He's been gone for 21 days........................and whatever happened to those "flash sales"?

He's probably trying to run a very busy business...

'Tis the vacation time of year.

Vacation and pretty busy, both at work and home. I’m still alive!

I’ll get the daily deals rolling again soon. Working on some other projects too.

You can't throw out a few deals and leave is hanging!

are yall all outta those smith & wesson model 17s?

Hopefully he's working on that dumpster fire of a website. Must have cost them a million in lost sales by now.

Ouch!

I thought he might have gotten tired of the controversy of trying to do something positive on this site. You will never be able to please everyone.
donsm70

That too...

No good deed goes unpunished...

Well, I saw him yesterday at Whitakers, and he looked pretty busy to me. I'd also say judging by the crowd that was there, they aren't losing much money either.

hes too busy countin stacks of cash money to be worried about this silly message board!

I honestly laughed when I read this - and I’m not being sarcastic. I’m past the point of being infuriated. I may as well laugh about my mistakes! Live and learn...

A new one is close to launching....

Dang it man! You guys are supposed to yell at me. I really am preoccupied and busy often, but a conversation with ‘fire members usually gets me back on track. Just say, “Hey Darrik, come here!”. We’ve spoken in the past, but you guys need to remind me who you are.

Being an owner means I deal with the crap most of the time. I don’t have many fun conversations on a daily basis. You guys can change that!

Tell ya what. You make another deal with howa or similar makers for those $320 deals and i will buy a couple. Kicking myself for not buying more

He did say he would put the next one AFTER EACH ONE SELLS. Did that odd caliber Ruger 77 sell?

Well, I actually did a couple days ago!

Howa had some youth stocks left from the run a couple years ago and decided to let them go - 70 to be exact. They also had a surplus of 6.5 Grendel barreled actions with the 22” standard contour. I asked them if they’d be willing to let me do a combo. I wanted both the youth stock and the full size stock to appeal to more of the market. They obliged. The youth stock is black, the full size stock is the green like I’ve used in the past.

I’m selling the combo for $359.99....and you’ll have no problem selling the youth stock for $40. We get bombarded with calls from guys needing one for junior or junette. You may even like the shorter length of pull? I expect them next week.

Nice!

Yes.

I stopped because I got pissed off. I got tired of the bitching and moaning. You guys can’t imagine the whining I got on the back end.

And I have no doubt the whiners probably didn’t even want the rifle. I’m sure they had intentions of reselling them for a profit. Kinda like the Tikka deals I posted a couple years ago. I saw them for sale within a week marked up $200. I get it - free enterprise. What you guys didn’t know was we had locals that had them on layaway. Guys that would have actually used the rifles. I gave the locals store credit plus a bonus if they’d switch products and let me sell those rifles to guys on here. Wanna guess what happened? The whiners that I accommodated from here had their rifles for sale at a higher price in short order.

Why don’t you tell all those whiners to shove it and meet me in Billings and we’ll go shoot some prairie dogs...

I’d say that’s likely to happen before long!

Just let me know when you are ready, there’s plenty to go around...

Pick me Shrap, pick me.

I was raised in Billings so I know the way.

No good dead goes unpunished.

It ain't right to punish the dead...

I guess I missed that drama.bring back the daily deals, brother.

I was going to holler at you, but when I looked up again, you were gone, and I figured you were busy. I was hoping you had the Model 700 American Hunter 6.5 Creed, as I was wanting to handle one.

Oh well, it's not that far, so maybe I'll holler at you the next time.

I wish someone in KY would run some more $1300 Fieldcrafts. Help me help you. Lol

See, that's the thing about lost sales - you don't know you lost them. Whittaker's exists because they follow a business model that is virtually identical to web based powerhouses like Amazon: Buy large volumes at minimal price, sell them fast on a thin margin, provide great communication and service, rinse and repeat. To not effectively use the web to boost those sales is crazy and SAS certainly recognizes that. The couch bound geriatrics and alcoholic fanboys that dominate this site aside, a whole bunch of buyers will go to their site, search and have issues, and move along. A decent internet presence will absolutely blow up their income. They're likely to have issues managing the growth, which is a great problem to have.

LOL

I’m still shooting that stainless T3 in 223 I bought from you. I’ve turned down several offers to buy it.

Uh oh... we've been figured out...... hope Leupold doesn't read this

I’d be down for a youth stock if anybody buys one of the packages and has no need for it. Putting together a youth/handi rifle with one of the Walmart clearance .243 vanguards.

Going to cut the barrel for a suppressor host as well. Haven’t decided what length I want to go yet. Want to go short as reasonable. Will be used at the bench for the kids to practice and blind hunting. Suggestions welcome

SAS, no whining on my end. I love that Tikka bought from Whittaker Guns several years ago and still thank you for the heads up on that deal.

Not sure how I missed this thread. I appreciate the deals. I have some Fieldcrafts that I hope I will never have to sell. I kept my Tikka's for awhile, but they went down the road eventually. Just not a Tikka guy. But I don't think most buy them just to make money on them. I'm sure there's a few. Keep up the good work and keep the faith, Darrik!!

I bought one of the 8" twist Tikka 22-250 rifles from Whitakers when they had the special going just to see what all the fuss was about with heavy bullets in a 22-250. I never grew to favor heavy bullets in the 22-250 case, but the rifle is still used a lot as it is accurate with any bullet I've tried in it. It shoots Sierra 52 grain BTHP bullets extremely well, and it isn't going anywhere in the near future that I can see.

No matter what business you might run and how well you run it, there are always other people who think that they could do it better. Its called life.

SAS hasn’t been on in nearly two months. Probably tired of our [bleep] again!

scanning this thread is just depressing...

you have some guy like Darrik come on here and shows us good intentions up and beyond anywhere else you can find that level of service and special pricing offers...and then he gets complainers.. and people who just resell a rifle to pick up a couple of hundred bucks...

as some one pointed out to me, a while ago...of all the ones who love to do personal attacks at the drop of a hat all the time, and then their minion followers.. that number is actually a small group in ratio to the number of people on the campfire..

and its always the same few usual suspects... Sadly if Darrik is just tired of that being the rewards for his efforts, who can blame him? at the same time, its ridiculous that its a small number of those type of clowns that ruin it for everyone...

Seafire,

We don't always agree, however you are spot on with this post regards Darrik. He will do well in his business, with or without the BS that goes on here....

Between the Christmas shopping season, and having to do inventory in December, I'd say he's been busier than a one armed paper hanger.

Darrik probably left because there are some azzholes here that call him Darren and/or Darrell.

LOL.

I got a text about this thread. I’m still alive...

Truth be told, I’m just busier than I used to be. My kids are getting older and I’m more involved with things that interest them. They’re now 15, 12 and 8.

I’m also not at my computer as much as I used to be and when I am, I’m always answering emails, dealing with customers, distributors or manufacturers.

I hadn’t forgotten about this place and I’m still working a few neat exclusives. Maybe they’ll get produced this year? Last summer was tough in the gun world, so maybe manufacturers will have some time this summer to pump out some special stuff.

And yeah, I got a little tired of the crap on here. Maybe I need to spend more time here in the next few months catching up?

And please send me emails if you guys ever need anything.

[email protected]

I seldom check messages here and hadn’t for months. I ran into an issue responding. My page would refresh before I could even get a response finished. That went on for several weeks and I said to heck with it. Frustrating when you try to reply 4 times to the same message and never get it done. I’m assuming it had something to do with my software protection blocking redirects. Anyway, I finally gave up!

With emails I can actually forward them to employees that aren’t on the fire. They can get quick answers when I’m not always certain or available. I can’t stand to make customers wait!

Glad you are well and thanks for the update Darrik.

Agreed! This forum needs to take some trash out.

Tag

Then when you see some of your bros getting the hehove, you will start bitching how this site sucks because the moderator is not fair..

Lastround probably had something to do with it 😉

I kept my Tikka I bought back then. Sold the RAR it replaced.

Cerakoted it and put it in a McMillan. Just shot it again Friday

Sent an email about those a little while ago. Just reread this post and was reminded why there aren’t more coming. Thanks for the fast reply Darrik.

Hi Marty,
Hey, I don’t get to talk to him as much as I used to. He definitely is a busy man. We talk when it’s important or necessary, but I try not to get in the way. Whittaker Guns is a BIG operation he is running, and trying to get the Website squared away has taken up a lot of his time. I am pretty proud of what he’s accomplishing out there.

Well, I appreciate Darrik's effort to provide us with things that we tell him we want and then don't rush to buy, like the Rugers in 22-250 with the 1-8" ROT and the 17HM2s.

I have one of each of those special runs of Rugers and have been happy with them.

Classy reply.

Good to know! I'll make sure to add that to my "Favorites".......

Yep

Great high road responce 👏👏👏

I have not had the pleasure of meeting Darrik but I after doing business with Whittakers and reading his posts here I have it in my head he must be a heck of a good guy.

He is top shelf

Sorry to hear the drama... no good deed goes unpunished. yikes. Oh, and take Shrapnel up on his offer - you won't regret it! He is at least partially to blame for my rifle looniness.

Your priorities are right brother. While the net can indeed help you bring in business, it can also be a huge time suck.

I can vouch for the fact that Darrik is alive and well..

He sold me a gun!

What did you get?

Fact...

I am just sorry he is skipping SHOT this year.

Thanks for your hard work. Looking forward to whittaker's exclusives

I asked him to see if he can’t get Tikka Actions w/ trigger in stock....

Tag

I told him I'd buy one of the HM2s and did. I can't really find anything flattering to say about it. Reading here an over on RFC, that seems to be the norm. The bolt on mine takes more effort to open and close than it does on any of my other rimfires. It's obnoxiously heavy even compared to my other American rimfires. To be fair, I have only tested one load so far. Accuracy was not good. It split cases from the same box of ammo that my Marlin shoots well and doesn't split cases. I think if Ruger had executed that rifle really well Derrik would have sold out quickly.

My HM2 functions perfectly. Accuracy has been spotty, with uncalled flyers. Last time out was Friday, with a 14x scope. Three ammo types still producing flyers. With the bedding blocks and fully floated barrel, I don't see much that can be going wrong with the rifle. I think it's the ammo. When the M2 came out, there was speculation that it might become a new match cartridge because it was so accurate. Most who played with it back then agree the Eley ammo was the best, and you had Annies and other nice rifles available. Now it's mostly plinker-grade stuff. I suspect the effort required to make really good ammo just isn't being made.

If anyone with an Annie or other quality rifle is getting stellar accuracy with current ammo, I'd like to hear about it. What I have heard is about guys with dwindling supplies of the old Eley scouting gunshows for more.

A half-inch trajectory over 100 yards makes this a squirreler's dream, if it can be depended on to hit them.