Yeah like you say "it's in the mail" cause then the responsibility is off them until it shows up.
when I ordered my rifle I was told 4-6 weeks(this was back in May) then after a month I was told there was a summer shut down at the chroming facility, then the barrel mfr got a more important order that pushed us back to the end of the line.
I feel like when there was a major purchase(Arms east contracting these barrels to be made which I'm sure was no cheap bill or capital to fork out) there would have been a schedule to adhere to. Obviously something of this magnitude isn't just Armeast calling up the local barrel shack and being like "hey, make us some barrels and let us know when they are done"
That being said, AE would have been aware of the shutdown and explained to its customers accordingly before ordering, not being told oh... A couple weeks they will be done. I know the barrel mfr pushing us back because of a larger order is understandable and out of there hands.