Rifle wait time woes

[steve white]

Sometimes if you want the best you have to do what THEY like to work on....case in point was when Speedy Gonzales was still building rifles in Fort Worth, Tx (instead of teaching gun smithing in Colorado). If you wanted a long range rifle built on a Rem 700 platform, you were good to go--bring in something else and it might sit in the corner, unstarted for a good year. He said he intended to get to it, but...

 

[Inline6]

I'll update my status

Received my barrel today 13 months from time of order, 5 months after quoted time. Not the worst I have ever experienced. Hopefully it shoots.

 

[KJE81]

My longest waiting time on a gun so far is just above 10 months but the maker sent me progress pictures regularly, that however just seemed to make the wait seem longer

 

[Inline6]

My longest waiting time on a gun so far is just above 10 months but the maker sent me progress pictures regularly, that however just seemed to make the wait seem longer

1911 was my longest wait on a pistol almost 2.5 years Rifle was close to the same wait. I was okay with the pistol not so much with the rifle.

 

[Jim Golden]

I spent nearly ten years on my .375 Weatherby. But the first gunsmith was incompetent....the second one died (he was 300 miles away from me) and nobody contacted me. I nearly lost the entire project. He was the patriarch of his entire clan, and supported at least three households. When he died, his wife lost it and fled hundreds of miles away to live with relatives. One daughter headed for the hills. The other daughter was local, but almost impossible to contact. Finally, I got in my car and just drove down, 300 miles to their house. By chance, a neighbor came by and saw me standing there. I told her who I was, and what I was after. She called the wife, who was crying when I spoke to her because it pained her so much (I felt like a real heel...but I just wanted my custom project back....). She put me in touch with the one daughter who was local, who sent her friend over to help me. I described what I had, the girl went inside, and actually found it. Had my Enfield action that Douglas had worked on, teh 30" Douglas barrel, the MPI stocks Hannibal stock, and a box of parts I'd bought. I felt really bad for them, but also felt lucky to get it back. Took it to the third 'smith and he spent about a year and a half, but I finally got it, and it's awesome. I'll probably take just one gun to Africa before my .458 Lott is done (the third 'smith has most of the parts...I'll take the rest to him soon....). Like a fine wine...these things take time. Would have been much easier to just buy a Model 70 Safari in .375 H&H. But, I love my Enfield and it literally has my initials engraved on the floor plate. Stock sized for me.

On edit, I forgot to mention....the gent didn't keep good records and they'd returned several hundred projects to their owners. They'd then run ads in the local papers for three months saying they were going to sell off the unclaimed remains. But since I was so far away, I didn't hear about it. I did get lucky....

I'd like to just order a Heym 89B, but it won't be this year...

 

[Mark Audino]

Just FYI, while I won't call them "safari rifles", Matt Kranz, of Paradigm Carbon, is an engineering genius and build guns that shoot, and he delivers them without the wait. He has developed barrier-breaking carbon technology where the barrel is perfectly straight, and the stock is totally carbon (no fill). And they come together magically for zero-once technology, light weight and light recoil. He builds them on various actions: Defiance, Zermatt, Arc, Terminus and various other actions. He puts them together in 1-2 days. Do they shoot? A Marco Polo hunter just scored at over 1000 yards. He's building me a .300 PRC now. You have to speak with him to fully appreciate his know-how and process. I suggest having a brief look and then call him for the explanation. https://paradigmcarbon.com

 

[sierraone]

My favorite JJ Perodeau hurt his back and so could not be at DSC. I always enjoy talking to him in person

This is the worst post I have read in this entire thread!!!

 

[mark-hunter]

My last purchase on order took 8 and half months till completion.

 

[EfRed]

I usually buy something old and interesting, or buy a new gun that is either in stock or mass produced.

Well in 2022 I thought the pandemic was far enough behind us, so I ordered a Blaser D99 barrel in 9.3x74R to take to Africa (already had a D99 Duo in 6.5x55/22 hornet). Then I ordered a Cooper in 33 Nosler for western/Alaska hunts. Dealer has no idea what is happening with Blaser, only that they are working on it, and Cooper got bought out by Nighthawk Custom in Arkansas I guess. Any insiders out there? Am I looking at a few more months or 5 years you think? If we were talking about some bespoke hand-crafted masterpiece I would be more understanding of course, but both of these seem relatively simple.

I'm really stuck on the Blaser design because it works so well, so I guess all I can do is wait. As for the 33 Nosler, I just wanted a rifle chambered in that cartridge and landed on the Cooper. Seemed like the most powerful medium-bore cartridge I could comfortably shoot from a lightweight rifle without a brake or silencer. If I found a similar one for sale I'd probably just buy it and sell the Cooper whenever it came in the mean time.

So tell me your post-pandemic buying woes!

April 2025 - just enquired of Reto Beuhler what is his wait time. He said ~ 2 years. Including GMA action production. It took about that for my last Beuhler rifle as well. One of these very fine rifles is a big deal!

 

[C.W. Richter]

Friends and I had some (various) rifles made, re-barreled, etc. during covid....We got 2 fully-custom Rem 700 copies (stainless, Lilja & Hart, Borden style actions, custom synthetics, etc.) back in 5 mos. from order. Another fancy wood/blued job is still going after 2 yrs and is expected home sometime this year (so 3 yrs.) I've heard some tales of jobs being bumped-up for extra cash. We do it at work sometimes, charging a Rush Turn Around Time fee. Also why it can take longer.... lol Cash IS King and Money Talks! *Gunsmith used Hart on the one gun-they sent it to him within 2 mos. of ordering. In the one case I did say "Look, I'm having surgery on X, a 12-wk recovery time until Y, and I WANT that gun by Z so I can enjoy hunting season!" and he honored that at the time of order (two weeks prior to the delivery date of my request!!) But 6 mos. or less is the way, unless dealing with higher echelon (fine wood, doubles, one-off customs, LOTS of fancy extras, etc.) Stopping before I foam of the mouth...Anytime I've gotten something done in TX I just double the delivery time (i.e. 6 mos. in the NE is 12 down there-same for taxidermy.) I'll just chalk that up to higher traffic! Still perfectly acceptable. And finally, there are the true professionals that stop taking orders at a certain point and let you know when the ticket window is open once again...(for the fine guns.)

 

[grand veneur]

Working and delivery times are an international problem by gunmakers and if they give you a time, it is often better to double or even triple it. If it's the little gunmaker workshop around the corner, it can sometimes go faster, but anything with a more well-known name has waiting times. The gunsmith who built my rifle caliber 500 Schüler initially promised delivery in 3 to 6 months.The rifle was delivered after 2 years. That was just one personal example, but I could give more. Years ago, Hartmann & Weiss is said to have had waiting times of up to 6 years for the building of a rifle. But one know something like that in advance and what ultimately counts is the quality of the work that is delivered.

 

[KJE81]

14 months and counting here (placed the order in the begining of january 2024), but now the rifle has been sent and at least one part of the rifle will arrive tomorrow (if the shipping company does its part), it is sent in two packages to comply with swedish weapon legislation.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

My gunsmith does not require a deposit, so I don't have money tied up in a project. He does not even require a deposit for custom builds. He just has a long wait list because of gun servicing and cleaning. It takes 3 months just to get a gun serviced and longer for repairs. CAN PEOPLE NOT CLEAN THEIR OWN GUNS!

People these days can't even change their own vehicle oil. Pathetic! Any time my guns break down, I fix them myself. Not going to trust someone I don't know to do it. I spent an entire afternoon last week fixing the mess a "locksmith" made of the crash bar mechanism in the church's double doors. Either the guy is an idiot or he just mucked it up so he'd be called back. I'm thinking the latter.

 

[grand veneur]

It is sure that you could repair a lot of things yourself, but in our countries it is often not possible for legal reasons and, in addition, there are many spare parts for weapons in Europe that only professionals can purchase. I suspect that things are a lot easier in North America and especially in the USA.