Unit in the late 1980s, starting first with Bullseye pistols, working with Dave Mattice and Joe Chambers at events from Little Rock to Camp Perry.
Gradually, Scott started learning the international guns from rifle smith and barrel makers Gene Barnett and Dave Mattice, gunsmithing for multiple Olympic teams (1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996). Scott is also proud to have worked with the gunsmiths from the USAMU at various events and locations over the years. Scott’s interest in international gunsmithing was cemented in 1991, after he attended his first World Cup in Chino, California. Scott first travelled as official team gunsmith for the US Team at the 1995 Pan-American Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina. From there, he was gunsmith at such events as the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the 1998 World Championships in Barcelona, the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 2002 World Championships in Lahti, Finland. At each of these events, he was able to work with the factory gunsmiths to increase his knowledge of the specialized maintenance requirements for these esoteric guns.
In 1997, Scott’s gun rapport with these gunsmiths, together with an unresolved repair issue with the then-importer found Scott named by Steyr-Mannlicher as an importer and it was this time Pilkington Competition Equipment was created as a repair center for Steyr-Mannlicher firearms. Scott chose ‘Pilkguns,’ his screen name for his very first email account. The first version of this website, with the Pilkington Competition name, was created a year later, after he came back from the World Championships in Barcelona.
Recognizing that his travel schedule conflicted with making timely repairs for his growing air gun business, Scott began training Buck Parson so he could understand the special requirements of competition air guns and firearms. In spring 2001, Buck and Scott went to Germany to receive first-hand training at the factories there.
Scott’s knowledge of the sport and the various air gun power plants led Daisy to 
hire him as a consultant as it began discussions with the British air gun company, Air Arms, as they developed a CA rifle legal for the Sporter Class. In November 2000, he travelled with Daisy engineers to Southern England to finalize plans for this new gun.
This rifle ultimately became the Daisy XS40 Valiant, and Pilkington Competition became the official Warrant and Repair Station for these rifles. Scott is proud to have hanging on his wall Serial Number One of the Valiant Series.
Scott and Buck continue to be involved in world events and US World Cups, and both attended the 2005 Munich World Cup for continued training with the factory mechanics. In 2007, Pilkington Competition was represented at the 2007 National JROTC Air Rifle Championships.
Repairing Your Gun
As you can see, we have an excellent background and education to ensure that a repair on your match weapon is handled with precision and professionalism. I believe that we have the largest and most comprehensive stock of match gun parts in the United States (both air and powder) and maintain good relations with the repair departments from all the factories, regardless of whether we sell their product or not.
Due to Scott’s other business concerns, Buck does the bulk of the gunsmithing at PCE, and we continue to make sure each and every single repair is handled with our slogan, ‘Quality Has No Regrets,’ in mind. While experience has unfortunately taught me that not every repair is a perfect repair, as on rare occasions there are premature failures of O-rings or other new parts, or even (and even rarer) when we overlook something. However, I PROMISE YOU that we will make it right at our expense. Period.
Yes, this sometimes costs me more than the repair is worth, but it’s the way I expect to be treated and believe you should be treated. Our goal is to make you happy with your gun.
We do have a large inventory of parts, encompassing common parts for the more popular older models and most all of the current models.
If your gun is an older one of a less common variety, we likely have a secret supply of parts or know where we can source them in Europe. A phone call will generally resolve the question of parts availability before you even send your gun in.
If we’re on location at a match somewhere, we will make every effort to repair your competition gun and get it back on the line, regardless of manufacturer or American importer. However, for normal repairs, there will be times when we may refer you to another repair person or center. These reasons can vary from respecting other importers’ exclusivity agreements, acknowledgement of specialized tooling or skills, or geographic shipping concerns where it is faster and cheaper to send you gun to an equally capable gunsmith closer to you. If it is an easy repair, we can help you do it yourself, as we have the parts. The 10P Files often has information that may help you as well. For more unusual repairs, it may take us a few days to get back to you as we hunt down prices and costs.
Our Priorities
Repair priority belongs to active American Team members first. Second is warranty on guns we have sold. Next is other active competitors, whether competing at the national or high school level. Fourth is modifications or custom work for active competition guns. Finally, repairs of custom work on all other guns.
Normally, repairs in the first three categories will be finished in 2-3 business days. The other two categories will normally be completed within a week to 10 days, depending on parts availability, the requirements of the job, and other unexpected variables.
Questions?
If you have a gunsmithing question, please feel free to call or email. Whoever answers the phone should be able to answer your questions, if not, they will relay your question to either Buck or me.
