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New Some Help (Rifle MIA at Elite Firearms)


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Okay, I shipped my Saiga .223 to Elite Firearms on March 2, the day before I read this thread:

http://gunsnet.net/forums/showthread.php?t...=elite+firearms

 

 

I thought, "just my luck", but I talked to Dave on the phone before I shipped it and he seemed okay so I didn't worry too much about it (crossed my fingers though).

 

I'd already done the basic Saiga conversion (moved trigger guard forward, installed a bullet guide) but wanted him to install a Bulgarian triangle side-folder I'd aquired through this forum. He said he would do it for $140. So a USPS MO covering this and shipping went out along with the rifle.

 

My turn-around time was said to be two weeks.

 

 

Weeks go by and no word, no rifle. I give him a call and leave a message. He calls back (I suspect the only reason he called in the first place was because I mentioned the new Galil's he has listed on his page. We actually had a long conversation about Galil's and I got off the phone feeling pretty good.) and tells me, "Spraying the back tomorrow morning, it'll ship out this afternoon at 4pm" This was March 22. No tracking number was ever sent to me. I called up Fedex and asked if anything had been shipped to me, nothing had. Now no one is answering my calls.

 

I finally get ahold of the shop and they give me a incorrect tracking number. They tell me to call back if I have any problems. Obviously, I had a problem. They didn't pick up any of my calls.

 

I finally get ahold of them again using a different phone with a different area code listing on March 30. They tell me that they can't give me the tracking number because so-and-so is out at dinner but that "your rifle isn't lost, it's still listed as in-transit, you'll know when we know". I still e-mail and call to insist on a tracking number.

 

On April 6 I sent, yet again, another e-mail to them asking about a tracking number. On April 9 Dave e-mails me back the following:

 

im not ignoring you dave , i just wanted to find out all the info before i respond,the box is not missing , its at the mesquite post office 70 miles from here , no one seems to know why its there , but the lable is messed up, and the postmaster is driving it here in the morning ,all i care is that it is not lost ,we dont have this happen all the time , but its not the first , so rest easy all is good , dave

 

I'm still a bit suspicious from reading the other thread but I figure I'll give it a couple days. Then I get this e-mail on April 10

 

you got it , im going to fed-ex it , scared the you know what out of me

 

Then this e-mail on April 12

 

got it back , no harm done , going back out

 

I just got off the phone with Fedex--guess what? It hasn't been shipped. Okay, maybe he used a different carrier--How about telling me!

 

I left a message today (seeing as how no one picks up when I call) saying that unless I received an update I was told to talk to a lawyer.

 

WTF is up with these guys!?

 

 

Even if you buy everything they've been trying to feed me it's still shitty business practice! To top it all off I'm moving in under two weeks! Where the fuck is my rifle going to end up shipped to? Next he'll tell me he accidently sent it to Taiwan!

 

Any advice?

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Better Business Bureau?

http://www.bbb.org/

Threaten suit. Better yet: get a lawyer to threaten suit. Only way to get your gun.

 

1) Fraud

2) Willful Breach of Contract

3) Criminal Proceedings = Internet/interstate Robbery of Firearms

4) Breach of duty as a FFL = Call the atf and get this yanked

Edited by AegisDei
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I had pretty much the same experiance with that fu$%. I have been trying to find a way to get him shut down, he is THE WORST gunsmith{if that what he calls himself} ever! I filed a complaint with the BBB and got nowhere. I sent him a beautiful saiga 7.62 with dimples and all and he fuc#@# it up so bad. He lied to me numerous times about it being shipped and even told me an incorrect tracking number. I guess this is how he deals with all his coustomers. I would seriously like to go down there to HURST TX and .......oh nevermind. I think my next move will be a website so close in name to his and destroy his reputation forever.

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I'm awful sorry to hear about your experience with Dave. I had a similar experience as well. I finally received it, but I almost gave up on it.

 

I went through the same thing with calls and e-mails. I eventually left a message stating that I was very concerned about the thing ending up in hostile hands, and that I really needed to know just what was the status of it. Some nice lady finally called me and gave me a Fed Ex tracking number, and said that Dave was going to send me a fluted handguard for all the trouble, which he did.

I ended up having to purchase and install a Tapco FCG in it. The one he put in it was a Century mix and match affair using the original hammer. The trigger hook would hang up on the Saiga hammer because it had a small burr on it.

 

Most of the work was done well, but I was not about to send it back to him, no way. I don't know much about guns, much less and AK, but the Tapco FCG fixed the problem I had.

 

I would not recommend this guy. I was on pins and needles for weeks thinking that the gun was in some gang bangers hands in any city USA. I know what you are going through, and I can say from experience that "I feel your pain" no pun intended. I think you'll get it, but when??? Keep us posted.

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Got the real tracking number today. Shipped out today, funny how today isn't a week ago...

 

 

Anywho, we'll see what it looks like come Friday.

 

I'm curious, which conversion package did you have done? I'm really interested to hear what kind of job he did on yours.

Did you get a Molly Resin coat, or Dura Coat?

 

The first tracking number I got from him was a USPS number, and it stated that it was delivered in Niles, Ohio. I live in Western NYS. Calls later, and a big story, but he finally delivered it a week later, and I got the Fed Ex tracking number that was correct.

 

Keep your finger crossed, I think you'll get it this time. When you test fire it, be careful. The crappy Century FCG he put in mine would cause the trigger to hang up in the rear most position. My first time out I thought it jammed. When I touched the trigger in went off. I'm very fortunate to have been the only one on the range that snowy day. After slow firing it, I discovered that just by touching the rear of the trigger it would snap back, and all else worked fine. That's when I got the Tapco. If he did put a Century in it, you'll have that trigger slap that is painful, but it's an easy install with Tapco.

 

Oh, and look it over real good. Make Sure There Are No Obstructions In The Barrel. Most people forget about that. There were none in mine, but you just never know.

Edited by MacMan
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I'm curious, which conversion package did you have done? I'm really interested to hear what kind of job he did on yours.

Did you get a Molly Resin coat, or Dura Coat?

 

I didn't get a package done by him. I'd already done the full conversion myself, I just wanted him to install a left-hand triangle folder, nothing else. He sprayed the rear trunnion with some kind of coating, not sure what.

 

Keep your finger crossed, I think you'll get it this time. When you test fire it, be careful. The crappy Century FCG he put in mine would cause the trigger to hang up in the rear most position. My first time out I thought it jammed. When I touched the trigger in went off. I'm very fortunate to have been the only one on the range that snowy day. After slow firing it, I discovered that just by touching the rear of the trigger it would snap back, and all else worked fine. That's when I got the Tapco. If he did put a Century in it, you'll have that trigger slap that is painful, but it's an easy install with Tapco.

 

I already have the trigger and everything else. I just sent him the stripped hull of my rifle.

 

Oh, and look it over real good. Make Sure There Are No Obstructions In The Barrel. Most people forget about that. There were none in mine, but you just never know.

 

Didn't think of that, thanks for the info.

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  • 3 years later...

that guy dave? at elite firearms tryed every way in the world to steal my bolt carrier telling me my SSr-85c2 single stack needed a new bolt carrier for heavy technical reason's he couldent get into at the momment after i miked it with a milled bulgarian ak47 kit they are built with same parts and miked both bolts and sent him an email he never called or would return my messages he wanted steal my bolt carrier!!!!!!!!!! and i have heared he replaced several nice ones with cheap romanian carriers

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