Does anyone know if Conetrol is still in business? Their website still accepts orders and the phone gives a message, but no response to orders or inquiries.

Biebs, I literally just got off the phone w/ the owner. He IS still in business. Said best time to reach him is weekday afternoons.

OK, thanks.

And the only guy I have dealt with who is more cantankerous than me.

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Kobe:
And the only guy I have dealt with who is more cantankerous than me.

I know I will never deal with him again. And I'm not the only one.

quote:

And the only guy I have dealt with who is more cantankerous than me.

And that's saying alot!!!

You won't see any Controls on any of mine.

quote:

Originally posted by butchlambert:
You won't see any Controls on any of mine.

Try the Conetrols instead--they work much better than Controls.

I didn't know you were smart enough to spell!

Obviously, you are not!!

You are still an ASS aren't you!
Do I spell it "I have Conetrol over you?"

Yah, he got much worse after his wife died.

I usually talked to a woman. Might have been his wife. Never had an issue. Call place the order and it would be delivered pretty quickly.

Never in the history of mankind have there been rings that were a bigger pain in the ass to mount than the Conetrols. You would be bitchy too if you had to deal with the damn things all day long.

Mike, I've got the trick down...piece of cake.

Putting on Conetrol rings is like trying to tie both your shoes at the same time using one hand.
They do look slick when they are finally installed, though.
And the owner has made generous donations to the NRA for about a million years, now.

I simply put them together and lay a piece of tape over the top. Mount them in the bases and take the tape off.

quote:

Originally posted by Chuck Nelson:

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Kobe:
And the only guy I have dealt with who is more cantankerous than me.

I know I will never deal with him again. And I'm not the only one.

Sounds like the guy who owns Lynx Optics here in Oz. Although, I think he goes past cantankerous into the realm of rude.

The only contact I have had with him was anytime I wrote something about his rings or donations to the NRA and he personally made an effort to contact me to thank me.
I think he eventualy even sent me a set of rings for my HVA that Steve Berg restocked and they are still on that rifle.
his rings are not for the guy who plays with his rifle like a Barbie doll and is constantly changing scopes and rings but are for those who wish to put a scope on with the lightest weight and sleekest rings and leave it there.

He very well may be grouchy, but when it comes right down to it I don't know too many good craftsmen ( and women) in this industry who are not at times.

quote:

Originally posted by 458Win:

He very well may be grouchy, but when it comes right down to it I don't know too many good craftsmen ( and women) in this industry who are not at times.

A timeless conundrum, do dicks become craftsmen or do craftsmen become dicks?

Anyone whoever deals with artiste gun/riflemakers can tolerate grouchy.BUT losing checks,credit card charges and my order so that it took months of weekly/biweekly phone calls to resolve questions your sanity.Eventually i got my order.When you place your order:1)put 1800 CONETRO on speeddial;2) buy gallons of your favorite booze;3)get lots of antipsychotic meds;4) repeat to self"I AM NOT THE CRAZY ONE"!

Very good Mike!

Gave up...went with Recknagels.

Beibs: Does Recknagle make a style similar to the strap-type Conetrols? CB

Don't know, but their pivot-mount set-up is probably the best there is for a QD mount.

By the way Jon, An older gentleman on the message at Conetrol said they answer the phones 12-4. Sounds like a cut-back for whatever reason.

Yes,they do answer the phone from 12to4.They just dont remember it!

I gave up and went another way.

I think the boss (MR. Miller) is the only one that takes orders over-the-phone and that is only over the phone. I filled out an online order and it was ignored. I ordered a pair of Leupolds instead.

it would seem prudent that someone already in the firearms industry with adequate machinery would take this business over and run it in a much more profitable way.

That would require the owner to sell. That doesn't seem to be in the cards as far as I know.

how long are his patents good for?

I have no clue. Google U.S. patent term and go to the USPTO calculator.

To preface my statement. My wife considers me the epitome of old fashioned. She thinks I should have been born in the 1880's... at the latest. I try to keep things modern and I do that to gain with my customers.

I have never spoken to anyone more old fashioned and set in their ways. I wanted to order a set for a customers rifle, I also wanted to order a set for myself as I had never really gotten to play with a set. I was told that to get a dealer account I would need to send a copy of my FFL along with a letter describing my business on company letter head.

The conversation went something along the lines of...
"I don't have a company letter head? Can I send the FFL and a copy of my business license?"
...
"No, how can you have a company and not have a company letter head??!!"
...
"I have never had to send a letter for my company"
...
"How do you communicate with people?"
...
"By email and telephone"
...
"But how do you mail them letters?"
...
"Look I'll just pay full price, you do take credit card right?

I will certainly never recommend them to a customer or use another set on a rifle.

LOL the guy is something else. He was in the hospital for a while. Wouldn't doubt if he is still in and out with health problems. Still runs his credit cards on the old manual paper slips. I can only imagine someone going in and trying to get him all streamlined and efficient, that would be something to see. It will be interesting to see if the company survives after he is gone.

Mounting them isn't too bad once you get the hang of it. The real pain in the ass is making minor adjustments (if scope is slightly canted)

Best looking mounts you can buy in my opinion. I have them on 3 different rifles, and after some serious falls and tumbles, the damn things have never budged. The other projectionless mounts on the market are all butt ugly. one design looks like a flimsy strap and the other one looks like a damn doughnut.

I don't know Mr. Miller, and I have not dealt with him.

But he supports the NRA. And his website relates/related the very difficult loss of his beloved wife of many years to a long & painful disease.

I know that as my parents aged their last years were not their best ones.

We all get older, and most of us become set in our ways.

Maybe he deserves some consideration for his situation...

I shuffle rifles in and out at will, but when I (not often) decide to keep a rifle it wears Conetrol mounts.