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Preferred Barrel Blanks, Lead Time Longer Than Stated

BS aside, whether warranted or not, the COVID crap is having a very real effect. I'm in a state with no official shutdown order enacted and it has entirely altered, and temporarily slowed day to day production. Shift schedules have been cut up and moved around, parts/material from suppliers have been delayed, people have been out of the office either out of caution, suggestion, or actually sick. It takes a toll on production. Plus I have to wear this stupid Fing mask.

Again, I have no affiliation with PBB, nor do I know their specific circumstances, but I can almost guarantee you it has had an impact on your wait time, and it stands to get much worse. A cursory google search shows Utah facing a potential total shutdown. The fact that anything gun related is in high demand doesn't help, either.

It's whatever. You want to be a hard-nosed bad ass with some old school cowboy pride, great. Curse everyone that ever fails to hold up on a timeline... Have fun with that. Just don't be surprised when you get the other side of public opinion when you post your opinion on a public forum. You don't own this space, lol... I don't have to go out any doors on your suggestion or otherwise.
 
If following through on your word is considered hard nosed bad ass cowboy whatever then yes that’s me.
Not holding people accountable is partly why everything is so messed up right now.
 
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I ordered a barrel from PBB in mid May. I guess it will be another month or so wait according to what's been posted here. A lot of businesses have been impacted by the Wuhan flu so there isn't much I can do about that.

Glad I have other stuff to shoot. I got an X Caliber 6BR barrel a few months ago during one of their sales and I might have got lucky but it shoots pretty well. They have a 25% sale now for the 4th. Their website claims a 6-8 week lead time. I might order another one.

5 shot groups at 100 yards: This thing has shot a few 5 shot groups center-center in the .0s





 
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I ordered a barrel from PBB in mid May. I guess it will be another month or so wait according to what's been posted here. A lot of businesses have been impacted by the Wuhan flu so there isn't much I can do about that.

Glad I have other stuff to shoot. I got an X Caliber 6BR barrel a few months ago during one of their sales and I might have got lucky but it shoots pretty well. They have a 25% sale now for the 4th. Their website claims a 6-8 week lead time. I might order another one.

5 shot groups at 100 yards: This thing has shot a few 5 shot groups center-center in the .0s





This is awesome. I think you got it dialed in, lol, well done.
 
I ordered a barrel from PBB in mid May. I guess it will be another month or so wait according to what's been posted here. A lot of businesses have been impacted by the Wuhan flu so there isn't much I can do about that.

Glad I have other stuff to shoot. I got an X Caliber 6BR barrel a few months ago during one of their sales and I might have got lucky but it shoots pretty well. They have a 25% sale now for the 4th. Their website claims a 6-8 week lead time. I might order another one.

5 shot groups at 100 yards: This thing has shot a few 5 shot groups center-center in the .0s





Not bad for 25 yds😛
 
If following through on your word is considered hard nosed bad ass cowboy whatever then yes that’s me.
You must be with the other guys.

Not holding people accountable is partly why everything is so messed up right now.

So yeah, you want to sit back and toss shit bc you have no skin in the game, maybe AR15.com is the safe space for you sister, they love dudes with big mouths, big opinions on shit unrelated to them and zero balls.

I would be more than happy to watch you leave on your own accord, but some MF’s are just too stupid to realize their welcome is overstayed.
Check out Seattle CHOP for details. They said exactly the same thing you just said. “ You don't own this space, lol... I don't have to go out any doors on your suggestion or otherwise.” How did that work for them?!? Just saying.

- Time to sweep up the popcorn
 
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I hate to say it but I've had two duds in a row from PBB.
Both copper fouled really bad and wouldn't group consistently.
I sent the second one back and told them it was a cull and I wanted a refund.

6 weeks later they called and said they fixed it by re reaming and crowning the barrel.
I told them I wanted my money back and was offered $200..
They finally offered a free replacement so I'm waiting on it now, honestly I'm not expecting much
I'll never buy a cheap barrel again, there's too much risk in it not shooting which turns into a fiddle fuck nightmare!
And as the OP has learned time is worth something
 
You can tell the instant gratification generation is finally getting into the precision world. I remember when barrel wait times were 6+ months at full production, let alone the wait time at your smith of choice. Everyone is so spoiled now. Put your money where your mouth is or STFU.
 
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I don't want to hijack this thread but.. I just paid a guy up front to mow my lawn, he told me it would be 2-4 days. If he doesn't show up for a week or two should I just accept that Covid 19 caused it, or that his word isn't good?
 
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Services vs. manufacturing.

If he ran a business that produced lawn mower blades, quoted you 5-6 weeks, then got shut down or severely restricted on personnel for a month, then his steel supplier got the same problem going on with even more orders than what the mower blade maker had, plus the covid caused a huge boost in lawn mower sales... It might be a more representative metaphor.
 
If everyone on here posted a rant every time they didn’t get a shooting related piece of equipment on time this place would resemble a giant vagina. People waited a year on actions etc. You are frustrated, I get it. I ordered ballistic protection 5 months ago and was told the lead was 6 weeks. Still nothing. The company doesn’t respond. They are busy as heck and I have two choices. Wait or get a refund. PBB is a good company and I believe you will be thrilled at how well your barrel will shoot, especially when it’s about half the price as anything else. Instead of shitting on them and coming off as a turd, email them and explain your situation and ask to be expedited. Probably telling PBB that you can’t wait to tell all your shooting buddies how great their barrels are and offer to slap their included sticker on your gear at matches might get you a lot further then ranting. We’ve all been there, and it sucks but suck it up. Cheers.
 
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I think they charged him as soon as the order was placed, which is not entirely uncommon nor the end of the world IMO, but not the best practice. Easy enough to ask and find out before placing the order. Bartlein doesn't charge until they ship, for example.

Like I said, I don't have any stake in PBB, just thought "wtf" about the thread title and got greeted with some twattery.
 
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I understand the OP frustration. But realize that many companies, due to this COVID 19 bullshit, are not only having trouble getting the raw material to make their products but also having a hard time to get the workers to perform the work due to them getting $900 a week to sit on their asses.

Again, I totally understand your frustration. The fact that your holding out for your barrel says something about the quality since you’ve used them previously and I don’t see any reason to bust balls for doing so.

Just be happy you have the $$ to buy another in the process of holding out for the PBB barrel as many other members, much more involved in this forum than you, are selling stuff just to keep their heads above water.

There isn’t a single company I’ve purchased from in the last couple months that hasn’t pre warned me on extended shipping times or product delays. So I expect it from every company, especially firearm related, in the current times.
 
You guys have no idea how bad it is. I ordered a whataburger #1, WITH cheese, all the way, add ketchup. (Drive thru). I drove away, when I checked, THERE WAS NO FUCKING CHEESE!!!!
I specifically ordered fucking cheese.
When I checked my receipt, I saw they didn't charge me for cheese. So I ate my fucking hamburger and didn't complain to anyone. Though I did mention to my wife that they forgot the cheese.
Like Chris Rock says, they fuck you at the drive thru.
Absolutely true story.
 
Going to venture out on a limb and take a stab at what happened...

Order was placed. At the time of the order, current lead times were 5-6 weeks, maybe more.. Maybe it was closer to 6-9 weeks, but there was a number of things that kept the guys/gals on the phone (who are typtically NOT in the production staff at all) saying 5-6 weeks. Production failed to pass the memo, production thought it was a temporary setback and they'd catch up, or are so busy trying to get shit done they didn't ever pass word along. Maybe it is a management issue... IDK.. So anyway, ole boy here calls in to the CS/sales department and asks where his order is. They're swamped with orders (hence the back log in the first place), maybe they're behind on a steel shipment, maybe they've got people out of the office, maybe they have people off the production floor, maybe a button broke and they're waiting on a Carbide manufacturer who's also behind schedule to send them a replacement part... Maybe there's multiple things going on with multiple different calibers/product lines and guess what... the guy/gal on the phone deals with sales and/or generic return/CS questions and doesn't have the technical data, up-to-date status of every order, or maybe they don't give a shit... Maybe it's an orginizational issue. Nonetheless, they have a generic answer to give the customer because production hasn't told them that lead times are longer or why lead times are longer, or they don't care to get into the specifics of the internal workings of their company with the general public. It's not that they like the customers calling in because it's been past the quoted lead time. They probably fucking hate it to death because it means a bunch of pricks with an attitude just like the OP are going to start calling in every week or every day to pester them about the status of their order....

So the moral of the story is that whether through numerous different options of innocent bad luck, Covid, and/or mismanagement, you're not getting your barrel in the quoted time. You don't know which reason is why, but you're happy to call them pieces of shit regardless and spread some shit on the internet telling everyone to stay away and brag about what a tick turd you're going to be to them. That's why you catch flak from me. You've never been in that position, I assume, because you wouldn't be acting this way if you had. I can just about guarantee you they don't feel much better about it than you do. Ask anyone that's been there.

ETA: If they have bigger business-to-business orders that spiked because of Covid, guess what, the individual consumer is most likely taking a back seat. Call it profiteering or hate it all you want. Self and employee livelihood on the line, you do what's best for the company.
 
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I’m a marine electrician superintendent. I have 6 guys who work directly under me, and that’s 6 different attitudes, skills and bullshit I have to deal with everyday, on top of trying to make customers happy.
In our industry we don’t have the luxury of selling customers something we can’t deliver on. Try telling a $250million ship to just wait a few days while we finish doing our install or repairs. Everyday they sit at the dock they are losing money. Go to the navy and tell them sorry boys, I know we said 5-6 weeks, but currently we are more like 12-14, so your boat is screwed till then. Not going to fly. So a hard delivery date is just that, hard to deliver on. But that’s why THEY pay me a lot more than drive thru attendants at McDonald's.
We deliver a solution to their problem on time and close to budget.
Covid, weather, the fucking fairy god mother, your sister, it don’t matter the excuses, we have to deliver. Are there times we go over on estimated time? Sure. Are there times you start digging into something only to find more trouble than originally anticipated. Absolutely. Does that give me the right to blow smoke up peoples’ ass, no way.
As a company, sub 50 total employees, we fall into the category of a small business. As a small business wouldn't it be more important to deliver on time, as the reputation you build is based on customer’s experience? According to you that affords me the luxury to do whatever I want and not be held accountable? Does that give me the right to tell people I can do something only to not deliver? Fuck no. Excuses aren’t going to cut it. Good rule of thumb is the more money a company has the more they demand perfection.

The facts don’t change. I have in writing a deliver schedule THEY provided. I didn’t ask for a specific lead time, I let them decide what their manufacturing capabilities would allow and I signed off on that. Simple as can be.

You want to throw all these what ifs scenarios out, but they could’ve just as easily under promised and over delivered. Instead they over promised and under delivered. Could they have said from the beginning it’s going to be three months. And delivered in two, sure. They would look like heros, but they would also not have the amount of business as not everyone wants to wait that long. It’s about honesty. They had the choice to be up front and honest, they were not.
If they had, would we be talking about this still, no. I’d be giving an update on how the barrel shoots.

In the simplistic form, I payed for an end result in the time frame we both agreed on.
I delivered. So what the fuck, it’s a one way street?
 
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WTF is up with the title of this thread?

"yeah my current barrel shoots lights out but they missed the deadline by a couple weeks in the middle of a pandemic and firearms panic buy so FUCK THEM TO DEATH!"
295CEFAA-2F32-4EB7-B5A4-2BA0908DFBC8.gif
 
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unfortunately just 6.5cm, my barrels has about 2k now so I figured it’s time is running out

My last 2 6.5's have gone to 3000-3200 before they really puked. Started tossing >1 MOA fliers. Obviously could vary considerably barrel to barrel but mine were both put through a pretty typical PRS match/training routine. My current barrel is also at about 2,000 and still going strong for now. I've been especially hard on this one. I wouldn't sweat it too bad til after 2500.
 
My last 2 6.5's have gone to 3000-3200 before they really puked. Started tossing >1 MOA fliers. Obviously could vary considerably barrel to barrel but mine were both put through a pretty typical PRS match/training routine. My current barrel is also at about 2,000 and still going strong for now. I've been especially hard on this one. I wouldn't sweat it too bad til after 2500.

that’s good to know because by the time I get my barrel it could be close to that hahha I just got the steel barrel but hear they are just as good as anything out there
 
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Man, after the title and responses I can only think there’s something else goin on in your life and this is just lashing out. Come on over to the east side of the cascades for a weekend, get some sun and open space... and maybe covid according to recent trends lol
 
My last 2 6.5's have gone to 3000-3200 before they really puked. Started tossing >1 MOA fliers. Obviously could vary considerably barrel to barrel but mine were both put through a pretty typical PRS match/training routine. My current barrel is also at about 2,000 and still going strong for now. I've been especially hard on this one. I wouldn't sweat it too bad til after 2500.
All my 260 barrels went 3000+ and I push them a good bit faster than factory ammo.


unfortunately just 6.5cm, my barrels has about 2k now so I figured it’s time is running out
Shooting factory ammunition you should easily get 3000.

A lot of my barrels really rocked that last third of life before they started throwing fliers and started really slowing down.
 
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Man, after the title and responses I can only think there’s something else goin on in your life and this is just lashing out. Come on over to the east side of the cascades for a weekend, get some sun and open space... and maybe covid according to recent trends lol

Yes. Some things going on beyond issues with gun parts.

Owe a few people apologizes.
Starting with ledzep.
Sending pm.
 
Likewise. I meant my original post in sarcasm which has a nasty habit of not reading through well over text, especially when a guy is frustrated. Anyway, no need for the name calling. I was feeling just froggy enough yesterday. Apology accepted and I offer my own.
 
It sucks that their lead time was that far off, but you were cutting it close on time frame. I will say that I've never gotten a barrel, custom order, in the quoted time. Some places are close and others have gone over a month or 2. I dont like it, but I can remember 5+yrs ago that 6mo was record time for a custom barrel order.
Never waited for more than a week!
 
Well not quite true but I buy from a few shops .
I call each one and ask if they can get them out to me in my time frame. I also keep spares on the shelf usually. And while I have preferences for manufacturers I will shoot any of the main makers tubes....

Now I may pay more by not shopping the lowest price etc. But there are always trade offs in life.
 
I ordered a blank from Bartlein in January. I was quoted 12 weeks I believe at the time of order. Checked in at the 2 month mark and was quoted 6 more weeks. Checked in again after 7 more weeks and was quoted 3 more weeks. I was contacted for payment about 3 weeks later and barrel arrived as ordered about a week later.

Ordered January 8, received June 10. I was annoyed a little by the timeline but gave lots of slack for Covid stuff. I love the barrel and it hammers. But I don’t know that I can wait 5 months again.
Bartlein quoted me 8 months for a 24” Heavy Palma in .300 PRC. I went with PBB, barrel took 10 weeks. They got slammed with orders once people started posting groups shot with their barrels. I agree they should have updated their lead times. I haven’t shot mine yet, had to head to work until the 19th. I’ll post some groups during load development.
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I’m a marine electrician superintendent. I have 6 guys who work directly under me, and that’s 6 different attitudes, skills and bullshit I have to deal with everyday, on top of trying to make customers happy.
In our industry we don’t have the luxury of selling customers something we can’t deliver on. Try telling a $250million ship to just wait a few days while we finish doing our install or repairs. Everyday they sit at the dock they are losing money. Go to the navy and tell them sorry boys, I know we said 5-6 weeks, but currently we are more like 12-14, so your boat is screwed till then. Not going to fly. So a hard delivery date is just that, hard to deliver on. But that’s why

Work at Vigor?
 
I ordered may 15. The lead time on my order was 5-6 weeks *or longer*. Just got an email today saying my barrel was in production and to expect another email in 10-15 business days, so they are well into the longer. Even if this barrel shoots, I doubt I'll order again from preferred, mostly due to them charging my card up front then going silent till well past their original "soft" ETA.
 
I ordered may 15. The lead time on my order was 5-6 weeks *or longer*. Just got an email today saying my barrel was in production and to expect another email in 10-15 business days, so they are well into the longer. Even if this barrel shoots, I doubt I'll order again from preferred, mostly due to them charging my card up front then going silent till well past their original "soft" ETA.

haven’t even gotten that email from them, but yeah they charged me up front also

was there a rush option you paid extra for to get in line ahead of me haha