I waited the specified time frame....where is my upper?

[Outsider]

Its has been the specified wait time...wondering where my upper is.....Anyone ordered from alexander lately? What are they saying the wait times are now?

[bwaites]

What is the "specified" wait time? AA typically gives a range of time, but with the recent changes in barrel profiles and with the current industry wide waits for parts, even those times are being extended significantly.

Have you called AA? Thats usually the best way to find out where your upper is in the line.

[Outsider]

They gave me a time frame of between 6 and 8 weeks for what i ordered...

[Outsider]

Extended significantly....What exactley does that mean?

[MrDraco]

The normal wait time for any barrel or complete upper order right now is 4-5 months. This just isn't AA either, this is all manufacturers.

There is a big AR-15 scare that has been going on for about a year now and most people think they will be banned soon so people are stock piling them and the parts like mad. Manufacturers can't keep up with the influx of orders creating a big back log.

[bwaites]

Extended significantly....What exactley does that mean?

Fair question. Most manufacturers I have talked to are now quoting at least 16 weeks, and several big name, (not necessarily big numbers, but companies with big reputations), are often telling people to expect 4th Quarter 2012 or early 2013 deliveries on new orders.

Ruger even stopped taking orders all together for ANY rifles for a couple months while they caught up. They have resumed taking orders, but I can't remember any big company EVER doing that.

[Outsider]

I will give it a 1 month window...If not delivered within that timeframe i will have a few items for sale...100 rounds of 123 A max, a Larue Tac Mount, RRA Lower...etc. Anyone can feel free to message me for details regarding purchase if i do not have my upper in 30 days.

[bwaites]

I will give it a 1 month window...If not delivered within that timeframe i will have a few items for sale...100 rounds of 123 A max, a Larue Tac Mount, RRA Lower...etc. Anyone can feel free to message me for details regarding purchase if i do not have my upper in 30 days.

Have you called AA? That's always the first step. Although they are working hard to catch up with the internet and email, they still respond the best to a good old phone call.

[PigOPs]

I will give it a 1 month window...If not delivered within that timeframe i will have a few items for sale...100 rounds of 123 A max, a Larue Tac Mount, RRA Lower...etc. Anyone can feel free to message me for details regarding purchase if i do not have my upper in 30 days.

My fear is that you will have some stuff for sell... I hope they prove me wrong but with the Obama-scare regarding the upcoming election nothing gun related is easy to find.

[MrDraco]

I will give it a 1 month window...If not delivered within that timeframe i will have a few items for sale...100 rounds of 123 A max, a Larue Tac Mount, RRA Lower...etc. Anyone can feel free to message me for details regarding purchase if i do not have my upper in 30 days.

I can almost guarantee you will not get your upper in this time frame. People who ordered Jan - early Feb are just now getting their orders. Custom orders on anything AR-15 related is taking forever. I was recently at a gun show and there was zero AR-15 parts to be had, not a single butt stock or fore grip in the entire building. There was one dealer and all he does is build AR-15's. He was telling me that things are so bad right now that it's taking him 6-8 months to get the parts needed to finish his builds.

If you are in that big of a hurry, look around and see if any other companies have any in stock. You most likely won't but you never know you may get lucky.

[LRRPF52]

There were 337,000 AR15's manufactured and sold in 2008, according to ATF records. Since then, the industry has increased 30.6% in direct jobs, gone from $19 billion per year, to $31.8 billion in 2011, and 2012 will be another record-breaker. NICS checks are increasing by at least 1 million per year, and December saw 1.5 million NICS checks alone, just like in 2010.

A lot of people who are in positions to invest and increase their manufacturing capacity won't make the move, because they know the Euozone is getting ready to collapse, which will force China to collapse, as well as cool the US market at a minimum, if not pop the gigantic swollen zit of a bubble our inflated economy currently is.

That said, they are relying on current machine shop capacity to crank out parts on 3 shifts, 5-6 days per week, burning tool heads, employees, and programmers like a pack of matches. The gun industry has been doing amazingly well, but large investors are being prudent about where to go from here. This year is going to provide some interesting times for sure.

[Outsider]

I wonder why they told me 6-8 weeks for an upper...they said 8-16 weeks for a complete rifle... I just ordered an upper...I am very patient but I do not put up with being jerked around... RRA jerked me around for 12 weeks filled with empty promises....I hope this is not more of the same

[LRRPF52]

I bet the same thing is happening with AA. Their suppliers tell them 4-6 weeks, and that seems to have been running as advertised, until some other major order, machine overhaul, etc. caused a glitch, and everything gets pushed back.

This is why machine shops don't want anybody else to know who they are, since the are swamped with orders around the clock already. Since nobody makes everything in-house, everyone is hostage to the market, and the market is hungry right now. Nobody can predict the future, and there is a lot of uncertainty based on the political season, plus economic woes. There is value in $1000 invested in an AR15 that will last a few lifetimes, while those $1000 might only be good for keeping warm or cleaning your gluteal fold from cholera-infested liquiblast excrement next summer, as you huddle in the rubble you once knew as your home. That's how people are looking at it.

Nobody is getting jerked around-it may feel like that, but everyone has that feeling when it comes to sourcing parts right now.

[Clod Stomper]

I bet the same thing is happening with AA. Their suppliers tell them 4-6 weeks, and that seems to have been running as advertised, until some other major order, machine overhaul, etc. caused a glitch, and everything gets pushed back.

This is why machine shops don't want anybody else to know who they are, since the are swamped with orders around the clock already. Since nobody makes everything in-house, everyone is hostage to the market, and the market is hungry right now. Nobody can predict the future, and there is a lot of uncertainty based on the political season, plus economic woes. There is value in $1000 invested in an AR15 that will last a few lifetimes, while those $1000 might only be good for keeping warm or cleaning your gluteal fold from cholera-infested liquiblast excrement next summer, as you huddle in the rubble you once knew as your home. That's how people are looking at it.

Nobody is getting jerked around-it may feel like that, but everyone has that feeling when it comes to sourcing parts right now.

I'm going to second LRRPF52. You may not have been aware of the firearms market in late 2008 through 2009, but I remember it vividly. EVERYTHING was hard to find and overpriced if you found it. This year may well turn out as bad or worse. I skipped the first local gun show immediately after the election because the line to get in the door was hours long. It's starting early this year based on fear that Obama will be re-elected.

I'm hoping that the day after the election will be awash in stockpiled AR parts up for sale because the candidate who is the LEAST anti-gun won the election.

But, no, you aren't being jerked around. Everyone is depending on someone else to supply SOMETHING. It's unfortunate, but it's reality.

Will

[jawbone]

"$1000 might only be good for keeping warm or cleaning your gluteal fold from cholera-infested liquiblast excrement next summer, as you huddle in the rubble you once knew as your home."

pure poetry, LRRP! very well done.