I don't know exactly when you ordered, because the order didn't come thru me.
However, I do have listed on my QCB upper ad in the EE, that we are currently out of QCB uppers and are expecting some next week.

I always try to keep my customers informed. The central office sometimes is more chaotic, due to being a small company and trying to do alot of things.

My apologies for the central office. Things like this have occasionally happened in the past, but it gets straightened out.

Well, I'm the only "Tom" in the company.
Did you call 423-746-9019 to order?
Because I don't have you listed here on my order sheets.
And the only pending order on my sheets that hasn't been received yet is a lower to TN.
I have nothing from Colorado on my order list for months.


I have a call in to the central office to try to get this ironed out.

Ok, here is the response that I just got from HQ.

The upper was shipped timely via USPS Priority Mail, and we absorbed any shipping charges. No shipping charges were assessed on this unit.
The addressee is a foreign APO,and the USPS delivered it to the military postal service, and then required US Customs to get ahold of it.

The USPS can only give tracking info up to the time that it was turned over to military postal service, so we cannot track it beyond that.

Whatever the hold-up is, it is in the military postal system or being held up in Customs.

We did everything we could do to get it out as fast as possible, and didn't even charge shipping, and provided an Active Military discount on the price.

Delay is regrettable, and we are displeased about it, but it is not our doing.

I hope that helps you out, and I did the best I could to get you the info as quickly as I possibly could.

Thanks.

Edited to add:
Your order was taken by Jim at the central office in Maine. Not me.
I"m a commission-only salesperson located in TN working the ARFcom website, and have no information of any kind about anything that doesn't come in directly thru me.
I didn't get paid on your order, nor do I make a salary from MGI for anything that I do.
However, I took time out of my day to try to resolve your issue with the factory.
I relayed the information that I was told by the factory in hopes of helping you.

I understand completely, and I've done what I could.

MGI has had some slow shipping issues in the past, and I cannot state with certainty that there were no foul-ups in this order at MGI. And I do agree that not returning phone calls, or excuses, are not acceptable.

Be that as it may, I'm very sorry that this has caused a distaste in you for the products, which do stand well on their merits for their intended use.

Since I am a representative, I will extend an apology to you for any foul-up which may have occurred on the part of MGI. I never like to see anything like this happen.

I can tell you this. I work with this company on a daily basis, and I work to see the sale thru to delivery, and get the information for my customers. Sometimes I have to "pull teeth" too, to get information, because they are always out doing product testing, development work, or whatever. Sometimes they take a long time to return my phone calls too. But, I do that work to insulate the customer from anything bad happening, and there's always chance of foul-ups in any human-run organization. They are not perfect, and do make mistakes just like anyone, so I play the "customer advocate" in keeping everyone's "feet to the fire", which I see as part of my job and what I get paid to do in my commissions. I work equally as hard for my customers, as I do for the company I represent. They place trust in me, and I don't take that lightly.

I've been in various businesses for a long time, and there are always things like this that happen, no matter what business it is. People foul up, people make mistakes, people forget things,shipments get lost, people try to cover their asses. That's life. What I do is to try to make it work out as seamlessly as possible for the customers who order thru me, and I work hard to do that. And yes, I've also made my share of mistakes, but I always strive to do my best, and that usually results in a smooth transaction.


I hope that whatever I did was of some help to you.  I really regret that you were dissatisfied with the factory's service, because it does reflect somewhat on me as a rep, and I do my best for people. They are my customers, and I want them to stick with me in the future, so I work on their behalf to make things good for them.

I personally have no military experience, but the person(CEO) who shipped your order and answered my questions is a retired 15-year veteran of the US Army 7th Special Forces as a weapons man and sniper instructor(Sergeant). He is currently running MGI, and is the source of my info from them. His name is Mack Gwinn III.

Quoted: Tom, As a former SOTIC (Special Operations Target Interdiction Course) instructor, gunsmith (yes we built our own guns at Bragg before the M24) and SOTIC NCOIC, I would be curious to know where and when he was a sniper instructor. SS

Next time I speak with him(probably early next week) I'll ask him.
All I know is that he retired around 2000 and that I think he was primarily stationed at Ft. Bragg, and I've seen his ID card, challenge coin, and SF ring, and he always talks about Fayetteville and Ft. Bragg.  I was told he was a weapons man and a sniper instructor at the 7th SF Group. I never actually asked him to confirm that part about being a sniper instructor specifically, because I never really had any reason to. I'm fairly certain that it would have been at Ft. Bragg. I have heard him mention SOTIC on occasion.

I'm pretty sure it was his dad that mentioned it to me. His dad, Ret. Capt. Mack Gwinn Jr., is  the MGI chief designer, and he was in SF 5th Group SOG and did numerous tours in Vietnam, receiving some Purple Hearts and Bronze Stars in the time he was there. He's not very active now, because of the shrapnel in his spine causing him to be in constant pain. He was also shot in the head, but survived without brain damage.

Here's the page to the Virtual Wall about his uncle(Dad's kid brother) 1Lt. Richard Gwinn(KIA '69), who received a posthumous Silver Star for saving members of his unit in an ambush.
www.virtualwall.org/dg/GwinnRA01a.htm

They are a military family, and generally have outstanding records.
I'll ask Mack III for clarification on his duties with the 7th SF Group.

Quoted: Are you guys thinking about a .50ae kit?  If so, great, I can wait.  If not, do you know if the Tromix Sledgehammer barrel/mags will work?

It may come down the road, but currently we're capable of using any non-bull barrel that will work in an AR15. Bull barrels(over 1" diameter won't fit). Generally most anything of relatively normal dimensions with an AR15 barrel extension on it will work.
Don't know about the Tromix mags. I've never seen one, and don't know the dimensions.
In any case, we have a lot of work left to do to get our basic hi-popularity magwells out first, so it won't be in the near future for any 50AE packages.

It could be possible to do that in future versions, and the VFG could be used as the holding mechanism.
We've looked at alternatives.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I have to admit, I kind of skimmed through the thread. So if this question was already answered, I apologize.  Why was the decision made to use M-14 mags instead of FAL mags.? I can't see any possible benefits of not using FAL mags.   Just curious. Yes, we've been over this. The FAL mags are not well-suited to this application. Center-feed mags don't easily conform to the needs of the AR system that feeds alternately on each side of center. Yes, I know FAL mags are cheap. But if they don't work right for the application, then saving a few bucks on mags is little consolation. For refresher... Why not what almost everyone else is using for 308 AR's, the only mag used by multiple manufacturers, the original AR10/Knights/DPMS and at least one other.  They were designed for that style rifle, not modded from another style.

Can also be done at a later date.
At the time we started this project, we used the M14 mag, and so it had "project inertia" and it went forward. Other mags can be worked into it later, with a different magwell.
Since the DPMS/Knights mags are made for a much larger AR10 type  platform, it's no real advantage to our develpment to use them just because they work in an AR-looking gun, because they pose the same difficulties as the M14 mags, in terms of getting it to fit into our AR15-sized platform.

Quoted: Tom, As a former SOTIC (Special Operations Target Interdiction Course) instructor, gunsmith (yes we built our own guns at Bragg before the M24) and SOTIC NCOIC, I would be curious to know where and when he was a sniper instructor. SS

Spoke with Mack III about this.
He says he was assigned to SWC and SOTIC, from his normal 7th Group position, as part of a "support team", and since he was sniper qualified, he did temporary duty in that capacity while assigned there.
It was at Ft. Bragg.

Quoted: How's the pistol caliber gas system/barrel availibilty coming along? I can almost taste the GLOCK magwells.  I have been holding off on the Oly GL9, waiting (im)patiently for the shot show...

The magwell for Glock mags is finalizing now, and I was told they hoped to release it at the SHOT Show. I don't have photos, but it looks really cool.
I believe that magwell is currently the top priority.
We are going to call it the "Law Enforcement Magwell", because we don't want any problems with copyright infringement from Glock, so we won't be using their name on it.
Same thing, with non-controversial name.

The gas operated barrels are in a logjam still.
We can get expensive custom ones done, but we're trying to get somebody to make a run of them that are inexpensive "rack grade" types, and we're having some difficulty finding a large barrel producer to commit to the job.

Ok, look I think if you have concerns about MGI company owners' military records, you should take it up with them.
I've tried to helpfully provide information, which seems is not up to your satisfaction.
I'm not military, don't know about what means what, and have no further interest in being an intermediary in this pissing contest.

You've had adequate room given on this thread to discuss your complaint, as well as the other threads you've posted to air your dissatisfaction.
They are here for everyone to read.
I hope we can leave it at that.

Quoted: Quoted: Since the DPMS/Knights mags are made for a much larger AR10 type  platform, it's no real advantage to our develpment to use them just because they work in an AR-looking gun, because they pose the same difficulties as the M14 mags, in terms of getting it to fit into our AR15-sized platform. At least they have a provision for the same type of BHO and release system.  I guess the groove down the back of the magwell isn't wide enough for the AR10 mags, and that doesn't change with the magwell conversion, perhaps?

Due to the size of the 308 round and magazines, the BHO must be sacrficed to make room for this conversion in the AR15-sized platform we're using.
We won't have a BHO on the 308 system, regardless of which mag is used, due to space constraints.

Please stick to the issues at hand or remain silent, thanks.

Quoted: Tom- any word on the 45 kit?  I've been stocking up on Greasegun mags!

Hi Wayne!

Mack III had it out last weekend, running it heavily in full-auto, and said it was doing fine in blowback format.
I expect that it will be one of the things that should be released at the SHOT Show.

There is some question about whether production will be done by that time, so we'll have to see.
As far as I know, there should be no further hold-up on that magwell.

Quoted: Can you post an updated list of the magwells currently in production/R&D?

In production are the AR15 and AK47 magwells.

In later stages of development/finalization are Law Enforcement Magwell(Glock 9mm and 40S&W), Grease Gun 45ACP magwell, Colt 9mm SMG magwell, Sten 9mm magwell, 308 kit w/magwell for modded M14 mags. We have shown all of these in various stages of development at shows over the last year or so. We plan to show all of these at the SHOT Show, and we're hoping to have some of them available for ordering at that time.

Some other develpment work is on a PPS 7,62x25 magwell, and on a belt-feed option, and an open-bolt LMG fire-control-group for M16, and an open-bolt auto/closed-bolt semi selectable FCG for M16, a rimfire kit for .22 and .17 rimfires that will trip an auto sear, and gas-operated systems for pistol caliber conversions that will use gas tubes instead of blowback. This stuff is probably a little more down the road than the other stuff, and I have no release schedule for any of it.

Being that we have suffered some delays on alot of our stuff in the past, I'm hesitant to make any more predictions on actual release dates until I get the official go-ahead to do so from the factory.

Quoted: Tom, Somewhere during this 18 page thread I know I've posted before, but I want a belt fed option.  It doesn't look like Geoff will be delivering my shrike any time soon, and I NEED (LOL) a belt fed option in 5.56. Please tell Mack to make it so.  I'm waiting in line to buy one.

V188,
Yes, I remember, and I'm not forgetting about you, or anyone that's interested.

However, it must be noted that MGI is a small company, and has been historically quite slow in releasing new items, so that must be taken into account.