I send a M305 for once over and purchased a "minty" USGI stock from him.
2 months later the rifle arrived and a stock that had a gigantic crack on one side.
Lousy comms / mis advertised item - would never do business with him again.
My experience
not true.
you bought a stock that you were shown pics of by email. It was advertised on cgn as having an arsenal repair to one side that did not affect function. This stock was happily purchased by Tomochan when i first got it and he refinished and reoiled her. months later i purchased her back from him on a rifle he was selling. he was sorry to see that stock go. So I advertised it and you agreed to buy it through a full disclosure add with pics, and then asked for me to work on your friends M14 that you guys took weeks and weeks to get here, after being warned my hunting season was kicking in....... the rifle arrived and was fricken filthy, with a rusty.... yes rusty, piston and gas plug... replaced by me at no cost to you.
anyhow......
I have had internet issues here since i moved. It's a small community, very rural and with all the crappy windy weather up here through the past few months, entire telephone service lines have been being replaced throughout the forest grove/canim area. My place got the full meal deal with lines from the road and all the telephone wiring in my house has been replaced right to new jacks. I do not forsee any interent issues in the near future.
Secondly, there is one small truck that picks up the mail from our small post office. she drives a small chevy s-10 with a canopy and picks up for a vast rural area. we have no to the door delivery of mail here. I have been limited by the post office employees to 3 large packages a day due to the size of the vehicle picking up the mail.
third, I offer a custom product and have since i first started modding stocks and tweaking rifles. I try my best to guesstimate turn around times but there are so many factors that can cause a delay in my aimed for turn around time.
I test fire a rifle, or examine the final finish on a stock and if i'm not happy, the customer will surely not be happy, and i'd rather be given grief for being late that be given grief for a s**tty product. which by the way, after honestly 100's of stocks and an increasingly equal number of rifles through my hands, the quality of my work has been an absolute constant. My customer service skills and inabilty to meed deadlines at times for sure need improvement..... and having internet issues sure goes a long way with pissing people off.
so, if your item or rifle is late, there is a darn good reason for it and i will be emailing those affected over the next couple days and will also be continually shipping 3 parcels a day for the next few weeks.
it should be noted that the majority of my customers have seen this thread and sent me comments that are quite the oposite of those here, preferring a quality build or perfect stock over a set timeline.
I have not booked any new work for several weeks so as to spend my time finishing up what is here.
for those waiting for stocks, most are complete and shipping or have shipped, there were a few at the tail end of my july orders that i used a different product for blemishes and was told it would not react with the resins i am using. I afixed rails and such and allowed it to cure and once the black finish was down and cured, everywhere that product had been used raised the painted finish.... this has all been remedied. I am just sorting through my customer list this evening to see who has and hasn't received thier stock.
finally, I have closed the shop to new orders indefinately. The new stock will soon be availlable through a dealer i have selected and will no longer be sold direct. This will make things much easier for me to get my work done as everyday i also have to spend hours on the net answering emails, processing orders ect ect..... and this also i find eats up a lot of my production time. Too much in fact, so as far as sales of stocks go, I am putting a hold on any new orders and you will be deferred to the dealer i have chosen once inventory becomes availlable.
for those with sage installs currently on my bench, all of these are failing the trigger safety tests, every single one, and i have not adjusted the trigger pull yet. I am meticulously removing material from the trigger pad wings to allow for optimum fit with the sage product. Some would simply file down the sages trigger pad areas but that's sacriledge to me.
Charles Emond, you rifle once assembled is short stroking badly, that welding that was done elsewhere may have tweaked your gas system, I am taking her out tomorrow with a box full of chinese pistons to see if i can get her to function reliably.
and if your initials are P.B. , whose rifle has been with me for months, short stroking as well but i solved it. your rifle was leaking at the gas shut off. I replaced the spindle valve with a new take off chinese part and she seems to be functioning perfect. She will ship before the weeks is out.....
as for rifle work, the same thing goes, I will not be accepting any further rifle work until further notice. With the exception of those counting on me to install thier krieger barrels once they arrive. Outside of that my bench is closed. That said if you are the type of customer who appreciates a riflesmith who takes the time to ensure your rifle is getting the best of attention, and can deal with your rifle being away for 6 weeks to possibly 6 months, email me and we'll talk.
I don't want to sound like i'm taking this thread lightly, there are other comments here i'd love to dig my teeth into, but i just don't have time.
I'll say it again and these are words i stand by, I have from day one , and with perfectionists quality, offered a custom product that does not leave my shop untill i am satisfied that my client will find nothing to complain about and will feel that they got value for the dollar spent.
with that i'd like to see this thread locked as keeping up with emails and p.m.'s and having to do damage control here in this thread is distracting and taking me away from getting the work done you are all so anxiously waiting for.
