It seems I have been waiting on barrels since last November. After an unsatisfactory dealing with Mc Gowan, I first had to recover my gumption again. Then I ordered a 6.5x284 barrel from Shilen through Jim at NSS and due to multiple issues at Shilen still have no idea when that will come in. Jim almost exclusively orders "select match" barrels, and Shilen have not been meeting their own standard for "select match" so yield has been close to zero for months.

Then ordered a custom 8x57 (Savage prefit) barrel through Jim in spring and he explained that a custom barrel would drop ship directly from Shilen, since it would not be included in his regular bulk deliveries.

Finally got the UPS ship notification today from Shilen, so I gave Jim a call to let him know that I was going to need a nut and recoil lug and he said Shilen had got the issues worked out on the 6.5mm barrels and that they were currently building a large batch of blanks. So perhaps, before the snow flies, I might get the 6.5x284 together...

These issues must be having a significant financial impact on people like Jim, since he can't sell what the barrel makers don't or can't make and many customers must have cancelled.

Jim, we appreciate you, despite this year being such a cluster...