December 10th 2019 update

[alberta tactical rifle]

The last few weeks has been insane with shipping out Sporter sets and will continue for a few more weeks until we get the rest of run 2 and the beginnings of run 3 out the door.
We REALLY appreciate your patience in not calling, emailing, faxing or dropping by to ask "is it done yet?"

The update is to advise that run 3 is well under way and as of January 15th 2020 will be closed for orders. We will will start taking orders for Run 4 as of January 16th 2020. We anticipate run 4 to start shipping late in Q4 of 2020

We found that the majority of guys who ordered SS uppers did so simply as they were available soonest. Over the last 6 months or so we are seeing almost an 80% order ratio for F/A uppers so plan to discontinue the SS uppers for production run #4. This will not effect any of the already placed orders.

 

[TommyT45]

Does ATRS think that all of run 2 will be shipped by or before the end of the year?

 

[TheCircle]

Does ATRS think that all of run 2 will be shipped by or before the end of the year?

Would like to know

 

[Ryang5177]

My buddy is still confused how a 400's SN hasn't been through the process.

if you can find the other thread the reason is in there, short version if I recall correctly - there were some delays with a random batch of sets that didn't pass the smell test and they decided not to stop production just to keep the SN's going out in perfect order.

 

[CaptainHook]

Hi, just to confirm, once my receiver is ready I can contact you and upgrade my order to an MS18-A3 right?

Thanks.

 

[alberta tactical rifle]

Hi, just to confirm, once my receiver is ready I can contact you and upgrade my order to an MS18-A3 right?

Thanks.

Yes but it will delay shipping of the complete rifle. We don't stocvk millions of dollars worth of parts on spec, we order what we need for builds so to have the heads up allows us to procure what your build might need in advance so it doesn't take several more months to get in the parts and assemble it for you.

 

[CaptainHook]

Yes but it will delay shipping of the complete rifle. We don't stocvk millions of dollars worth of parts on spec, we order what we need for builds so to have the heads up allows us to procure what your build might need in advance so it doesn't take several more months to get in the parts and assemble it for you.

Sounds reasonable! Thank you

 

[ATRS Shaun]

Any available updates for those of us waiting for run 2 products?

We've got ~150 lowers here currently waiting for rear pins that are being nitrided in town. [I expect them back here today or tomorrow]

We're getting pretty close to fulfilling the second run, however I will not be releasing any percentages, or other related details. It seems counter intuitive, however the more information we provide the more people asking "are we there yet" that we have...

In regards to the 400 serial number question, that's because were never focusing on sequential numbers, but instead chronologically based on the date ordered. As I have previously stated, there have been several factors that contributed to even the chronological order getting scattered to a degree, but we are trying to adhere to the first ordered, first going out philosophy wherever possible.

 

[vermintrex]

The worst thing about knowing you probably won't receive your set until spring / summer:



You quickly purchase all the necessary components to build up a perfectly serviceable rifle.

You play with said components...laying them out on the table in a rifle shape. Looks promising.

Then you start getting bored with said components and start perusing the picture threads and vendor websites.

Then you think, well....it's been a couple months, maybe I'll upgrade the BCG...haven't spent any money in a few weeks.

Hmm....titanium huh ? Interesting. So many options !

What's that you say ? Better optic ?........sigh, ok.

Seems like there isn't much love for vanilla mil spec triggers......maybe I NEED a better trigger....Ooops, Geiselle !

My charging handle is boring...what's the most expensive one out there ?.....OK, check.

Offset BUIS ? Well that seems like prudent SHTF logic.... Ok, take my money !

I wonder if I'll get bored of black. Maybe a second set of FDE furniture might be fun. Let's see what's out there.... Ok, take my money !

What's this about a ban ? Better buy some ammo. Lots of it. Seriously....lots.

Hmmm....lots of ammo must need lots of mags. Yeah, probably need lots of mags.

Can't wait to sight this baby in. Ok, match ammo, here I come !



Looks at calendar, checks bank account.....Oooohhh, s**t.....seven more months of this insanity !!!



Re-reads update thread.



Rinse - Repeat.

 

[ATRS Shaun]

The worst thing about knowing you probably won't receive your set until spring / summer:



You quickly purchase all the necessary components to build up a perfectly serviceable rifle.

You play with said components...laying them out on the table in a rifle shape. Looks promising.

Then you start getting bored with said components and start perusing the picture threads and vendor websites.

Then you think, well....it's been a couple months, maybe I'll upgrade the BCG...haven't spent any money in a few weeks.

Hmm....titanium huh ? Interesting. So many options !

What's that you say ? Better optic ?........sigh, ok.

Seems like there isn't much love for vanilla mil spec triggers......maybe I NEED a better trigger....Ooops, Geiselle !

My charging handle is boring...what's the most expensive one out there ?.....OK, check.

Offset BUIS ? Well that seems like prudent SHTF logic.... Ok, take my money !

I wonder if I'll get bored of black. Maybe a second set of FDE furniture might be fun. Let's see what's out there.... Ok, take my money !

What's this about a ban ? Better buy some ammo. Lots of it. Seriously....lots.

Hmmm....lots of ammo must need lots of mags. Yeah, probably need lots of mags.

Can't wait to sight this baby in. Ok, match ammo, here I come !



Looks at calendar, checks bank account.....Oooohhh, s**t.....seven more months of this insanity !!!



Re-reads update thread.



Rinse - Repeat.

Now imagine working here and seeing all the #### come in... My first MS, The MS Titan, literally came to be by buying and replacing every part 2-3 times over.

 

[jacotsmith]

[Flame_suit]

I appreciate that things can change, as evidenced by the last few months' events, but hypothetically if one were to place an order today - before the Jan 15 2020 run 3 cut off - when could one reasonably expect delivery?

[/Flame_suit]

 

[45C]

[Flame_suit]

I appreciate that things can change, as evidenced by the last few months' events, but hypothetically if one were to place an order today - before the Jan 15 2020 run 3 cut off - when could one reasonably expect delivery?
T

[/Flame_suit]

they said late spring/early summer, but from my previous experiences, it’s always good to add a few months extra to that ETA.
There’s always a possibility of delays.
Shipping delays from the US, machinery failures,etc.

 

[drifter dave]

They've been selling these for some time now, if you wanted one a while ago you could have had one yeah?
They are cranking them out as best they can.

 

[mileageman]

Clarify "if you wanted one a while ago you could have had one" .

I’ve had one over a year now. If you have followed them for any length of time you could have placed a order a long long long time ago. Get in line or miss out

 

[greg olmstead]

They have been transparent why the delays happened. The edm machine messed up and ruined a bunch of lowers that had to be remade. As I understand it the edm mag well is the last OP on the lower after serialization. So every lower it wrecked had to be re made later on instead. Then the annodizer anodized a bunch out of sequence. There are always going to be some rejects on final QC when they get them back from ano that need to be stripped and re done. The rear cross bars got delayed I believe. Can't ship them without that. There is always going to be delays. Hell the first run was 2.5 months later than expected. In a perfect world where machines don't fail they would have been pretty close but having an edm machine fail isn't a quick fix.

If you want it right now get on the ee and if you want it yesterday you should have got in on the first run and had it for 11 months. Complaining about "transparency" isnt going to get yours to you any faster. Neither does bugging atrs asking is it done yet.

It's a good thing I don't run atrs because for everytime anyone phoned me about their set I'd add a week onto shipping it, out of spite

 

[chicu1981]

They have been transparent why the delays happened. The edm machine messed up and ruined a bunch of lowers that had to be remade. As I understand it the edm mag well is the last OP on the lower after serialization. So every lower it wrecked had to be re made later on instead. Then the annodizer anodized a bunch out of sequence. There are always going to be some rejects on final QC when they get them back from ano that need to be stripped and re done. The rear cross bars got delayed I believe. Can't ship them without that. There is always going to be delays. Hell the first run was 2.5 months later than expected. In a perfect world where machines don't fail they would have been pretty close but having an edm machine fail isn't a quick fix.

If you want it right now get on the ee and if you want it yesterday you should have got in on the first run and had it for 11 months. Complaining about "transparency" isnt going to get yours to you any faster. Neither does bugging atrs asking is it done yet.

It's a good thing I don't run atrs because for everytime anyone phoned me about their set I'd add a week onto shipping it, out of spite

Its not about transparency. it's about good communications and expectations management. Customer who are waiting by the months cannot be called impatient. All they need to do is give date by which they expect to ship all order of a certain run. And if there are changes, they should update the date when last order would be shipped.


Because, right now, I have no idea when i will get my set. I order on April 15th. Dog ate my homework kind of updates are not really helpful. If its 5 months out, say 6 month to be safe to have a margin of safety. Just say 6 months and people will call inquire in 6 months.

 

[chicu1981]

I ordered in February I know how you feel. When I ordered I was told they figured it'd be shipped out in sept probably late September. Still don't have the set yet. Dunno when it will come. All I can do is wait and check my email every couple minutes haga

I don't really care too much. I had forgotten about it. My worry is that they will send me an email to pay the balance and I will miss the email and won't respond in time and my set will go to someone else.

 

[Agent Law]

I don't really care too much. I had forgotten about it. My worry is that they will send me an email to pay the balance and I will miss the email and won't respond in time and my set will go to someone else.

Basically my only concern as well. I do like coming to these threads and reading everyone freaking out about when they'll get their receiver sets, though.

 

[ATRS Shaun]

I don't really care too much. I had forgotten about it. My worry is that they will send me an email to pay the balance and I will miss the email and won't respond in time and my set will go to someone else.

This won't happen. You put money down on it, and that told us you were serious about it. When your set's done, it's yours. It goes in a cardboard box with your name on it, you get emailed and then I set that box on a shelf and email the next person. We go through those boxes later to follow up with customers who did not respond to the emails.

Its not about transparency. it's about good communications and expectations management. Customer who are waiting by the months cannot be called impatient. All they need to do is give date by which they expect to ship all order of a certain run. And if there are changes, they should update the date when last order would be shipped.


Because, right now, I have no idea when i will get my set. I order on April 15th. Dog ate my homework kind of updates are not really helpful. If its 5 months out, say 6 month to be safe to have a margin of safety. Just say 6 months and people will call inquire in 6 months.

You honestly believe that we didn't try to build in safety nets into our time estimations? 2019 has been... special.
If I think something will be done in 2 weeks, I say 4-6.
If I think 4 or 5 months, I'll say 6-8 months.

We have had the wire EDM go down twice, (My EDM ate your receiver is a valid update by the way).
We have had one fourth axis need to be sent out and completely rebuilt.
On our biggest machine, we had to replace the whole spindle because the company that installed it did not put a filter on the airline.

We anticipated some machine downtime, that's a given, but we could not have anticipated SO many, and the length of time for the repairs.

Shaun said update like that only cause more delays because people call them constantly and they can't do qc and talk on the phone at the same time.

This is probably my biggest disappointment of 2019, was discovering this.
I tried very hard to provide the best updates that I could, photos, videos, etc.

I actually really liked trying to share that progress with everyone.

But the volume of "is mine done?" requests crippled us, and it seems so illogical, that providing updates should cause an excessive demand for updates.



Over New Years maybe I can write up a year-in-review or something. I'd like to put this whole crazy year in a list

 

[chicu1981]

ATRS,
I know you cant tell individual order status. But it would be very helpful if you can state the following each week "Percentage of Run 2 order shipped to date".

Just one number each week. Percentage of orders shipped to date from run 2.

Just saying that it has been a long time.