I need to contact John and have not gotten a response from the e-mail address I have - rifles@earthlink.net.

I appreciate any help you can offer.
Thanks,
David Casten

Good luck. You will need a lawyer.

He is out of the Gun business. He was locked out of his shop, I don't know the particulars, other than it was some domestic issue. He was very good to me, others have voiced differing opinons. I think that the suddeness of his demise caused headaches for some.

Sorry I cannot be of more help.

Hansel

Thank you for your responses. I will keep looking.

Dave,
are you needing to contact him to get stuff back, or looking for a smith?

jeffe

I think I was last to get a finished rifle from John. Rusty was next in line and he had to get his parts back because John couldn't or wouldn't finish it. When we talked on the phone he said a family member had died and he was heading up his buisness now. He said he was burnt out on building guns and didn't want to do it any more.

I knew at one time (from his own post) he was having marital problems too.

If you're looking to have a gun built I would probably look elsewhere. If you need to get parts back I can only wish you the best of luck.

Terry

Terry,
I stopped at a gun shop in Port Angeles WA last summer and asked if the guy knew John Ricks. His previously pleasant manner left him and the first question was if I was a friend of his. I replied no, not at all and the smile returned to his face. He said that there were a lot of local folks looking for him that the burnt so it evidently was not just an internet thing. And burning bridges in that area is bad, there are too many rivers and you will end up where you don't want to be.

Hello,
I got my rifle back in pieces in Oct. After many letters and E-mails and no response. One letter from a lawyer got all my stuff back. I hated to do it but it worked.
John

Thanks all. Not very encouraging.
Jeffe, am trying to get a rifle back, a Browning 71 that was going to become a .510".

I received an e-mail last April stating that all items were to be returned within 2 weeks. I have not heard anything since, despite repeated attempts to contact him.

Unfortunately, at this stage it appears my only option is to contact the Police & ATF, report the rifle as stolen and point them in John's direction.

Will let you know how this ends.

DaveC, it seems when this all went down quite some time ago, that Ricks had moved or gone to California to build houses or something like that. Keep us informed and good luck.

Hello Dave,
I had the same problem. I did a search for lawyers in John's town and had him write a letter and send it to his address on the web site. Money and gun were back in two weeks. I think the lawyer last name was Black. It was the best $150 I spend so far on that project.
John