I still have not received my 6.5x284 Shilen Select match barrel, which I ordered in April.. This order was placed with Jim at NSS and while I did get a fully custom 8x57 barrel which I ordered a month later in May, I never seem to get closer to a due date with Shilen on the 6.5. Every call over the last 8 months has had the same response 6-8 weeks out. About 6 weeks ago I was told that the blank was finally ready (1 of 6 or 8 ?) but when I called today, I was given a new date for late January.

So for me, I will no longer order any "not in stock" Shilen barrel, period. If I call and Jim has it, great, if not, it will come from someone else. Jim is sending me a CBI in the same configuration (Savage small shank, 26" varmint 6.5x284 1:8 twist) so I will find out how the CBI barrel is in comparison.

So this is the second barrel maker on my "do not order list" after Mc Gowan, who did a very similar thing late last year on my first barrel with them. Shilen got me 3 out of 4 barrels in a reasonable time, just never seem willing to close on the last one. It sounds like Shilen made a deliberate decision NOT to upstaff or do any expansion whatsoever, regardless of demand and they are not exactly open about having 30-40 week lead times on their prefit barrels either. When folks make those kinds of business decisions and then expect customers to simply wait until however long it takes, I take it as a signal that they never really needed my money in the first place.