It really saddens me to read that things have continued to deteriorate at Bullberry. At one time Fred’s quality and service was very good and he was a very nice man that freely shared his considerable knowledge. When I lived in SW Utah, I stopped by his shop often and both he and his crew always made time for me. Maybe I was treated differently somewhat because I was a local friend, but I had many on-line friends around the country who also bought from Bullberry then and that were also very happy with them.
Fred’s shop methods were the cause of most of the delays back then, especially if custom wood was ordered with a barrel. Justin Sip did all the woodwork and handled the office/shipping/walk-ins, so barrels were commonly held up waiting for wood to be completed. A shortage of blanks on hand also delayed some orders, or having reamers made. Carol relieved some of the problems until health forced her to retire – now his daughter Summer tries to do it.
The wind was literally kicked out of Fred’s sails when the crew he had taught the business to walked out with no notice and started Virgin Valley across town. He wanted to get out of the business – he certainly didn’t need the money. But the anger that generated kept the doors open at BBW. I guess 10+ years later the anger is still in Fred. Too bad.
FWIW, many of the other third party barrel makers have gone through “dark” years as well, not just Bullberry. Bower, Virgin Valley, Horn, Ingram, *****, Brown Precision, Reader and even SSK have turned out more than their fair share of junk and failed to ever correct some of them. I only have personal experience with VVCG, SSK, Bower and BP in that regard, but close friends have told me countless nightmares about all of them. Seems to be something they all go through sooner or later. Not too much bad heard about OTT, but I’ve been mostly out of the TC “loop” for about 3 years.
No doubt, Fred is a poor businessman… and he’ll be the first to admit it. So was the Sip/Stratton team that started VV. So I am glad to hear that the Stratton boys are doing well at MGM because they are good guys and talented machinists.
BTW, here’s my customer service story about Fred (the only time I ever needed customer service from them): I received a barrel he made for me a few years after I moved out of the area that was delivered with the scope base holes forward of where I had ordered them to be. A quick call to Fred, and a new barrel was on it’s way to me the very next day. I didn’t expect (or want) this, just wanted to return the first barrel and have them drill & tap new holes where I wanted them. Got the new barrel a couple of days later, and Fred even refused me sending the first barrel back. He made it a free gift for my trouble.
Bottom line, if I was in the market for a new barrel would I order one from BBW? Yes because I have a long history of good luck with Fred. From SSK? Yes, another long and good history with JD (another ornery old phart). From MGM? Yes because of who they are. The others? Probably not – 3 sources is enough.
