"This is going to piss off a bunch of you out there, but don't think for a second
that I care."... Butch Searcy

Men,

If I'd bought this rifle and had this experience after I'd payed 12K,

[and being a regular laymen had saved up the $$$ over the course of

about FIVE YEARS] and was expecting a brand new rifle, custom made

specifically for ME, with a substantial portion of the work to have

been carried out by hand, I would be WILD. Look, an American car for

the cost of a Searcy rifle is a robot built, mass produced thing. And

we expect it to have a number of imperfections, that's a quality control

reality. But I do not think that a Searcy rifle is a mass produced item.

I heard that he puts out about sixty per year. IMO they should be EXTREMELY

close to perfect when ORIGINALLY shipped. This repeated need to send the

rifle back to the maker is not acceptable. I submit that any one who has a

household income of 250K per year or less would think that 12K spent on ONE

rifle is a HUGE amount. I bet that means most of us here on AR. To those guys

taking in more than 250K, maybe double, maybe quadruple, or what ever, you

just can not relate to how much money this 12K is to the average man. You'd

need to earn about 17K to clear 12K after taxes!!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by corbin shell:
Dirklawyer,

Get a Heym or Demas. Their engravers know how to spell.

Corbin,

Excuse my ignorance, what is a Demas?

Ditto surestrike. Demas?

Demas is a French gunmaker, now owned by Verney Carron. DRs are very similar to the Chapuis (maybe Chapuis barreled actions, I don't know), but better finished. Nice rifles.
-------------------------------------------------
"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

Gee, I always thought the rifle was the "express" and the animal the "expresee". Reckon Butch just got it backwards.
------------------------------------------------
"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

Here's what I did to find it [DEMAS].

At www.yahoo.com I went into the search

box. There I entered DEMAS ARMES and the

1st choice that came up was www.demas.fr -

and it had a TRANSLATE THIS PAGE option

which I clicked on. This way a good portion

of the site is given in English. Now it seems

www.verney-carron.com did buy this maker

out. I think www.chapuis-armes.com uses

this design. Also www.griffinhowe.com has

a NEW 470 NE that looks like it is this design

too. It is marked Verney-Carron and GRIFFIN &

HOWE - NEW YORK I have handled it. NO, again,

NO rib extension, nor third bite nor fastener.

Just like Chapuis and Searcy and others I'm sure.

I don't know a thing about double rifles, never even touched one, but I am a business owner myself, and for a business owner to say "This is going to piss off a bunch of you out there, but don't think for a second that I care." tells me enough to dump the Searcey, uh, Cearsey, Umm, whatever, and go to someone who does care. Either he is so rich he doesn't need the business, or so arraogant who would want to deal with him anyway. People who are not "fickled" ( is that even a word?) buy off the rack M70's or 77's,- they will send 500 grains at 2100 fps just as well as any double - and the special customers who want something special and are willng to spend 12 TIMES the cost of a fully functional factory bolt action SHOULD be pampered and catered to IF you care to stay in business. Mr. Searcy, Searcey, whatever, may know more about rifles than I ever will, but not about business.

quote:

Originally posted by Butch Searcy:
I guess what really set me off was that I had received an email from Dirk wanting a refund. And if I would give him back his money he wouldn't bad mouth me and that we could remain friends. My reply was that we weren't friends.
This is going to piss off a bunch of you out there, but don't think for a second that I care.

Butch certainly doesn't need my defense, but I read his reply of 'not caring' as refering to the alleged threat made to his reputation.

FWIW,

-Steve

quote:

It soulds like someone who is over extended and loosing control of the product.

Butch may need some first class help in his expansion.

+1

quote:

Originally posted by Paul Franklin:
I don't know a thing about double rifles, never even touched one, but I am a business owner myself, and for a business owner to say "This is going to piss off a bunch of you out there, but don't think for a second that I care." tells me enough to dump the Searcey, uh, Cearsey, Umm, whatever, and go to someone who does care. Either he is so rich he doesn't need the business, or so arraogant who would want to deal with him anyway. People who are not "fickled" ( is that even a word?) buy off the rack M70's or 77's,- they will send 500 grains at 2100 fps just as well as any double - and the special customers who want something special and are willng to spend 12 TIMES the cost of a fully functional factory bolt action SHOULD be pampered and catered to IF you care to stay in business. Mr. Searcy, Searcey, whatever, may know more about rifles than I ever will, but not about business.

Mr. Farnklin, I understand your reading this that way, and your reaction to the way you read it, but I can tell you from personal knowledge, that you are way off base in this case. Butch Searcy is a stand up guy, and cares deeply about his reputation, and that of his rifles. However, like most of the people from the Southwest,(he came to Cal. from New Mexico) he is not prone to buckle down to threats.

I agree with you that the customer is to be catered to, but the old saying that reads "THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT" doesn't hold water, because they are often not right, and in a case like this, one tends to believe the first story they hear. I'm not saying this is the case here, just that the ALWAYS doesn't always apply.

I too think it is unfortunet the rifle left Butch's shop in the condition it did, amd there is some justification for thinking there is a lack of quality control, at least, in this case. However, like Butch, I don't take kindly to threats, and I believe this is what Butch was talking about in his statement that he doesn't care who gets pissed off because he didn't bow to the threat of bad mouthing by the customer. At least that was the way I read it, knowing Butch personally!

I could be 100% wrong in my take as well, but I don't think so. In cases like this, the public makes judgement calls, based on what they know, and some of what they THINK THEY KNOW, and so it becomes a Kangaroo court in short order. That in mind, I would have zero trouble buying one of Butch's rifles. As someone above said, Butch doesn't need my defense,and He may be completely wrong from start to finish, but I, for one, don,t think so.

The mistakes were made, that is a given, they got past quality control, that is also is a given. The conflict there after, is not so clear, however!

I will reserve judgement till this runs it's course, and maybe we will know more than we do today!

Caveat:
My experience with Butch has always been good. I consider him a friend.

The rest:
The "Expresee" is dumbfounding... I'd like to know the why, but in the meantime, I, too, took Butch's comment that he was responding to a "fix it or else" type threat, heard or perceived. If it was said in the manner understood by Butch, I don't blame him. He has always said that he will fix his product and being told that if he kept his word (while it doesn't explain the "typo") no bad consequences would follow, naturally, could send a New Mexico cowboy over the top.

Just as a refrence...here is what $12,000 will get you at champlins.

Link

Notice the quality engraving....and the perfect alignment of the screw heads. I wonder if the maker will fix this one for the new owner?

quote:

Originally posted by Steve:

quote:

Originally posted by Butch Searcy:
I guess what really set me off was that I had received an email from Dirk wanting a refund. And if I would give him back his money he wouldn't bad mouth me and that we could remain friends. My reply was that we weren't friends.
This is going to piss off a bunch of you out there, but don't think for a second that I care.

Butch certainly doesn't need my defense, but I read his reply of 'not caring' as refering to the alleged threat made to his reputation.

FWIW,

-Steve

Steve, I hope you are right. Your interpretation of Butch's comment is much better than my initial impression when I read it. I thought his comment about people not liking "this" and him not caring was in reference to his whole post (it is in its own paragraph at the end of the post). Like at least a few others here, it definitely didn't impress me. I hope Butch comes back to at least straighten that out....while I not in the financial position to own a Searcy double today, I do covet them and see (saw?) one in my future.

Dead horse flogging on:

Although its not salient to issue (its Butch's problem), I'd really like to know how that engraver managed to screw up the spelling of Express so badly??/? Truly unbelievable. I would send a Rem 700 back with that kind of an error..and want a new one, not a repaired one. I think a lot of people would spot that mistake within a minute of having the gun in their hands...particularly with the chambering (many of us would check that out first!). It would definitely harm the re-sale value IMHO. I hope the engraver foots the repair bill.

Dead-horse flogging off.

Cheers,
Canuck

Canuck,

If you ever have the chance to attend SCI and meet Butch, then you will understand how easy he is to get along with, and how accomodating he is for his customers. I am not making an excuse for the engraver, as that is another story.

quote:

Originally posted by 500grains:
Canuck,

If you ever have the chance to attend SCI and meet Butch, then you will understand how easy he is to get along with, and how accomodating he is for his customers. I am not making an excuse for the engraver, as that is another story.

The problem is that it seems only the guys that know him understand what he meant by his statement (or give him the benefit of the doubt anyway).

I think it would be worth his while to at least clear that up. It'd be a shame if he lost any business over that.

I suspect that Butch makes guns because that is where his interest, experience and talent are. So we shouldn't nitpick too much over the fact that words can be interpreted several different ways, nor should we squint too much to see what is between the lines.

Those of us that know Butch have already figured this out.

But you've got to ask yourself, just how much whining and BS would you tolerate. And, considering the fact that it was aired publically wouldn't you get a little bit perturbed.

As far as I am concerned "Thou shalt provide good customer service" should be the 11th Commandment. However, when the customer is dissatisfied they should take it up with the party with whom they are dealing, not all of cyberspace.

When I see this going on I immediately smell a skunk, usually in the form of a coward that needs some attention / has nothing better to do than whine about something they are afraid to handle directly.

The world ain't a perfect place, but in the event something goes south, be glad that there are people like Butch that will stand behind their stuff...Show some respect and decency and take it up with him privately. Your case was obviously a fluke, or, Searcy would not be backlogged for over a year and a half!

Spare us from now on.

Time to turn off "As the Expresee turns" for this year!

Most sincerely,

Jeff Wemmer

I don't know Butch from Adam, yet I interpreted his words to mean that he didn't care if uninvolved parties (that's 99.9% of us out here) got upset that he didn't consider Dirk a "friend." I found that refreshing in a way. They're conducting business together, not going to a sorority party. Further (again my interpretation), Butch doesn't care if we're unhappy that he didn't cave to a perceived threat.

Again, this is the interpretation of someone who is not involved and doesn't know either party. Maybe it's a New Mexico thing. If I had 12K to spend on a double (yeah right, like that'll ever happen ), Butch is still at the top of my list, primarily because of his repuation and the fact that his stuff is US-made. I'll just be sure to check his engraver's spelling before accepting delivery...

I'm not a party hereto, but it is my understanding that the rifle is now enroute to Searcy and without compromising the value or safety of the rifle, it will be made "right".

Good for Butch and the owner/seller in working it out.

500g, Desert Ram,

I am inclined to agree entirely (lots of good character references here...enough to satisfy any concern I might have had), but at the riske of flogging the dead horse some more....I still think it would be good "bang for the buck" for Butch to spend one minute of his valuable time here providing clarity on his statement rather than potentially scaring off customers unnecessarily. That's entirely up to him of course...I'm just trying to be helpful.

Judge...Always nice to have a happy ending.

Cheers,
Canuck

Canuck,

Perhaps you can email Butch and invite him to address the issue.

Canuck, I think you're right, FWIW.

But since Butch pretty much shot himself in the foot - with both barrels - in his first post, he may be gun shy about posting again.

BTW, I hope that Dirk will let us know how this turns out.

It always amazes me how far men will go down the trail of presumptuous thought. I personally believe Butch to be one of the nicest guys I've met in the business of rifle making. I was personally sold on Butch before I was sold on his rifle. If I was the whinner you guys make me out to be I would have had him deal with the inscription issue back in December '06', in fact I would have asked for a full refund then with the other petty issues present, I did not. But when I decided to sale the rifle (not because I think its a piece of crap), some buyer might not care for such an inscription on their rifle.
The reason I am selling this rifle in 470 is that I want a better all a round caliber in 450-400 w/claw mounts and scope if needed. This allows my wife to use my smaller caliber Merkle on Safari, or if my son comes along instead of my wife, he will use his 9.3 Chapuis which equates to ONE DOUBLE RIFLE CASE. And I am looking to buy her a small double this year.

Chris Sells has one coming in a Heym in four months and I'm not going to wait a year or more for a Searcy or any other 450-400 to be made. There is too much hunting to do before that happens. I am Left handed and as most of you know you go out and find a 450-400 caliber under 10 lbs. and how about a left-handed model, good luck.

I did not try and manipulate Butch or blackmail Butch that I was going to trash him and his business if I did not get all my money back for the rifle, for pete's sake, I've had it for four months. You can read my second post for the details. As you know men, we are great communicators just ask your wife, we're always trying to read between the lines.

Butch can dislike me or hate me that's his perogative. If you thought someone was trying to manipulate or blackmail you, you'd be pissed off too. And that is what Butch thought I was trying to do.
All that I can tell you and Butch is that the folks on this forum who know me and have done business with me know that I am a man of my word, and a man of integrety. Do you want to know what the end product of this post is going to be and what my primary goal was in posting this?

Let me tell you what this post is going to gain, I think that whoever details Butch's rifles in his shop is going to do a better job at it. I think that Butch is going to put out even a better rifle than he does now. Everytime he puts a rifle out I don't believe it's going to come back for many corrections if any. The end product is that Butch's rifles are going to reflect more perfectly his addicting personality. I believe this will happen because he does'nt want any more assholes like me making another post like this.

quote:

Originally posted by Jeff Wemmer:
Those of us that know Butch have already figured this out.

Isn't that rather presumptuous?

quote:

The world ain't a perfect place, but in the event something goes south, be glad that there are people like Butch that will stand behind their stuff...

Nice that he will stand behind it, especially since there isn't anything that should be "going south" with a new double rifle.

quote:

Show some respect and decency and take it up with him privately.

Gee, sounds like to me he did that.

quote:

Your case was obviously a fluke, or, Searcy would not be backlogged for over a year and a half!

Bullshit.

quote:

Spare us from now on.

Advice that you could put to good use.
-----------------------------------------------
"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

Hey Mark, I used to be known for having the roughest bedside manner on the forum. Are you trying to take the title away from me?

Mark is still pissed off at Tony for the Aimpoint on a double rifle comment! I think this Searcy thread is pushing him over the edge!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by 500grains:
Hey Mark, I used to be known for having the roughest bedside manner on the forum. Are you trying to take the title away from me?

Dan:

Nah, you're the nicest guy on this forum, except for me, of course!

On this site, we've always been able to openly discuss the relative merits of any rifle in the world, except Searcy. When some poor bastard makes an honest, negative, observation about a Searcy rifle, he gets his head handed to him, as if it is a personal attack on Butch, and that isn't right. While the variant spelling would seem unique, this is far from the first I've seen with significant issues. To call Dirk's a "fluke" is simply false.

I'm sure that Butch is a nice guy, and I'm sure he will fix the problem, but he has a chronic quality control issue. Calling Dirk a "coward" was arrogant and out of bounds. Dirk started this string and called a spade a spade, knowing that he was going to get hammered for it by the shills. I daresay that he hasn't been disappointed.
-----------------------------------------------
"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

If you want a publication that never utters a discouraging word about a product, get a subscription to Guns & Ammo.

This site is unique in that it allows for a frank discussion of the pros and cons of ANY product. If it did not provide that kind of feedback and information, I doubt the membership on AR would be passing 25,000.

I have met Butch and he is a great guy. We all have an interest in seeing his business succeed - competition tends to control price (most of the time!)

But I was taken aback by his post as well. And after reading I did not walk away with the impression that he was reacting to what he viewed as some type of extortionate threat. And when more information came out, it appeared that it was very possible that Butch read the situation the wrong way.

Butch certainly did not need to drag another small business owner over the coals and smear his reputation. He did do that, and I have not seen anyone address that issue.

My own view is that at the price point Searcy has set, on a feature for feature basis he is priced the same as Heym, and above Merkel, Chapuis and Krieghoff. With this price point, one would expect comparable quality. From the few Searcy rifles I have seen, I cannot disagree with any of the comments posted regarding quality control.

Dirk had the rifle about a month, then sent it back. From what I gather, Searcy had it for 6 weeks and did not fix everything on the punch list.

There may be those people out there who would merely overlook those issues. That is well and good. But for the dollars involved, I certainly don't think anyone can sit there and criticize someone to whom this is not acceptable.

I have run small businesses before, and you can take customner criticism one of two ways. You can blow it off and continue to conduct business as usual. Or you can take it to heart, and treat it as valuable information and modify your practices accordingly. Of course, you can get the substance of those complaints in a more palatable form by hiring a $300 per hour consultant to make recommendations on how to improve your business.

As for this comment:

quote:

When I see this going on I immediately smell a skunk, usually in the form of a coward that needs some attention / has nothing better to do than whine about something they are afraid to handle directly.

That is not only out of bounds, it is in itself the kind of comment the quote applies to.

There was nothing in dirk's posts to offend anyone. It may have set Butch off, but it cetainly appears there is ample room for differences of perception.

The Searcy reputation on AR is basically that if one of his

rifles is found to have a problem or problems, upon it being

sent to him he'll make it right. As I said already, at these

figures a new rifle needs to reach the first owner in a NEARLY

PERFECT STATE. I won't say PERFECT, we all know that no

man, nor man made thing, is PERFECT. Further, it is reported that

the rifle had to go back and forth two or more times I believe.

And upon the buyer receiving it, AFTER REPAIRS WERE DONE, IT HAD

TWO NEW MARKS OR CHIPS IN THE WOOD. SAID CHIPS WERE NOT THERE WHEN

THE BUYER SENT IT TO BUTCH, SAYS THIS BUYER. How is this "sitting

so well" with so many guys here? I am just not getting it. If

SEARCY feels this level of quality control will continue to bring him

buyers I think that is a mistake in judgement.

I spoke with Butch this morning. He called to let me know that my new PH model should be here today.

He also told me that he is off to Idaho for a week to teach a seminar.So I wouldn't expect to hear back from him anytime soon.

The Searcy I picked up today is very nice in fact it is "darn near perfect". Everything lines up and indexes perfectly the wood to metal fit is good.

And all of the speling is correctte.

My rifle is one of the first that has come out using a new engraver. The style is a bit different and I like it. It is a bit finer in detail if you will.

This is my second .470 Nitro "Expresee" by Butch. I was very happy with the last one from a function and accuracy standpoint. Unfortunately I won't be able to wring this one out for quite a while with my recent surgery.

In any case I am sorry to hear of the troubles Dirk experienced. I do consider Butch a friend and can vouch for the fact that he is a solid, hard working, honest person.

I like Searcy rifles. They are tough, they are accurate and my experience is they are dependable. I've got several friends who own them and use them hard as well. Several who are PH's. And say what you will but there is no one out there who stands behind his rifles like Butch.


I can say this about the cosmetics on Butches rifles. In general they have been improving over the years. His woodwork in particular has improved since moving his wood shop to South Dakota. I believe that once he gets this new shop up to speed and the transition issues figured out between Sturgis and Boron that his product detail will continue to improve.

well my one and only Searcy, so far, exceeded my expectaions all round and if i can ever buy another double it will be a Searcy. i've done business with 6 custom gun makers and Butch was one of only two out of the 6 that did the work exactly as i wanted it and we had very minimal correspondence. there's my 2 cents on the matter.

quote:

As for this comment:


quote:
When I see this going on I immediately smell a skunk, usually in the form of a coward that needs some attention / has nothing better to do than whine about something they are afraid to handle directly.


That is not only out of bounds, it is in itself the kind of comment the quote applies to.

There was nothing in dirk's posts to offend anyone. It may have set Butch off, but it cetainly appears there is ample room for differences of perception.

I suppose you could take the aforementioned the wrong way, but I mean't what I said - always do. And, will stand by my guns with regards to people keeping their problems confined to the parties at hand and not all of cyberspace. Re-read that first paragraph and tell me you don't get the "willies" - eek! Whenever somebody begins to air-out "purported" blo-by-blow events of an "unresolved" (read: UNRESOLVED) dispute before getting a final or suitable conclusion a red flag goes up. This kind of stuff is just plain irresponsible!

If, in fact there is a negative conclusion, that's a "responsible" thing to report - Not the whole gol-danged transcript, complete with everybody's pros-cons thrown in.

It is a good and noble thing to alert others of a "proven to be" bad guy - that's fair when handled correctly.

Nobody's perfect and I by no means am in the business of insulting folks. The way in which this was handled smacks of the "My Space / YouTube" or, even, somewhat Draconian. And you know what, I don't like that stuff.

Look at the results of this method of "cyber-Soap Opera". The whole thing could have been wrapped-up and concluded and us not knowing about it, ergo, all the better for everybody.

Think about the unnecessary damage this could do to Mr. Searcy's reputation - all over a completely resolvable issue!

This is not the way to handle things. But, then again, look at the examples we have set for us....can you say "Congress"!!!!

Oh, and is why so many came to the side mf Mr. searcy.

JW

quote:

Originally posted by surestrike:

The Searcy I picked up today is very nice in fact it is "darn near perfect". Everything lines up and indexes perfectly the wood to metal fit is good.

And all of the speling is correctte.

My rifle is one of the first that has come out using a new engraver. The style is a bit different and I like it. It is a bit finer in detail if you will.

.

That sentence says a lot to me!

quote:

I suppose you could take the aforementioned the wrong way, but I mean't what I said - always do. And, will stand by my guns with regards to people keeping their problems confined to the parties at hand and not all of cyberspace. Re-read that first paragraph and tell me you don't get the "willies" - eek! Whenever somebody begins to air-out "purported" blo-by-blow events of an "unresolved" (read: UNRESOLVED) dispute before getting a final or suitable conclusion a red flag goes up. This kind of stuff is just plain irresponsible!

What I like to refer to as an AR "inquisition" and the grand inquisitor gets to be whoever is handy with an accusation at the moment.

Please do not take this as an assault on any one of your personally, I mean this is just cyberspace after all. But, apparently, the responsibility police are in full force today -
What is irresponsible is when a gun maker treats his customers like villains (and publishes lies about them and another business owners on a website) after he has cashed the check for $12,000 and his end, delivered product is nothing but a mass of big problems and requires the buyer to make frequent trips to a shipping agent. Yes, the final unresolved issue at the time of the post was the engraving to which Mr. Sersey (sp? – but then that doesn’t really matter now does it?) is going to fix (finally). But his attitude towards the problem is less that desirable. When questioned about it, his response was, “Really?â€
Now does that sound like the response of a fair, upstanding business man who cares about his product and more importantly, his customers? I think not. And as for his post on this thread well, I have looked at that from every angle and I am by no means an expert (but I play one on tv), that last statement is nothing but an insult to ever member here. Butch does not care what any of us, you, them, whatever, whoever thinks about the way he conducts business. Now, did he mean for it to come across like that? I don’t know, I can’t read his thoughts. When you make the “big time†you really shouldn’t read your own press. There is always someone waiting in the wings to take your place, when you fall on your face.
As for airing out the issue here on AR, that is done everyday on one thread or another. Are we now only allowed to post glowing reviews of our dealings? If so, what happens to the guy who scratches and saves and spends his hard-earned dollars on something only to find it severely lacking? Don’t we have a responsibility to share the good, the bad, and the ugly? You are damn right we have the responsibility to share good, bad, or indifferent with our fellow forum members. No body said you have to like it. It is called freedom of speech, get used to it.
But whatever, it is just my opinion. If you don't like it, i'll give you your money back.
Brian

quote:

Originally posted by Jeff Wemmer:

quote:

As for this comment:


quote:
When I see this going on I immediately smell a skunk, usually in the form of a coward that needs some attention / has nothing better to do than whine about something they are afraid to handle directly.


That is not only out of bounds, it is in itself the kind of comment the quote applies to.

There was nothing in dirk's posts to offend anyone. It may have set Butch off, but it cetainly appears there is ample room for differences of perception.

I suppose you could take the aforementioned the wrong way, but I mean't what I said - always do. And, will stand by my guns with regards to people keeping their problems confined to the parties at hand and not all of cyberspace. Re-read that first paragraph and tell me you don't get the "willies" - eek! Whenever somebody begins to air-out "purported" blo-by-blow events of an "unresolved" (read: UNRESOLVED) dispute before getting a final or suitable conclusion a red flag goes up. This kind of stuff is just plain irresponsible!

Oh, I see. So it is "irresponsible" to point out that a manufacturer has a chronic problem with quality control that often requires several passes to correct? And you're saying that he should have remained silent about it, no matter how many cycles it took to get it fixed? That position is utterly asinine and contrary to the purpose of this board.

quote:

If, in fact there is a negative conclusion, that's a "responsible" thing to report - Not the whole gol-danged transcript, complete with everybody's pros-cons thrown in.

It is a good and noble thing to alert others of a "proven to be" bad guy - that's fair when handled correctly.

There was a "negative conclusion" when this $12,000 piece made it out the door with the faults that it had. That's the fundamental fact that shills like you and Surestrike have CHOSEN to ignore.

You told Dirk that "Your case was obviously a fluke..". That statement is either simple ignorance due to a lack of observation or expertise, selective myopia, or a lie.

Things I've seen on new Searcy rifles in the last few years:

Poor soldering work.

Barrel ripples. One that looked like the surface of Lake Ponchartrain during Hurricane Katrina. "Well struck" is part of what separates a good quality double from the cheap stuff.

Finished barrel sets that weren't of the same outside diameter.

Engraving so poorly executed that it would have been better left off.

Atrocious inletting. A couple of these were worse than any mass produced gun I've ever seen.

Poorly timed. Some have been so bad that the top lever had to be held over in order to close the gun without having to slam it shut.

Again, I don't think I've ever seen one that didn't need to be returned to the maker for correction of one or more problems.

Since you called Dirk a coward, your statement:

quote:

Nobody's perfect and I by no means am in the business of insulting folks.

...is clearly a baldfaced lie.

quote:

Look at the results of this method of "cyber-Soap Opera". The whole thing could have been wrapped-up and concluded and us not knowing about it, ergo, all the better for everybody.

Think about the unnecessary damage this could do to Mr. Searcy's reputation - all over a completely resolvable issue!

Yeah, an issue that should have been resolved before the piece went out the door. How is it that "unnecessary damage" is done to Mr. Searcy's reputation when it is left to a non-expert customer, who is relying on the maker's expertise, to identify and resolve the maker's errors? And again, with respect to the purpose and context of this forum, how is it "better for everybody" for the quality control failures of a DR maker not to be discussed here? Your premise is beyond absurd. Jim was right - the web site that you were looking for when you pitched up here is www.gunsandammomag.com. You'll be much more comfortable there.
------------------------------------------------
"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

quote:

Originally posted by surestrike:

quote:

I suppose you could take the aforementioned the wrong way, but I mean't what I said - always do. And, will stand by my guns with regards to people keeping their problems confined to the parties at hand and not all of cyberspace. Re-read that first paragraph and tell me you don't get the "willies" - eek! Whenever somebody begins to air-out "purported" blo-by-blow events of an "unresolved" (read: UNRESOLVED) dispute before getting a final or suitable conclusion a red flag goes up. This kind of stuff is just plain irresponsible!

What I like to refer to as an AR "inquisition" and the grand inquisitor gets to be whoever is handy with an accusation at the moment.

Amazing how many don't know any better because they don't know any different.
-----------------------------------------------
"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

quote:

Poorly timed. Some have been so bad that the top lever had to be held over in order to close the gun without having to slam it shut.

Mark:

I asked Butch that question and he said the top lever moving back to center after opening the gun was the way he designed it. I can't recall the specific reason, but it had to do with when the gun is open doing this (the lever going back to center) removes tension on something on the inside. If I recall correctly, this was at the suggestion of PHs who like to carry their guns opened while hunting.

Take it for what it is worth, but that is the way they are built. You may not agree with this theory, but that is the way the man builds his guns.

He said that doing it the other way can be done - the customer simply has to say it and the change will be made.

In this context, it isn't a problem; it is just something you do not agree with. If you think this is crazy, just give Butch a call - he'll explain it to you a hell of a lot better than I ever could.

I carried a Searcy for at least 400 miles on foot after game, and I shot 9 elephant, 3 cape buffalo, a bison and a bushbuck with it. Closing the rifle worked just like any other double - just stuff 2 shells in the chambers and close it. No special trick or secret.

Only in the world of high priced firearms do people routinely accept major flaws and delays of months to years as "routine" beyond the promised delivery date.
If we all ran our businesses like this we would be out of business and everyone of you dang well know it.
It is supposed to be right the first time. Gentleman, you can pussy foot around this all you like but all you need is a checklist, a close eye, and 30 minutes top to examine any thing that is ready to leave the shop.

And some of you want to make it seem like status quo just because it will be fixed for no charge.
Dont you really think for $12K it should of been done right the first time?