I don't have an Osprey. I've been really happy with the Rock Creek prefits that I've purchased over the years. If I timed the sale, I was in for around $500, which seemed fair for a prefit, especially given all the options that they have programed in over at PVA.
I don't need an Osprey. I'm not shooting PRS, I'm not shooting benchrest, I'm shooting steel and anything around 1 MOA is going to work great for me. This isn't a knock, but at that price I can swing for the moon and get a Brux, Bartlein, etc. What kept me coming back to PVA was a great barrel at a great price, with way more options for customization than anyone else doing prefits offered. Anyway, useful to know that the lower (cheaper) tier of barrel isn't coming back.
It's a supply issue, when Rock has the capacity I have no problem ordering barrels from them to provide a lower cost option. Rock and PVA worked well together for years and they make an exceptional product. When they're busy and aren't accepting PO's something needs to be done or we go out of business... hence the Ospreys. When we can get Rocks for special projects I still order them and we run occasional sales on those blanks, but I don't have any currently with which to do so. I'm certainly not going to shut down everything invested into the Osprey brand as a result of being able to fill a few PO's on less costly blanks.
Recall back in 2000 there was no Brux, Hawk Hill, Bartlein was either very new and largely unknown or they didn't exist either. In the 25 years since then we've seen several very high end companies come to market and I think we've earned the reputation at this point to be one of those companies. That's not a knock on the brands you're putting on a pedestal, it's just a comparison of the data.
I do disagree with your pricing assessment though, considering that the current retail price is over $450 and a price increase was just announced by Bartlein that takes effect tomorrow. The shops that produce comparable work to us are well not chambering blanks for $150-200.
As far as BR or F class grade performance: Ospreys have won PRS, F class, BR and other matches over the past 4 seasons. The Steel Safari winner used an Osprey 6 Creed that had 2000 rounds on it and even now it's still shooting extremely well. He called to let me know how impressed he was with the longevity at that performance and ordered another.
If it's not the right product for you, I understand and I don't take any offense to it. I would prefer that you not throw rocks at us for offering a product that does work for many others even if we're not currently making something that fits your needs. When we can offer specials in the future I have every intention to do so.
!
