Hunters and sport-shooters can now take their guns to a new gunsmith in town, Josh Hiles.
Hiles works at the Master at Arms gun shop at 921 S. Highway 160.
Hiles is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War and uses his experiences with firearms and his training to help his clients with their problems.
“One thing I like about my job is trying to figure out what’s wrong,” Hiles said. “I love happy customers.”
Hiles does general repair.
“I really don’t specialize in just one thing and end up doing just about everything to do with a gun,” he said.
The gunsmith said that for hunters and competitive shooters he does a lot of scope sighting and mounting, bore sighting, recoil pads, and installing sights on pistols.
“I can even drill and tap receivers for scope mounting,” Hiles said. “And I do a lot of trigger jobs. The bottom line is, what you just mentioned is just one percent of what I do here.”
Importance highlighted
Sharon Mayfield, a sales representative at the Masters at Arms gun shop, said it was important to get a gunsmith at the shop.
“We needed a full-time gunsmith,” she said. “Did you know if you were to go into Las Vegas, you could wait for your gun up to six months to get it repaired? There is a shortage of gunsmiths. At our shop, normally our turnaround time is about two weeks.”
“Yes, what Sharon (Mayfield) said is true, there is about a six-month wait around the country for really good gunsmithing,” Hiles said.
Dan Simmons, a retired game warden and expert hunter and guide, agreed with Mayfield.
“There is a shortage of gunsmiths because for some reason people just don’t have the patience to fix anything in our society anymore,” Simmons said. “We live in a throwaway society.”
Serving USA, making Pahrump home
For Hiles, being a gunsmith was the perfect occupation after serving his country.
“After serving four years in the U.S. Marines Corp. I went right into school to study gunsmithing,” he said. “I have been shooting seriously since I was 11 and my passion is long-range shooting. I don’t do competitive shooting. I just like to go out and shoot and I also have a love for teaching shooting too.”
He said the reason he came to Pahrump was his friend and former employer, Mayfield. Mayfield used to have a gun store in Fresno, California and when she came out to Nevada to retire, Hiles followed her.
The former Marine also likes to teach shooting.
“If I were to teach a class it would be on sight manipulation, learning about wind and body position and breathing,” he said. “All those things count, for once you get into ranges past 600 yards, every bit matters. The thing about teaching is I like to see people be successful. I get more enjoyment teaching them how to shoot than me being successful.”
He said the Marines really fueled his passion for firearms, and it also allowed him to see the world.
“That was one of the reasons I joined the Marines, was to see the world,” Hiles said. “I wanted different experiences and to get out of California.”
The Marines didn’t shortchange him. He was deployed to Iraq, South America, Aruba, Gibraltar, the Suez Canal, and Kuwait to name a few. He was in Iraq for close to a year.
Hiles says he is not going anywhere because he really enjoys living in Pahrump.
“I want to stay here,” he said. “I love the people here and working with Robby. My ultimate goal is to have my own shop as long as it doesn’t compete with this place.”
For more information, contact Hiles at 775-751-1511.
Contact sports editor Vern Hee at vhee@pvtimes.com