Looking to see if there would be any interest in a book from ALLEN PRECISION...

[Fiftydriver]

To all, my wife has been working with a company lately that allows you to make books for different purposes to each individuals desires. Basically, you make the book yourself and the finished product shows up as a finished book with top quality printing pictures and binding.

Watching her work on her product has started me thinking about doing something for myself, basically a detailed, start to current timeline of the APS wildcat family production. Including:

- Idea start up
- Practical theory and design of each chambering
- R&D, including load development, ballistic testing for each
- Finished product results
- Usage recommendations
- Rifle platforms for each application
- Experimental wildcat chamberings not available for order yet
- Raptor receiver concept and full information of its development
- Other APS custom project through the years
- Fully illustrated with top quality photos right from the source

This company allows you to make a single book or order 500 of them.

Not sure if I will do this on a volume basis but I think I will put something together for myself just to keep everything orgainzed and in a finished product for future references and to be able to shoot customers.

Looks like finished price would be in the $30-$40 range but thats not set for sure.

Just wondering if there would be any interest at all for something like this. I get alot of guys asking about my wildcats and wanting information on them. I personally love to read about the development of others wildcats and have many books on the subject. This would be more of a detailed scrap book type item instead of say something like PO Ackleys novels!!! But would be loaded with good information if anyone was interested.

Let me know, need to think about this.

 

[dr14]

Yeah. I'd be interested. What kind of time frame for release of the book ?

 

[ss7mm]

Put me down for one Kirby!!!

 

[wolffman]

Count me in also.

 

[partisan1911]

I would like to see you develop a website.

 

[Firecat]

Here here Kirby. I would be interested. I would also like to see a website.

 

[ROBSTER]

I would be intrested in one also.
Robster

 

[Boman]

You can put me down for one.

 

[MT4XFore]

Of course I would be interested. If there is anything I can do to help, I would be interested in doing that too.

Jim

 

[kfrye]

I would definitely want one.

 

[300 ultra]

Website first!!!!!!!

 

[Fiftydriver]

I have played with the idea for a web site for several years now. Around 2005 I was about to pull the trigger on a web site and that is when things really started popping as far as orders went.

Mid 2005 my waiting time was basically the time needed to get custom parts in. On a Rem 700 based rifle, 3-6 months max!!! I had what I thought was a decent work load but was looking to get more.

The Allen Magnums and other APS wildcats started to get alot of attention at this time which also brought alot of attention to my rifles in general. The work orders exploded in the fall and winter of 2005 and spring of 2006.

In the fall of 2007, there was another big surge in orders and by 2008, I had gone from a back log of 3-6 months to 15-18 months on shipping rifles. The summer of 2008 was spent, TOTALLY, with very few exceptions, accurizing Rem 700 receivers. In fact June, July and part of August were spend doing nothing but accurizing a huge batch of Rem 700 rifles.

I knew at this time something had to happen. By the fall of 2008, I was now 21-22 months behind in work orders. A great problem to have but this brought up new problems, namely, making my customers wait nearly 2 years for a rifle. That was unacceptable to me.

Plus, it was at this same time that the economy took a nose dive. Now I had weekly cancellations partly because of the economy, partly because of the long waits customers were having to face.

Jan 1st 2009, I decided to stop accepting any custom rifle orders based on factory receivers. Just did not have time to machine them and get them ready to build on. Busted my rear in 2009 and 2010 and got my shipping times cut down dramatically on new orders but still had and have some very old projects to catch up on still.

My point for this time line is simple, I do not believe I could keep up with a web sites traffic. A sight that I would like to have would cost several thousand to build minimum and then I would also have the time involved in maintaining or paying someone else to maintain it for me. Not to mention constant updating of the sight.

Early in 2009, I decided that a web site was not in the books for APS, not at least until I could get shipping times back under a year. I am not there yet. Much closer then I was in 2008-2009 but still a ways to go.

I just have no desire to make my customers wait 2 years for a rifle and in the end, if I got a web site up and running, it could easily turn back into that and even much longer.

Might not make sense, many will say its bad business to limit orders, personally, for me its bad business to get so busy I can not give each customer the attention then deserve and get their rifle out in a timely manner. This is the simple reason for no web site. This is also the reason that I post MOST of my information here on LRH. All you have to do is run a search under what your interested from my shop here on LRH and I would be surpised if several paged of information did not come up under the search.

 

[B23]

I'd be interested in the APS book too.

Web sites, when done well,can take up ALOT of time. Give him a few more years and he can put his daughter in charge of the web site. Kids and computers are like water to a sponge. They soak that stuff up sooooo **** fast and at levels most adults can't comprehend. I think your daughter is within couple years of mine and you will be amazed at what they can do in just a very short amount of time.

 

[Firecat]

Kirby, We appreciate your honesty and integrity. Your reasoning is understandable and to be respected. It seems customer service has gone by the wayside and is sacrificed in our current society to demand for quantity. Keep it up!