waiting period for barrels and other supplies

[SHARPS4953]

I ordered a Mark Silver Virginia rifle kit from Jim Chambers Co. I ordered it in October of 16, I got the stock, lock and other assorted parts the following November less the barrel. Im still waiting on the barrel so I basically have a glorified war club right now. Anyone experience this long of a wait before?

Ive always heard of the good quality of Jim's kits but Ive got to admit Im starting to regret not going with TOW like ive done for many years. 
Scott

[wattlebuster]

Were it me I would be talking to Barbie at Chambers. Nothing beats going straight to the source. She can tell you whats going on an all of us can just guess. The Silver kit makes a beautiful gun

[FALout]

I had to wait for a lock for the kit I bought, sucked, but was not a big deal in the long run.  I got over it.  Some things, they have been busy keeping up such as late Ketland locks.  As for barrels, those are made in runs dependent on size and style.  For right now, you are not gonna find anyone sitting on large stocks of parts, for example,...go to Track of the Wolfs or Muzzleloaders Builders Supply's website to check out barrels, see how many of them barrels are "out of stock"!!  I'm not sure if sales are so strong that no one can keep up OR that the economy was so slow for the last 8 years that most business's can't  risk having that much tied up in inventory, I lean toward the latter since that is how it is where I work.  As suggested, give Chambers a call, they have always been good to me and honest about any delays. 

[Dennis Glazener]

Call Rice barrels and see if they have one. Sometimes they have a few barrels in stock. I bought a 50 southern class this week.

Dennis

[thecapgunkid]

call 'em.  I've only had one part hung up and it was...guess what...a barrel.

there's a lot going on in the supplier end of the business right now and a lot more "out of stock" or "backordered" is showing up on products.

[Bob Roller]

I had to wait for a lock for the kit I bought, sucked, but was not a big deal in the long run.  I got over it.  Some things, they have been busy keeping up such as late Ketland locks.  As for barrels, those are made in runs dependent on size and style.  For right now, you are not gonna find anyone sitting on large stocks of parts, for example,...go to Track of the Wolfs or Muzzleloaders Builders Supply's website to check out barrels, see how many of them barrels are "out of stock"!!  I'm not sure if sales are so strong that no one can keep up OR that the economy was so slow for the last 8 years that most business's can't  risk having that much tied up in inventory, I lean toward the latter since that is how it is where I work.  As suggested, give Chambers a call, they have always been good to me and honest about any delays.

Suppliers of these hobby items must also wait on suppliers and it's always been that way.
We are a cottage industry that work toward the quality oriented market like Barbie and her
Dad.I am a one man shop but as earlier stated,I am winding down and will try to finish
what I have to do.
One bit of good news,now that Jim McLemore's wife has passed away,he is back in the
shop working on a Rigby project and he makes all of his barrels from Gun Barrel Certified
steel.They are not cheap but then that level of care and work will never be cheap.
Jim was unable to do any shop work due to Margaret's need for constant care but he was
there for her and called me about once a month for the duration of her illness. He said I
was a "voice of sanity",whatever that is.

Bob Roller

[Bill Raby]

I bought a kit from Track of the Wolf in October 2016. Still waiting on the barrel. Last time I called I was to it will be "many weeks?".

[little joe]

Don,t air your dirty laundry  till you call the laundry and talk to them. Jim and Barb are excellent folks to deal with. I,m sure you will get your bbl as it becomes  available.

[Dave Marsh]

That's a plus one from me Little Joe.  Jim and Barbie are great to deal with.

Dave

[Kingsburyarms]

I literally just got off the phone with Barbie - I have an Isaac Haines kit on order (She mentioned my B weight barrel is in production, and the timing she expected to bundle up the kit) and I ordered more stuff (don't tell my wife, a couple pistols and a Fowler) They are wonderful to work with, and a few weeks ago I needed a frizzen spring - in the mail same day - Anyone in the shop that answers the phone will keep you fully informed - and even provide options (They had a "C" weight barrel they could ship ASAP)  - Just my $0.02

Jon

[sqrldog]

Guys I like Jim and Barbie also and think they provide a great service to the muzzleloading industry and those of us that build muzzleloaders. However, a five month wait on a barrel is a long time for someone eager to start a build. The Mark Silver Barrel is a standard profile for Rice barrels and should be relatively easy for Jason to make. I would also recommend contacting Barbie and see why the barrel has been delayed. Tim

[smallpatch]

The barrel makers build by bore and profile.  If they oversell one style, you gotta wait till they run that profile and bore again.  Remember, this is not production factories.  They are small shops and make what they sell the most, more often.  Odd ball configurations take more time.

[little joe]

I waited 8 mo,s on a barrel. I ordered a bastard cal. .375 that was tapered. It was what I wanted and worth the wait. Some of you guys do not understand that these operations are 1 or 2-3 man operations.Chambers is only allowed a certain amount of Rice,s bbl,s as Rice has other customers to fill also.

[Jim Chambers]

  First, the barrel supply (as others have pointed out) is basically out of our control.  Even if we had an extra million dollars to invest in inventory we still could not guarantee we would always have the exact barrel in the exact caliber you want at any given time.  We use only the very best American made parts in our kits, and Rice Barrel Co. supplies just about everyone in the industry.  They are not going to put every other customer/company on hold to just make barrels for Barbie or anyone else.
Having said all this, I just got off the phone with Barbie, and she talked with Jason at Rice Barrel Co. just this morning.  He said he is finishing up a run of one type of barrel and will switch over to the Mark Silver barrels week after next.  I can assure you Barbie will be shipping those barrels just as soon as we receive them.
She will probably post something soon about the state of supply and demand in the parts business.  Stay tuned.
Jim Chambers

[EC121]

Here is an example of what you can do with Jim's Va. kit for a base to work from. www.bricestultzhisblog.blogspot.com   Look in April 2016.  Then go to June 2016 to see why it is my hog rifle.   

[SHARPS4953]

That's a plus one from me Little Joe.  Jim and Barbie are great to deal with.

Dave

I really didnt think my post was nasty or rude so I'm really not sure why the "dirty laundry comment". I was just seeing if others have experienced this long a wait for a barrel. The folks at Jim Chambers have been real nice to deal with over the phone, I have absolutely no issue with them. Ive been building guns from TOW for years and had to wait for a barrel for maybe 2 months. Im new to Chambers and was just wondering if this was the norm given his kits popularity.

[bama]

I normally do not reply to this kind of post because most hobby builders just do not understand that all in all we are a pretty small group in a pretty small market. We have roughly 6 barrel suppliers that are for the most part one man operations. If they each produced a barrel a day that would be 2190 barrels a year. I doubt they can produce one a day everyday for 365 days a year. Let's just say they produce 2000 barrels a year that is not enough to feed our small market. I did not include straight barrels in this number because if you want a straight barrel those seem to be available.

I plan all of my projects at least a year in advance or more if possible. I have a pair of lock castings that have been on order for over 6 months now and it will probably be 6 more before I get them. Patience is a hard thing but we must have it.

Good luck with your project and I hope you can get your barrel soon. Just remember that we are a small community.

[flehto]

I imagine that those builders who build to sell, inventory bbls to eliminate a long delivery time and also  to  accommodate impatient customers.  So, their inventories are a factor causing a shortage of bbls and if I depended on building for a living or was a high volume part time builder I would do likewise.  Although I wasn't a high volume builder, always had parts for 2 complete builds waiting.   

In these modern times everything seems to be "right now" so when a new or the casual builder orders a kit or a bbl, he/she expects what is ordered to be delivered pronto which does happen if what they want is in stock, but mostly they'll experience a long wait impatiently. ....Fred

[bob in the woods]

I think that full time builders have waiting times exceeding the barrel delivery time. Put down a deposit..lots of time for the parts to come in. The one thing you need on hand is decent wood. That is getting more expensive and harder to find as time goes on.

[n stephenson]

Fred, Do you have any close up pics of the Lehigh/ Bucks gun 3rd down?. I like the looks of that. Thanks  Nathan

[oldtravler61]

  Personally I quit ordering along time ago. Now I just travel to the different shows, event or businesses an buy what I want for the build. It's fun I get to meet great people. Plus I get good information. But that's just me....Oldtravler

[smallpatch]

One last thing.  Availability, and selection of ALL parts is much better than it was a few years back.
I've waited over 2 years for custom barrels from other barrel makers in the past.  Now you can usually get one in a few weeks.
We've just got to remember that this isn't Chevy or Ford with thousands of employees to fulfill our every need, but a few brave souls trying to make a living, living through feast and famine, doing the best they can, to provide a quality product.
To me, the whole mindset of what we do, is one of patience and skill to put out a product better than the originals we try to emulate.
Some times we just have to wooo sahhhhh, and wait. I'll bet the old masters waited a lot longer than we do.!
Back then, the Brown Truck was probably a brown mule.

[flehto]

n Stephenson....if you send me your e-mail address, I'll send a few pics.  I've made quite a few BCs and don't know which one is shown......so I'll send pics of various BCs. Photobucket is giving me fits so can't use it.       fklehto@charter.net          Fred



     

[Pete G.]

It is not just one supplier or one type of barrel. I ordered a straight octagon barrel from TOW and had to wait over six months. It come with the territory.

[rich pierce]

Friends, I'm going to make a unilateral moderator move here and re-name this topic which was "Jim Chambers waiting period" to "waiting period for barrels and other supplies" as I feel the topic has become more a general discussion of supplies for our cottage industry in general.  I tried to reach the original poster via PM but no luck.  He is new to the forum and I hope we did not chase him off with our "learning him".

No worries; this is a good and productive discussion.  If you think this re-naming is too heavy-handed on my part please let me know.