Hickman has done work for me on a couple of items. He's always quick, friendly, and reasonable on cost. He has also gone above and beyond a couple of times and done extra work at no additional charge. read more

Several local firearms shops recommended Hickman for gunsmith services. I relied on what they recommended, and am extremely disappointed in their work and customer service. I brought in an AR-15 (complete rifle) to get some "minor" work done on the feed ramps. He sent me home with the lower because he "hated doing the paperwork for a serialzed part." The upper receiver, barrel, and (very expensive lightweight) bolt carrier group were 100% brand new, never had a single shot through them. The "polish" job that Earl told me he would do to correct a cartridge feed problem looked as if he may have been training a child to use a dremel tool. The ramps were carved down, each at different angles, not even remotely polished from whatever abrasive die he used, and worse yet, the cartridges do not even feed at all now. The barrel warranty is completely voided by his work. The barrel manufacturer (whom I have purchased many barrels from in the past) was perfectly fine with me taking the barrel to a gunsmith, and even offered to pay for the services since I wasn't completely happy with their product. They saw the pictures and were horrified, and in fact were the ones who made the first comment to the effect that it appeared as if "a kid did the work." The upper receiver was also carved out, so now any barrel I would intend to install in the future would also be required to be "heavily" modified just to get a cartridge to feed. The bullet gets completely stuck in the feedramp, and is left with very deep gouges, and in most cases, is severely pushed back into the casing. When I arrived to pick up my parts, the bead blasted stainless steel barrel was so dirty (black greasy prints), it looked like a car mechanic had been handling it. The $450 JP Precision bolt carrier was crammed into the receiver that had not even been cleaned of the metal shavings. The bolt carrier group now has a whole bunch of "custom" Earl Hickman silver racing stripes etched into the anodizing. I also visited another local gunsmith who said this is the second bad job he has seen from Hickman recently. I called back to discuss how to correct the problem, Earl was more than happy to ask me to bring the whole rifle back to him to continue with more work at an additional cost, because he was certain it had to be a lower receiver or magazine problem. The problem I have with this diagnosis is, the lower receiver was factory matched to 2 upper receivers when I purchased them, and has functioned flawlessly with the other upper and magazines for about 1000 rounds. It was my experience that they are very careless and disrespectful. I wish I could post photos! read more

Earl has treated me professionally and kindly becoming a friend and mentor in fire arms. Any one can have a "bad day" - i read the 1 star reviews. I find talking any problem over with Earl will bring a good result and would urge others who have the rare concern to do the same. read more

I have had Hickman Rifles build a number of rifles for me over the years and have found their work to be outstanding. I have had them make several cut-rifled barreled rifles in calibers from 260 Remington to 257 Weatherby Magnum. All of the rifles they built have shot sub minute of angle groups. I had them build a 25-06 with a Badger barrel that shoots consistent sub inch groups at 200 yards. I had Hickman Rifle re-barrel a Remington 513T .22LR rifle with a match barrel after the original barrel had worn out. They also installed a Lyman globe front sight. The rifle is now a great shooter. I once purchased a new M1911A1 pistol at a great price but it had a rotten trigger. I had Hickman rifles do a trigger job on the pistol and was quite pleased with the results. The trigger had a 10 pound gritty pull when I dropped it off. When they returned the weapon it had a 4 pound glass smooth trigger pull. I have had Hickman Rifles do many projects for me over the years and I have always been thrilled with the results. read more

I do not normally take the time to write reviews, but in this case I have to warn people this has been one of the worst customer service experiences I have ever had and after having my daily carry gun for over 3 and a half weeks and charging me for repair they did not fix it. I have a 1911 that has had multiple failures to extract, a basic problem that any 1911 gunsmith( they were recommended to me as the best 1911 gunsmith in town) should be able to fix. They had my gun for 3 and a half weeks and originally told me they had ordered a new extractor for the gun, but this was just a stalling tactic as they did not replace the extractor. They claimed they shot the gun but I do not believe it because I just got back from the range and the first 19 out of 20 rounds failed to extract, there is no way they shot this gun, they told me they shot 230 grain fmj so that is what I brough to the range 3 different brands and no change. While they had my gun they almost never answered their phone and when they did they had no idea what the status of my gun was. They would tell me to come by. Their shop is down on Tia Juana so stopping by is not quick and easy but I did anyway and after 3 times of "it'll be done tomarraow, come by and pick it up" I was really fed up that it was never done. Every time I was there I got the feeling that they were not interested in my money or business. I am not an a*****e, I am a nice guy and I just want my gun fixed. I am not going back to them so they can have my gun for another month and not fix it. Now I will start my search for a gunsmith that wants my business. If you are in need of gunsmith work in Colorado Springs I would recommend anyone else. read more