Sharp Shooter Supply

[buggybuilder]

How do I contact SS Supply by phone? Can't find their number. I only have a 1 item order, can I do this by phone?
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[Bad Water Bill]

Check your mail box.

Fred is a great guy and as honest as they come.

[tomme boy]

Until they have your money. Then you will get a huge runaround. Everything is in stock until you pay. Then it goes to backorder. Find another avenue if you can.

[shooter93]

Interesting...2 replies....one good the other not so good. Inquiring minds want to know.

[Bad Water Bill]

Well here is a photo of Fred and I shooting side by side so yes I really have met and dealt with Fred face to face.

Fred is on the far left and I am wearing the hoody right next to him.

Photo taken 2009 at Youngs 1K range in Indiana.

It is not unusual for him to have a ONE YEAR backlog but I do posess one of his actions and several of his products including his designed savage triggers and do know they are definitely worth the wait.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a195/SHL540/ss17.jpg

And a picture of one of his rifles and shooting stuff.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a195/SHL540/ss11.jpg

I did steal these photos from SavvageShooters and I am hoping that the powers that be do not hang me.

[starmac]

One of them Cheeecago hoody wearing hoodlems, and admitting he done went and stole some photos. lol

[Kevinakaq]

I have dealt with SSS and was very satisfied with the service and work performed. He timed and trued my single shot action in 6.5 creedmoor and it is smooth as butter. Turnaround time was one month from ship to delivery (this was about six months ago). He is widely regarded as a top hand when it comes to Savage bolt action rifles. I wouldn't hesistate to do business again.

Also have one of his triggers on a 308 and it's crisp as glass.

Edit: As an addition I will say I have heard complaints in the past on lead times. I know they recently changed (last year) when you send in the part to be worked on (right before they begin a batch rather than waiting on a shelf) and this has improved things greatly. While I have heard complaints in the past concerning lead times their quality of work is spoken of in high regards by the same people complaining...

[tomme boy]

Well Fred built a rifle for me. I had a few problems with it and they would not respond back to me about them. They had my money and that was all they cared.

Here is a picture of one of the things that was wrong.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/tommeboy/100_0667_zps560dc130.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/tommeboy/media/100_0667_zps560dc130.jpg.html)

Notice the gouge under the tang for the safety. This was a brand new stock that he was to bed the action on that he T&T'ed. Well he said he T&T'ed it anyway. The bedding did not float the barrel. It was hard against the left side of the stock. There was epoxy all over the stock. It looked like he dribbled it all over and did not clean it up. Had to fix all of that myself. The bolt head still had the ring around the pin hole that was etched into the face. He was supposed to true up the face of the bolt during the t&t. It was not faced. I also had him put in one of his triggers and I wanted the old trigger back. Never got it. Never got the wrenches that were supposed to come with the new trigger.

I tried calling for 2 months and could not get through. Emailed over 20 times, Nothing. I am not the only one that has customer service like this.

[brtelec]

I have been a Savage rifle fan for many years and like to do things myself. I have had nothing but good luck dealing with SSS. That said, their communications after the sale is horrible. I send my order in, send them my money and just forget about it. Sometime, days later, weeks later and occasionally months later my work or order shows up and I have always gotten exactly what I paid for. If you are a high maintenance customer, go elsewhere. If you are patient you will not deal with more decent folks. They are a small company and do not stop working to hold someones hand on the phone.

[MaryB]

Very often the way you treat a vendor over the phone or via email can make a huge difference. Having done phone support I speak from experience. Yell and threaten get the runaround, be nice and willing to work on the issue get treated well.

[tomme boy]

Never yelled or threatened. Just asked to send back to fix things that were not right. Never got an answer from them. So I just fixed everything myself and chalked it up to another gunsmith that their name got bigger than what they could promise. So things have to suffer.

[Bad Water Bill]

That space at the tang was put there for a very good reason.

All of my Savage bolt actions NOW look that way, and for a very good reason.

[lefty o]

my dealings with them were also good. far as im concerned they offer the best semi ready to go stock on the market.

[tomme boy]

You float the tang. You don't chip out the fiberglass and leave it. I know the difference between making a little clearance and just being a hack. You can try and protect your friend all you want, but doing bad work needs to be also seen.

I had Kevin Rayhill build me a rifle at the same time. You did not see epoxy all over the stock. You did not see gouges out of the stock. You could actually see the very fine machining to clean and true up the surfaces.

[tomme boy]

BTW that picture was before I fixed the bedding job. The tang was NOT floated like I asked when the bedding was done. After I fixed it, it was floated.

[Artful]

tommie boy, thanks for the information - appreciate it.

[tomme boy]

The thing I see with SSS is the QC is all over the place. I have seen some amazing rifles he has done. Then you have something like I got. Fred has a unique niche market and he could make it even better if he would realize to just tell the truth on lead times and parts availability. If someone tells me that the rifle I am having built is going to be done in 3 months, I am going to be calling the day that it is due. Instead, tell the customer that it really is going to be 9 months. He is not the only smith that is guilty of this. They have their own version of time. Anymore, when one tells me something, I automatically double what they said.

[Kevinakaq]

The thing I see with SSS is the QC is all over the place. I have seen some amazing rifles he has done. Then you have something like I got. Fred has a unique niche market and he could make it even better if he would realize to just tell the truth on lead times and parts availability. If someone tells me that the rifle I am having built is going to be done in 3 months, I am going to be calling the day that it is due. Instead, tell the customer that it really is going to be 9 months. He is not the only smith that is guilty of this. They have their own version of time. Anymore, when one tells me something, I automatically double what they said.

If you don't mind answering how long ago was your experience? I understand they changed quite a few of their business practices from what I read from others on the savage forum, and my own positive experience a few months back, and have really turned things around in the last year.

Edit: and i would have to add that that is definitly not what a free floating tang should look like. Should look like any other tang just with the ability to slide a piece of paper underneath and around it...basically no binding point as you know.

[tomme boy]

About 4 years ago. But if you go over to the savage forum it has not changed. Just the post get deleted faster if you complain. There is a relative relations between the owner of the site and SSS. But they now do not claim it. They never used to decline it. Now they do.