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I have a NIB PE57 and a very nice AMT but am looking for a shooter from a kit already in the safe.

What mags do the 308 builds use?  And does the builder supply the 308 barrel for $1300 build price, or do you have to source the barrel (or pay for it) separately?

7.5 Swiss STGW 57 mags can be used, the newer ones with plastic follower do not work as well I hear. He can supply you with a US made barrel.

Has anyone gotten any recent updates from Mike at MAG arms or from Honey Creek Industries?

He (Mike Mag Arms) had some personal problems that caused a slight delay, he told me mine should be ready by Feb.

Looks like Honey Creek's first PE57 build is up for sale on gunbroker:

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=387114387#PIC

Who put all that stupid crap on it?

Has anyone heard  from Mike?

Yes, he said he is working on getting the pile of receivers he has out the door.

Thanks Poorman,

Sounds like he is still at it; I have waited decades for this rifle so a little while longer won't kill me.

Did you get it yet?

Not yet, still waiting

This is all starting to sound familiar...I'm glad I held off on sending in my parts kit.

Too bad is right, I'd love a PE57 but there's been far too many vaporware guns for me to take that risk.

Talked to Mike today. Said he is in a new shop and he has been working to make his process faster. Mike also told me he does not just build one gun at a time but does batches and he is getting closer to getting several guns out. He has a family life and a day job so I guess we just have to continue waiting.

I really hope that this comes to pass, I do. I know he has built a couple of these because I got his info from a semi-famous author who had him build them. My fear is that like several of these situations in the past, he's overwhelmed with orders and in over his head. Let's hope he can dig out because I know he produces a quality product, with no rails

Just heard from Mike, mine should be ready mid month

Wow, that's cool as hell.  Please post pics when you get it!

Will do, it is coming in without finish as I am having that done locally.

Good do hear.  I can't wait to hear your review.   I hope that these things will be flowing out faster once he finds his groove

Any updates?

Does anyone know if Honey Creek will start producing these on a large scale?

Still waiting, I emailed him last week and he said he was waiting for his FFL renewal to arrive in the mail. The honeymoon is over for me....

I'm really sorry to hear that. An FFL renewal?  That's an open ended (sounds a little like bullshit too) date.   I thought an FFL gets renewed before it expires, at least that's how my C&R goes but what do I know.   I was looking forward to seeing yours.  Are you going to ask for a refund and your parts back?    
I wonder what the story with Honey Creek is.  I havnt been able to find an email address for them.  

I have been waiting since Nov. 2013, might as well wait a while longer.

November's not that bad of a wait.  if you recall, here in MD some people had to wait that long just for a background check on a regulated firearm purchase

It's not the wait that bothers me, it's the broken promises

Just got word that my build should be completed by this weekend....

Interesting. He's had my kit for nearly 2 years and says mine is in the first batch to be completed.

He said mine was one of three he was completing this weekend. Hopefully yours is one of the other two, give him a call.

I actually know Mike and have for almost 8 years, and have seen him working away on the PE-57's and SiG 510's. The demilling of these guns (milling out all of the old receiver stubs front and rear down to the bare trunnion is not a wam bam thank you man process by any means). The ATF screw up is a legit deal too, as it held up a FFL weapon transfer of mine. He relocated his shop, and BATFE put the wrong address on the new license which basically made it invalid.  

This project has taken a long time, but for a guy who had a minimum of outside help to get the stampings made from scratch, machined his own tooling, spec'd out and sourced all the materials, had new barrels made, headspacing of weapons that some of the kits are mismatched parts (there are five sizes of rollers on the bolts not to mention the different size trunnion cups) this has been extremely labor intensive for one guy.

If this project was an easy one WHY was there no one building up guns since 1989 when they first got banned from importation. DSA sat on a ton of parts kits for alomost 15 years that no one wanted as there was no replacement receiver to be had. I remember in the mid 90's people saying that it just couldn't be done, and that it would be cost prohibitive to even try.

Mike is a good guy who'd give you the shirt off his back, and yeah I'm personally biased since I know him personally, but the fact remains that he is building up guns and they are going out as quickly as he completes one. Think what you will, but I know what I have witnessed first hand. Flame me if you want, but I have to step in and say he is doing all that he can with these weapons as quickly as he can

I suggest all the folks chiming in and piling on about their expert knowledge of gun building projects build up SiG Pe-57 and 510 tooling and turn out their own product's as you know there is a market place out there to be had.

I am a local law enforcement officer, I have no vested interest in his business, and have no personal stake in this fight aside from asking people to quit piling on the guy. He is doing what he can as fast as he can.

I have never once said anything about the build process, my only gripe is about Mike telling me the kit will be finished by a certain time and that date going by without a word, then weeks later I ask and get another date of completion. If he has issues that delay it, I am a very understanding person. Just tell me it will be done when it's done!

The PE57 is one of the Holy Grail guns that has been on my list since the '80s. Mike has had my kit for well over a year. The way I see it I have waited over 30 years and a bit longer isn't going to kill me. But I am getting excited.

Fcat........they are badass. I have seen several of the assembled guns (both the 510's and PE-57's), and if they were mine, I'd be super stoked too.

Does anyone know what's going on with Honey Creek Industries?  Did they just make the one that ended up on gunbroker or are they going to ramp up production?

I built this in 2 days. This one is a postie though


2 yrs is a bit much to have the kits Id suspect there are build issues. Having said that sometimes it happens. Ive got a semi MG34 that has been kicking my ass.

Very nice
If I send you my parts kit, can you build one for me?

How did you build the receiver? Weld in a sheet metal section or add the trunnions to a new receiver? Mike has made an entirely new receiver and spot welds the original front and rear trunnions to it. It took ham a long time to develop the receiver. He also had to make new barrels.

I welded in repair sections

53gunner - So did you use original pieces of a saw cut Pe-57........or did you use one of Mike's repair sections? Do you have close ups of your build?

People bagging on Mike is gonna get everyone one thing, him pissed and your stuff boxed up and sent back to you. As I said before he is cranking out builds and has been shipping out guns. If people have ants in their pants and can't wait to have a $2,000 build (parts kit, repair sections, plus labor) to have a gun worth an easy $5,000, I suggest that everyone go find another builder and get off of Mike's back. God knows that I'd like all the PE-57 and 510 stuff to be over with so I can get a few builds I have on hold with him built up that all this SiG stuff has backlogged.

Seeing as no one paid has paid Mike up front (like the Shrike guys wanting their money up front), and has been asking Mike repeatedly "Are you done yet? are you done yet? are you done yet? are you done yet?" like an impatient child, some of the complaints are just that......childish. I have watched him machining out the trunnions one at a time (front and back), weld in the repair section (that he designed), mill out the openings, weld on the charging handle rail, modify the trigger packs, mod and headspace the bolts, then break them down for refinishing. You see he isn't welding a saw cut receiver section back in on a saw cut gun to make POSTIE'S he is building compliant 922r semi autos that were sent in and approved by BATFE

If you think this is like building up an AR-15 or an AK on a NDS receiver.......you are just smoking crack. This isn't even close difficulty wise as building a semi auto 1919A4 (if any of you guys ever built one of those) as that just requires re-machining the internals and riveting on a side plate with a blocker bar.......which is still more that most home builders can manage. The trunnion work alone on these guns is time consuming as he is going down to the actual trunnion material where SiG had the brazing material between their receiver and trunnion so that you all will have a well built and solid gun that will outlast your lifetime.

As I said Mike is a good friend of mine, some of the stuff I have read here and on similar forums have ruffled my feathers. Mike doesn't need me to fight any thread battles for him, but as I feel like my friend is being spoken about and maligned unfairly I am chiming in.

AND as I said before........if you think you can get a better deal, with quicker turn around times, just ask him for your parts kits back, and ship them to some other person to build up.

http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y316/stephen_white2/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps501e9725.jpg

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Here are two of the rifles Mike completed recently, after they got back from Parkerizing..

Chilean SiG 510 top, Swiss PE-57 bottom.

Seeing is believing.......so there you go nay sayer's.

Duplicate post

When have I bitched like a child?

If I did not name YOU in my post, I may not have been directing that at you.

I can tell everyone out there this, Mike is about ready to wash his hands of this project, and good luck to all the kit owners in finding another builder who won't charge both higher prices with a build time of maybe someplace in the next two years. Any gunsmith out there is inevitably gonna contact Mike for his repair sections to build up future builds, and guess what? His compliance parts, barrels, repair sections will all skyrocket in price as he adds an AGGRAVATION tax to all of this.

It would behoove all the folks who are saying negative things to pump their brakes and just let the guy work, but do as you see fit, and see how that works out.


Oh and BTW I'll be glad to buy all the parts kits down the road when folks start dumping them when they can't get them built up in the next five years.

Sorry for thinking you did, but there have not been any negative comments in this thread that I can see, so it may be a good idea to specify that you are speaking of people not associated with it. I understand the pressure Mike is under from people, he is the only gunsmith currently offering something that a lot of people really want.

I have a PE57 kit with Mike and he has been nothing but awesome in response and communication. In fact we have shot the shit on the phone about the rifle and other topics and I consider him a friend I never met. Being the only guy in perhaps the whole US making this rifle off of his own design, well, I just am glad I will one day have mine and I am content to wait for his best effort. I just sent him 2 Ar70s to build for me as I fully trust his abilities, and will prob send him my last ak47 kit build once I get off my ass and box that one up.

Picked up my barreled receiver from my LGS today. Looks good, just need to get it parked and cerakoted now.

What the actual yes is this? I've never seen one before....I don't say that much.

I want it so hard...

Looks good!  I'm glad you finally got your receiver.. How is the welding on the top of that repair section?  Is it clean/straight?  It's probably an optical illusion, but it looks a little crooked in the photo.

Edit: I suppose what I see is where it meets the front trunnion.  Not specifically the joining line across the top.

That is an optical illusion, all welds are straight and look near factory. Everything fits and functions as it should. Now I just need to decide if it is a keeper or not. The barrel looks to be a Swiss original since I specified I wanted it in 7.5 Swiss and not .308.