Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Contacting Robert Gradous

Sam,

The new equipment, tooling, three phase power & transformers apparently cannot read.

Good stuff!

all phone calls will be answered on Mon the 29th, it's going to be a long day...............

Some people actually work for a living instead of talking about working.

I guess I do.

In the overall scheme of things I don't consider this one of life's real problems.

But it's still an indication of his backlog.

Why not give a heads up on the FRONT end? Give guys the choice to take their stuff elsewhere if they don't want to wait. You know, the whole do unto others...

I could have a backlog of ten years if I only produced a few rifles here and there and let the stuff sit on a shelf. Unfortunately what happens is your customers get pissed off and want there stuff back, and money back, like what is going on here. And, when you won't have any contact with your customers, they get really pissed off, so much, that they start calling government agencies to step in and do something about it.

I've watch Gradous progress from offering customers to build their own rifles (years ago) to being a sensation. I have absolutely no doubt that the guy builds one of the tightest shooting rigs in the business. For that, he's built a highly-successful business where demand is high. With the demand, he is growing and adding labor and equipment.

Having been a customer with another big-name shop that fancies themselves to use lots of CNC, the result of work performed didn't equal the performance of the factory Remington 700 I sent in. they also seem to have had a revolving door regarding labor over the past 5 years. In fact, I had to send the rifle back TWICE due to QC issues. Rifle still doesn't meet my expectations using Krieger barrel. With that, my question is this?

Having new labor and equipment, can Gradous and crew still produce the same level of workmanship that Gradous soley produced in the past? Some think CNC makes work more precise...I see it as an opportunity to not perform QC as the expectations are that the machine will produce it. Therefore, you now have button pushers. Just my $.02 based on my experience.

I wish Gradous the best of luck and hope he comes out of this on top with happy customers. The customer should be able to set the direction for the items they own.

Very few people have the hand on skills to produce the quality and repeat ability of today's CNC machines.

That being said, cheap machines are much like cheap labor, you usually get what you pay for.

Threading barrels with today's insert able tooling means perfect threads every time.

But if you are going to spend 80 grand on a lathe and have a "would you like fries with that" kind of guy run it you will just learn that CNC machines are capable of making junk parts at far higher rate than a manual machine ever will.

I’ve been toying with the idea of selling a 2-year-old Gradous-built .280AI for a couple of months so I did a search to determine what other Gradous rifles might be for sale, and doing so I discovered this thread.

I feel like I need to share some of what I know. Robert does not need me to defend him – so I won’t. I will limit my comments to my experiences having him build 2 rifles for me, both of which shoot lights out. I had the good fortune of being in his shop at the time he built my rifles. While I did not actually help, I stood alongside and watched him and he explained to me every step in the process and why he did what he was doing and the benefit of taking the extra steps. I learned more about accurate riles and precision shooting in my short time with him in all the years previous. I found him to be one of the most genuine, polite, respectful, and kind gentlemen I’ve ever had the privilege of meeting. The man has forgot more about precision and what it takes to build an accurate rifle than the collective wisdom in this thread. Over the two separate weekends that I spent at his shop, more than a few gunsmiths called for his advice. These were men who are quite well thought of in the business of gun building.

Wait times and good communication are one side of the business, no question about that. The other side is highly accurate and well-built rifles. Robert Gradous has nothing to prove to anyone in that aspect. For my money, when it comes to really accurate, well-built rifles, talk is over-rated

The background noise will sound similar to the phone bank at the Jerry Lewis labor day Muscular Distrophy Telethon..........

Yawn.

It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to build an accurate rifle. Lots of guys that nobody here have ever heard of can build same.

It is unethical to accept work that you have no intention of beginning for years.

It is unethical to accept payment for work that you have no intention of beginning for years.

It is unethical to refuse to return calls/rifles & parts/money for work that you haven't started after you have ignored the customer for years.

It is unethical to accept work based on you performing the build, hold customers gun/parts/money for years then tell everybody its all good now - you've got a new shop w/ CNC equipment and gunsmiths you never agreed to will be performing the build (theoretically) on your rifle.

Highly unscrupulous business practices. He'll never get any business from me.

David

Take it from a machinist with 37 years of experience, and 37 of those years involved with CNC machines, the machine means nothing, it has to do with the person programming and setting up the machine. I am one of the best there is at doing complex close tolerance work, yet I chose to let someone with experience building rifles put my gun together, makes all the difference in the world. Of course, if said builder won't build the rifle like he promised, or return calls, I would have been better off doing it myself.

Nothing in the above post surprises me. I have never dealt with Gradous but have dealt with many custom builders. I bet he builds a hell of a rifle.

Unless you have a signed contract with a guaranteed delivery date, you have nothing except the incessant whining on the Internet. The rifle should be delivered in a "reasonable" period of time....define that for me LOL!

These kangaroo court indictments of sole proprietor custom smiths make me LMAO. Only an idiot would even post them.

So, are phones ringing off the wall?

Mine sure hasn't.

I know Robert but have not spoken to him since before this thread began. I can't speak for Robert's customer service but I can speak to his talents as a gunmaker and his qualities as a man.

When I set out to learn how to fit and chamber my own barrels, one of the most well-respected gunmakers in the country told me that I should learn from Robert. Robert is not a "monkey see, monkey do" gunmaker but, rather, a very intelligent man who asks "why?" at every step in the process. He is a next-level thinker. His techniques are always pushing the boundaries of perfection which is why he gets calls all day long from others in the business asking for his input. Any hack can fit and chamber a barrel but a select few guys take the process to the level that he does.

Robert didn't know me from a hole in the ground but he put me up on his farm and spent two days walking me through the building process. Our mutual friend's endorsement was enough for him. He taught me the "why" of every step and challenged me to ensure that I was getting the picture. During my time in his shop, I witnessed a steady stream of calls and visits from people who wanted, and received his help. He would not accept my money for his time and, for that, I am eternally grateful.

I have been in the shoes (with other makers) of the frustrated customers who are waiting patiently for their rifles and I'm not here to make excuses on anyone's behalf. Part of the reason that I learned to build my own rifles was that I couldn't stand waiting for others to do the work, only to find that it wasn't done correctly. That said, I can't stand by and watch a guy get dragged through the mud who was so generous to me. If Robert wasn't constantly helping others, he'd surely get more work done. All I can say is, when he's done with your rifle, it will shoot.

He was just beginning the physical expansion of his shop when I visited. Hopefully his new equipment and staff will help him speed up his build process and work through his backlog. I hope that for him, as well as his customers.

Curious - how much time does RG have using CNC to produce close tolerance gun builds?

No dog in the fight but seems to me if the CNC is new to him - last thing I'd want is to be his guy's new guinea pig.

Robert has a guy who does his machining and programming and is supposed to be very good...........all the shop needs now is a chef a secretary and a phone that works!

ASK.....I did. It's not hard to be a wise consumer. Lots of top shelf gun builders take a long time to produce such a weapon.