doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Please Beware of Macon Gunstocks

Thank you for your kind words Bobby and Stan!

Kem

Apparently the "Beware of Macon Gunstocks" saga continues. Last July (2015) I shipped a very high grade (AA+) Bastogne Walnut stock blank to Macon Gunstocks to have shaped and semi-inletted. It took 4 months to receive the stock. My high grade blank had been destroyed and unusable for the intended barreled action (1924 Yugoslav Mauser). An action for which inletting is specifically listed on their web site.
Two months were then consumed trying to negotiate a replacement stock of comparable quality properly inletted for the specified action. The stock had a large cutout under the barrel channel typical of what might be done to repair a warped or broken stock (neither requested nor ordered). The stock was cut for a heavy sporter barrel (neither requested nor ordered). The semi-inletting for the action had 1/8" overcuts front and rear and comparable overcuts for the bottom metal. I was told by CEO and shop foreman Bryan that they did not make mistakes and I don't know what I'm doing. He also said that their work met industry standards. When I questioned him for a source of "industry standards" he told me that they were the largest stockmaker in the U.S. and they set the industry standards. I returned the stock for their review and 6 weeks later, without comment from them, I received a replacement stock. This stock again had 1/8" over cuts on the inletting for the bottom metal and the left side of the cut for the front receiver ring was 3/16" longer than the right side. The cut out on the right side was the proper length. In addition to the very sloppy unacceptable inletting done by the Macon shop, the quality of the replacement stock was well beneath the quality of my original blank. I reported this to Bryan in an email with photos illustrating the issues. I was told by him in an email that they did not make mistakes, that I was stupid and did not know what I was doing and that he would no longer correspond with me. He also stated that I would be banned from doing future business with him or any of Macon's dealers. I have not been able to locate any dealers for comment. I have been able to speak with a number of gunsmiths, stockmakers and gun dealers in California, Oregon, Idaho and South Carolina. The reports on Macon were consistent. Those who had done business with Macon would not repeat that attempt and those who had not directly done business with Macon had heard nothing but negative stories.
All of this is well documented and documentation including photos can be provided upon request. This experience has cost me nearly a year, a $500 walnut blank and $175 in charges from Macon plus shipping both ways both times.

Would you be willing to post the emails from Bryan at Macon Gunstocks?

Sorry for your terrible results. I've never dealt with them.

SRH

ok-


here is my silly question

if you participate on this board and this thread about the bad deals with them have been going for almost 4 years

why are we still getting new horror stories?

i don't believe every internet review i ever read - but this seems pretty darn consistent

Don't want to spoil any opinions but I have had good luck with them.

bill

I don't think he could be considered a "participant". The above was his first post. But, I agree that if he had been reading the board for awhile he should have been leery of Macon G.

SRH

I have to sympathize with the people that have had bad experiences with semi-inletted gunstocks from Macon. Personally I have had only good experiences with them. The work was done on time and was good quality..It was worth what I paid for it. But for rare or expensive guns and exhibition grade wood. I go to a custom stocker and pay three or four times the cost. You get what you pay for. There is a good reason that Dan.Rossiter,Gunter Pfrommer, Brian Dudley and other artisans are backed up for many months and command much higher fees .

Me too, and I'm up to five guns restocked by Macon. Here is my post from 09/17/15, when the count was only four:

I have read this thread with interest since it started 4 years ago. I have several guns that need restocking that I keep telling myself are next on the list of things to do. But keep getting shuffled to the back of the line as new friends arrive that merely need a refinish.

However, the only conclusion that I can draw about Macon is that some people have excellent experiences and some don't. And if it goes bad, it can go quite bad. I had a brief experience that I detailed here in a post a while back, acting on behalf of a friend in Europe. It was resolved to his satisfaction but the details were such that it gives credence to the horror stories I read here.

When there are others that have been so highly recommended to me by those I trust that I have heard nothing bad about, I know that when I finally get around to it, I won't be risking a problem.

I wish it were only months. I figure for me to get a gun restocked I'd need to plan for anywhere from 12 to 18 months. Yes, the good ones are backed because they are good.