McGowen Precision Barrels

[McGowenRifle]

I ran into a issue with the website. I saw that I could order a 264 LBC on the web and get it in 3-4 weeks. After having my chain jerked by a different manufacturer I decided to proceed with some caution. I called and asked for a standard offering in 264 lbc and found out that even though the site says 3-4 weeks a 264 LBC is unique and it will take more time like 10-12 weeks. I am glad I called and didn't lay down my CC and become very disappointed when the Brown truck doesn't show up for at least 3 months.

I apologize if you were "jerked around" by another manufacturer.

We are currently carrying inventory of unturned blanks for the Outlet so if you look at what they already have in inventory we most likely have a unturned blank in inventory to replace their inventory or to make semi custom barrels for them. Unfortunately in your case, you required a 1-9" twist for the 264 LBC and again if you look at their inventory they do not carry anything in a 6.5 caliber in a 1-9" twist. Your order has been placed and has been put through the priority list that my production staff work on each day. We will, as always, get it to you as quickly and accurately as possible. Dan

[McGowenRifle]

There is certainly a detectable "cavalier" attitude to delivery schedules for individual buyers at Mc Gowan.

I ordered an "in stock" barrel blank in 8mm which I requested to have chambered in 8x57 Mauser and profiled, the web transaction was on 11/27/2012. I then sent in my Remington 700 barreled action since Mc Gowan offered to do it with a barrel nut as part of the profiling operation, that was delivered to Mc Gowan on 12-07-2012.

On 01-09-2013 after several requests, I got a response that the barrel was listed as still being in "profiling" and that he would check what the hold up was. It turned out that the turner had messed up the chamber and it was scrap. Meanwhile the site still listed the original blank for sale, so I said - just get another blank and finish the job please ! You can go to the website even today (2 months later) and the blank is still for sale, even though I bought it back in Nov last year... http://www.mcgowenbarrel.com/onsale.htm Scroll down a bit and look at item #39.

I don't know what the priorities are at the sales and admin office, but I cannot understand why (when this is your business), you do not update the list of "stock" items that you have for sale for several months. Now if Mc Gowan had in fact finished my job and delivered it, all this would have been irrelevant (to ME), even though it may have p'ed off someone else who wanted that item, saw it listed, bought it online only to discover that it didn't exist.

When calling the office, the lady who answered the phone will not connect you to Dan, it is as if there is an internal policy that Dan does not talk to customers when they call. Furthermore, she told me to expect the job to take anywhere from 6-9 months because of how backed up they are. I told her there was no way I was going to wait that long for an item which had been advertised as being in stock, especially if all it needed was a chambering and profiling job.

Later I got an email from Dan (this was on 02-07-2013) saying that they would "push through the job in the next couple of weeks". Since then, I have not had any reply to my emails and I'm not wasting any time on the "firewall lady" who answers the phone. Mc Gowan has had a partial payment for the job (the original price of the blank) since Nov of last year and honestly, I have no idea when I am going to see this work of art. What is interesting is that NSS and other retailers have had multiple deliveries from Mc Gowan in the meantime (in more popular calibers - I would be fair to say), and I got a Shilen match barrel through NSS in just 2 days.

I don't think there is anything wrong with the machinists at Mc Gowan, but I suspect there are some serious problems with regard to customer service and the concept that they need to do right by anyone whose money they have accepted. I have worked at many smaller businesses where production managers have run roughshod over little guys to get big orders out for the big customers, but management at Mc Gowan needs to remember that at the end, every single barrel is ultimately bought by individual buyers (except for military and Law Enforcement). If us little guys are not going to get our jobs done in a timely manner, they should just come out and say that they don't want our business and to place the order with NSS or whoever their choice retailer is.

Best of luck to anyone else in a similar situation.

Keith,

First let me apologize that you feel the way you do. We have tried to help in any way that we can and have responded to every email you have sent. My email sent to you said "We are pushing it through for you. Hopefully it will be done in the next couple of weeks". After this email I have not received any correspondence from you until today. Also please remember that we had to change the order as you requested that since it had to be redone you would prefer a 26" barrel. I changed the order personally and please keep in mind that you were receiving a longer barrel at less than 1/2 the cost of a new barrel as we were honoring the original price you paid for the "excess" barrel.
Debi spoke with you this morning and your rifle is being returned to you today. Any monies that you have paid are being refunded in the same fashion as they were paid.
We pride ourselves on our customer service, but also have a commitment to the best quality that we can produce and if at any time the barrel does not meet our standards we will not send it out. Unfortunately this sometimes leads into longer turnaround times that we estimate. At this time we are unable to give a rock solid date in which the order will be shipped. Every customer is given an estimate of the turnaround time, and in most cases we deliver within the estimated turnaround time.
We wish you the best of luck in the future and hope that you will get the barrel that you need for your rifle.

Good Hunting,

Dan

[McGowenRifle]

I see from your new website 1 week on the Remington pre-fits and 3 to 4 on semi-custom Remington pre-fits. So back in early December when I ordered a Remington pre-fit 16" straight bull in 260 and still haven't gotten it I'd have been better off waiting till now and getting it anywhere from 1 to 4 weeks? Wonder how mine got lost in the shuffle? Canceled the order today anyway after being told it still hadn't been started and got what I needed from another barrel maker. Called last Friday and today (Friday) asking about a timeline and was just told "still hasn't been started".

Had lots of local shooters waiting to see how this McGowen pre-fit was going to work on my LongRange XP-100 for our local 1000 yard matches. Guess I'll be doing the range reports with another barrel. Had good expectations on this barrel setup for this gun since the old Lilja shot extremely well and we had hoped the McGowen would do as well.



Good Luck with your new site.

Topstrap

Topstrap,

Don't know who you are but if you'd either give me a call or email me at admin@mcgowenbarrel.com I'll see where your barrel is at if it hasn't already been shipped. We're working with the Outlet on their posted turnaround times so there is no confusion in the future. I think that if you go to their website you'll see that those estimated turnaround times have changed.

Dan

[Dennis]

Topstrap, Dan and I have talked about your order. I just talked to him a few minutes ago and told him about our conversations. I relayed to him that I was very impressed with our conversations, your rifles, and the video's you sent, all being "very" professional. Long story short, were going to do everything we can to assist you. Shoot him an email or give him a call. Please forward any new video's. I may end up building a gun like yours! Take Care my Friend, Dennis

[65impala]

I've been very impressed with my McGowen barrel and expect that with any new venture there is bound to be some teething issues. Hopefully everything gets worked out soon as I will no doubt be a repeat customer!

[Westcliffe01]

Dan, I do appreciate closure on this case, since what started out with a 4 week promised lead time is today at 16 weeks without any concrete feedback regarding where the job was at.

I can only suggest that you consider how this deal looks like from a customers point of view.

1) You list inventory on your website which can be purchased online
2) Customer buys an item of that inventory which requires contouring and chambering on 11-27-2012
3) Machine shop scraps the item during chambering, reported back on 01-21-2013, so 1 week short of 2 months after placing the order on what was said to be a 4 week job.
4) I ship my barreled action to you on 12-07-2012 to have the barrel removed, since I am not equipped to do it. I have had no feedback on whether the barrel was removed and I suspect that it has sat untouched since it was delivered. In my memo this morning, I specifically asked if you would be willing to remove the barrel for me, to which I received no answer. Why do questions from customers elicit only snide remarks from you, Dan ?
5) Final billing for this job was never agreed nor provided by you and you could essentially have invoiced me for whatever you wanted. I specifically asked about a rollup of total costs including the work to remove and install the barrel, but that was never provided. You had said that you would credit the fees paid towards the price of a "regular" full length blank (26"). I don't see where I was getting any kind of discount ?
6) I notice that today the "in stock" inventory has been updated, but the exact same 8mm blank which I bought had been listed after my purchase until just a few days ago.
7) After I posted my timeline of events in this thread, I was contacted by Dennis to act as mediator to try to help with the issues with my delivery. I provided Dennis with copies of all correspondence sent and received, including multiple unfulfilled promises made by you, Dan. If you cannot commit to a date, then you should not provide, promise or hint at a date at all. You should tell the customer that you have no idea when his job will get done and see how many customers like that reality check.
8) Yesterday, Dennis notified me that despite his personal relationship with company management, he was unable to be of assistance to me in this matter. That was why I wrote the office this morning.

In the final analysis, I am only out the cost of shipping, and 4 months use of my rifle. I would have never started this process, nor would I have continued when you reported that the chamber had been ruined, if you had straight up told me that it would take 16-24 weeks to complete the job, which is what Debi Keller said to me when I called.

I think Mc Gowan should consider some professional counseling in customer service. You Dan, and Debi do not seem to understand what people feel like in my position. I have choices and your competitors have not filled me with the kind of dread that I have come to experience with this order.

I wish you success in your endeavors.

Keith Olivier (aka Westcliffe01)

Keith,

First let me apologize that you feel the way you do. We have tried to help in any way that we can and have responded to every email you have sent. My email sent to you said "We are pushing it through for you. Hopefully it will be done in the next couple of weeks". After this email I have not received any correspondence from you until today. Also please remember that we had to change the order as you requested that since it had to be redone you would prefer a 26" barrel. I changed the order personally and please keep in mind that you were receiving a longer barrel at less than 1/2 the cost of a new barrel as we were honoring the original price you paid for the "excess" barrel.
Debi spoke with you this morning and your rifle is being returned to you today. Any monies that you have paid are being refunded in the same fashion as they were paid.
We pride ourselves on our customer service, but also have a commitment to the best quality that we can produce and if at any time the barrel does not meet our standards we will not send it out. Unfortunately this sometimes leads into longer turnaround times that we estimate. At this time we are unable to give a rock solid date in which the order will be shipped. Every customer is given an estimate of the turnaround time, and in most cases we deliver within the estimated turnaround time.
We wish you the best of luck in the future and hope that you will get the barrel that you need for your rifle.

Good Hunting,

Dan

[McGowenRifle]

McGowen Precision Barrels, like others in the firearms industry, is at max capacity and sometimes best "estimates" don't always come to fruition. We pride ourselves on producing a quality product and having quality customer service. Does this mean that we're going to be perfect every time? No. Sometimes in manufacturing things happen that are beyond our control. We are a custom barrel manufacturer meaning that we build to a customers order and rarely stock inventory.
There are times that a customer orders something and because of different issues such as them losing their jobs, etc they cannot afford to pay for a barrel that they have ordered. In most cases we are able to send the item back through the system and find an order that we can match the barrel up with. Unfortunately this is not always the case, especially when it is something out of the norm, such as a special contour. These barrels end up in our "excess inventory" while we try to maintain the website as diligently as we can, sometimes things get so hectic that we may go weeks between updates. But when a customer orders something off the website, we check the inventory and if it is no longer available we refund them immediately.
When a customer orders a product they are given an estimate of the turnaround time. Sometimes we deliver quicker than our estimate, but there are times when this estimated turnaround is not met. Unfortunately there are times when some mistake the word estimate with the word guarantee.
As most know the firearms industry is going (as an old Harry McGowen newspaper article said) great guns. So there are times where you have called a company for years and was always able to speak to someone immediately. Now when you call most companies if you talk to anyone other than an answering machine you are lucky. We have 3 lines at McGowen and on most days at least 2 of the lines are busy and your call ends up going to voicemail. Sometimes the easiest way to contact me is via email. Not saying you cannot talk to me on the phone, but there are times where I'm on the phone and answering emails at the same time. If anyone has any questions, comments or concerns please do not hesitate to call or email me at info@mcgowenbarrel.com I will get back with you as quickly as possibly. There are actually times (like now it is 8:03 p.m. MST) where I'm answering emails at 4:00 a.m. or 10:00 p.m. If I don't get to your email after hours, I will definately get to it during the next business day.

Keep Shooting Straight

Regards,
Dan

[seanhagerty]

I have to say I am impressed with all parties here. No name calling or shouting each other down. Very courtious and professional conversation.

McGowen Barrels will be on my list of companies to consider when next I purchase barrels.

[Dennis]

I have to say I am impressed with all parties here. No name calling or shouting each other down. Very courtious and professional conversation.
McGowen Barrels will be on my list of companies to consider when next I purchase barrels.

Thanks for the kind words above.

As stated we strive to make everyone happy with their ordering experience with McGowen. The Outlet is operated separately from the factory. Operating this way will definitely improve our processes to provide our products efficiently to you.

I wish everyone would use the Forum as it was designed to use. Discuss our favorite builds and shooting experiences. Definitely many technical issues were also solved here. I know several “good” people who have left the Forum because were getting away from our original roots.

This is not the direction we want to go. Myself and the team are more than willing to help anyone “anyway” we can, even our fellow advertisers. We are currently doubling our operation and will be providing “parts” up to “completed rifles” in the very near future. It is in the works, the Outlet is just the first phase of our plans.

Again, thanks for your support and don’t hesitate to contact us. If we can help you, we will.

The McGowen Outlet & McGowen Barrels

[masterblaster]

Have you guys shipped out barrels through the new system yet? Can I gt a bull barrel cut to 24 inches for my 10 FP or is this a full customization?

Yes definitely a good conversation going on here.

[jsthntn247]

I sure hope yall can get it together unlike most of the major manuacturers out there. I was told two weeks by Boots and confirmed by email, nothing in 4 months. I was told two months by Rock Creek and nothing in 4 months. Lilja quoted me 6 months, Krieger and Brux 9 months.

[Dennis]

Have you guys shipped out barrels through the new system yet? Can I gt a bull barrel cut to 24 inches for my 10 FP or is this a full customization?

"ANYTHING" not listed under our prefit section is considered "FULL CUSTOM"

In the semi-custom section, less than 4 weeks to complete and deliver, I keep (?) of turned blanks ready to go if they are listed.

Let me know what you exactly need, and I will see what I can do.

Dennis

[Dennis]

I sure hope yall can get it together unlike most of the major manuacturers out there. I was told two weeks by Boots and confirmed by email, nothing in 4 months. I was told two months by Rock Creek and nothing in 4 months. Lilja quoted me 6 months, Krieger and Brux 9 months

Me personally, I have had an order ongoing now for 15 months with another company. This is one reason we decided to start the "Outlet". Our plans are to make a difference.

We are making on heck of an investment in equipment. We have 2 gunsmiths on staff (additional) in our Outlet location. In two more months, we will be able to fulfill 80% or more of your order requests. Our barrel stock is unbelievable.

BIGGEST PROBLEM NOW: Were experience growing pains just with the Outlet pre-fits. Inventory is going out the door quick. We are keeping our promise of 7 days or less! Best story yet: I shipped a barrel ordered last Tuesday, I shipped it 7pm Tuesday night, buyer received it Friday in his hands Friday 2pm. he was shooting his rifle at 3pm Friday evening. Super tight groups @ 500 yards.

Dennis

[Dennis]

PS: I am getting ready to order certain supplies, muzzle breaks, lugs, barrel nuts, etc., if you have suggestions, let me know. I think I am also going to get a few Rifle Basix SAV-2 triggers as well.

Let me know your thoughts and suggestions, Dennis

Probaby best to PM me or email, info@mcgowenoutlet.com

[BoilerUP]

I see you offer 6x45 as a "semi-custom" option...any plans to add 6mm TCU?

[Dennis]

I see you offer 6x45 as a "semi-custom" option...any plans to add 6mm TCU?

I will pass the suggestion on!

[J.Baker]

Ok, the first time I asked you guys nicely not to pose your questions here to Dennis as this isn't the place for them, but since you can't get that through your thick skulls I'll help you by locking this thread down.

If you have questions about McGowen's products or offerings ask them directly via a PM to Dan or Dennis, via email using the link on their website, or ask it on their forum on their website - which is precisely what they are there for.