Hi Moe,
It seems like a good idea from the consumer's end, but these custom barrel guys already have more work than they can do so they're not too worried about putting a lot of cool pictures showing their custom variations on their web sites - SSK has some, but not enough. I'm with you - I'd like to see MANY more examples of their work so I could think more creatively about what I want. With Virgin Valley in trouble, we may be seeing only three major shops left (SSK, BB & Reeder, Van Horn doesn't count in my book because he's not high volume like the other three) that can do the work and they SURE won't have to advertise any more than they do now. We may all be desperate to get custom barrels and other work done that we'll be looking at 2-3 year waits if VV goes under. I hope they are able to stay in business, but it sounds iffy.
Just a side note, even though Reeder has really expanded and turns out a LOT of work, he's still behind a good 6-9 months depending on when you get an order in. If Virgin Valley goes belly-up, it looks like delivery times will only get slower because the other guys really can't pick up THAT much work. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't I hear that Virgin Valley had around 600 barrels in production most times of the year? That's a lot of slack for the other guys to pick up.
Any one else have a handle on actual production numbers at VV? I'd like to hear from someone who really knows for sure.
Javelina
