I gotta say, that's fucking awesome, sir.  Way to go Mike!

I want one BAD!  

Very nice!

Borat? Is that you?

Need to send it out for parkerizing.

ooh pretty!!

The MAG Arms receiver is stunning, if it did not have the markings on it you would think it was original!

I'm thinking about having one of these done - what would a parts kit go for?

Around $700 these days, they are getting harder to find. I got mine from APEX when they had them for $650, I kick myself for not buying a few back in the day when DSArms had them cheap!

Poorman,

I see you decided to sell it:

http://www.armslist.com/posts/3187325/hampton-roads-virginia-rifles-for-sale--sig-pe57-stgw-57-rifle

Did you ever shoot it for function testing or accuracy?

Still waiting on mine in 7.62 from Mike; if mine functions and  shoots in an acceptable MOA range I will keep it forever.

Poorman, IM'd you. I'd definitely be interested in taking that off your hands and selling my kit to someone else.

I have not fired it, but, Mike function fires them before shipping to the customer.

Looks good.  I'm sending you an email on your sale

I'd love to have a SIG 510

Poorman received his rifle but I sent my parts kit in a week after Poorman did and still nothing. Sent Mike a e-mail 2 weeks ago and no responce. Did anybody else send Mike a kit to build? If so, have you heard anything?
Not bashing Mike, I know this is hard to do but would like to know how the schedule is looking for my rifle, it has been 11 months now and I would hope we are getting close.

I originally bought his receiver and was going to build it myself but with my work schedule,I decided that I don't have time for another project. He has had my kit for well over a year.

The last time I spoke with him was back in January. He told me then that my rifle would be ready in February.  I'm in no real hurry. To me the rifle is well worth the wait.

This thread cracks me up. Guys have hammered on Mike in various forums, have said "when will it be done when will it be done when will it be done" and I have seen several of these builds that he worked on turned around and sold for maximum profit.

Once the kits he has on hand from customers are built he will be building no more. Too many folks whining and complaining and then turning around and making a decent profit off his labor. He has told me that he may take all his repair sections and bury them and never build another customer parts kit again from all of this, AND having seen all that he has gone through over the years to make a functioning semi auto parts kit from the SiG 510 and PE 57 kits.........I do not blame him a bit.

If he has your kit, it will be built as he is a MAN OF HONOR. For anyone else down the road who might have wanted a kit built........you are OUTTA LUCK. The pissing and moaning, and flipping of rifles KILLED THIS PROJECT.

For those that think "Oh well no problem, I'll just get some place else to build them"  jokes on you. Mike had the stampings and new US made barrels made just for himself, so you are Sh*t outta luck there too. Any other gunsmith will tell you they have an open ended timeframe on a build so, expect if you CAN get one built a deliver date between now and forever.

There are always a select few armchair loudmouths (who don't know what the Hell they are talking about) that ruin things for everyone.......so consider the SiG PE-57 / 510 builds in the same category.

galilman121

Not sure if your post is directed at me or not, I was just wondering if anyone else has heard any news from Mike or gotten a rifle from him. I do not go to any other gun forums so I have no idea of anyone bashing Mike. In my post I even said I was not bashing him and I know it is a hard rifle to build. It has been almost a year and I only have talked to or emailed Mike twice.
When I get mine from Mike it will not be for sale as long as I am alive and my wife says I am so excited that she may bury it with me, I have wanted a PE57 for decades and a few more months will not kill me.
I applaud you for taking up for your friend and Mike has a good friend in you. The last thing I want is for Mike or anyone else to think I am being an armchair gunsmith or judging Mike because I do not have a gun yet, I was only wondering if anyone has heard from him.

This isn't meant for or pointed at any specific person or persons here... Period!!  Just stating a known fact.

Mike, I'm sorry that people here and at other sites pissed you off with their stupid-ass bitching about time lines or anything else relating to this project, not realizing that you are running a small operation and specializing to a very-very small market.   I hope that you will change your mind and take on future projects... Hell, I will even sign a waiver promising not to bitch!!  But!! If you decide not to deal with all the stupid-ass BS again, I understand and wish you well AND thank you for getting some super nice PE-57 rifles out to the people!!

Unfortunately, in American culture, we what "thing" right now and don't understand or realize that you might have to wait for something... Today, patience is a learned skill, which is a pretty sad statement.

I just hope that people here and on other sites will remember this, which I'm pretty sure they will not, but to simply put their BS in check and don't piss off other individuals offering specialized items/projects in the future.

...I wished that I jumped on this a lot sooner, but I didn't!!

Again Mike, THANK YOU for everything you did and put up with during this project!!!

Guy sounds like a big whiner.





 

from the thread- it looks like Poorman started his build with MagArms back in November of 2013...  and already received -and apparently sold- his rifle.

i started communication with Mike back in June of 2013 and sent him my parts kit (originally obtained back the 80s!) in July.  My experience pretty much follows whats been posted.  first a promise of "about 2 to 3 months"  then "easily by the end of the year".  Then February.  In May, I had a trip to the U.P that I really wouldve liked the rifle for- and he promised me that he would send it out "that monday" so i'd have it.  Well, that obviously didnt happen.  Then more promises, etc etc etc.

Please take note-  Ive been patient, have never hassled him, have always been almost apologetic about contacting him -and this being my "ultimate" rifle- have understood and was willing to wait.  The difficulty lies with the the timelines he himself fixes and then fails to deliver on.

If he'd've said at the very start-  "this project is easily going to be a year, possibly more..."    -then fair enough.  but when you've heard a minimum of four times- that "your rifle is ALMOST DONE and will ship out monday" ...well after more than a few of those- these promises start to smell of something different.


i know that is a little harsh-  but let me share where I'm coming from...

Thru the past 14 months, Mike has shared his trials and tribulations (from snow storms, shop changes, never heard about the FFL snafu, other jobs, etc) with me, and Ive always been sympathetic and patient.  I understand intimately that there are larger things in this life than rifles.  In every single one of my emails -there is not a harsh word, criticism or even a sense of disappointment.  But in late July, I shared something with Mike about myself.  Ive been battling my own health issues, and quite frankly-  they tell me I may not have much more time to wait for this rifle.

I apologized -and told Mike that TIME was simply a commodity I did not have to keep giving.  If he could either finish things up, send what was done so I could get it finished elsewhere, or refund my money* and return my parts kit... we could part as friends -no hard feelings.   (*last time (I think in June) he told me the rifle was nearing completion and would be ready to ship "that monday"- so I paid him in full and provided him with a local FFL to ship to).

So I get an email back, and he says (again) he'd finish it up that week an "it would ship out on monday" (the 18th).



well, its Wednesday.  no word.  no tracking number.  no replies.  nothing.  I leave tomorrow afternoon to head up to Atlanta for surgery to remove a metastasizing tumor. IF i wake up from from this surgery...   THEN, the fun starts September 1st to try to burn the rest of it out my body.


its a piss poor shame this project couldnt have gone a better.  Id've really liked to owned/held/experienced this "unicorn rifle".


who knows?  i can only hope things go well.  I can only hope I'll be back on my feet someday to enjoy trivial things like a strange rifle.  I can only hope that Mike is truly as close to finishing as he's promised -or at the very least -refunds my money and returns my kit.


I can only hope.

Men of honor make realistic estimates on timelines and dont make excuses and empty  promises when they are holding a customers parts and money in exchamge for a quoted service.

Promising 2-3 month turnarounds that stretch to 12-14+ or more months- the customer has EVERY RIGHT to be unhappy and make that phone ring in
The shop to ask where the hell their parts and money are in the process of completion. That is not a whining customer, that is a gunsmith who had failed on his contract for a customer.


Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

schmuzzy,

I have seen your rifle and it is done, Mike is just waiting to get the Parkerizing done, which is done at another guys shop, on the other guys time schedule.

Dawg180 and others should just butt out.

It's a public forum.  Don't whine about people commenting on stuff on it.  Can't take the heat, don't start a business.  If seeing it gets you that bent out of shape there's a convinient red X at the corner you can click.

I'm sure building a PE57 is hard, but 14 months (once you've figured out how to do it) is nonsense.  It's just work getting tossed on the back burner.  And that's fine as long as no promises are made.

Well all the loud mouths can start building them up themselves. Good luck with that.

Wow, whining about whining......

Irony.

Sticking up for a friend is hardly whining, maybe if you guys were a bit more mature you'd understand? You ladies might want to see if you have a set of balls at some point, or try a better tampon next month.

Your "friend's" habit of giving timelines, failing to meet them, and complete lack of communication is why I sold the STGW-57 he built me and sold the 510-4 I was going to have him build. Life is too short to deal with that shit.

The real question is why are you sticking up for a friend who has taken customer's money and parts kits and is missing his quoted deadline by over a year? Do you think that is acceptable?  How would you feel if someone took over $2,000 of YOUR money and parts and then never sent you the promised product?

If he really is your friend and you aren't just a shill account, kick him in the butt to get things finished up, tell him to communicate with customers as to why he is running so far behind, and if he is that good of a friend pick up some tools and help him get caught up!

It isn't the fault of the customer, it is the fault of the guy who took money and parts and made a promise for a service that he can't meet.

well, i'm (literally) back from the dead -at least until the doctors try to hit me again.    got home last night.  thought i'd check in with this thread.

still no rifle.


i guess the problem is...  if galilman can offer me updates like- "its finished, just waiting for parkerization"-  then why the heck did Mike promise to ship it out that monday?


maybe its the morphine drip, or the slap in the face of more scheduled surgeries, whatever...  and i know shouldnt be dwelling on this.


but its quite maddening.


ps.  if galliman is that good a friend- maybe he could pass on that I am NOT dead (yet) and Mike can ship the rifle anytime.

thanx.

I hope all goes well for you with the futher medical work.

I'd suggest asking for the rifle to be sent as is (in the white) and when you regain your health deal with getting it finished.  There's plenty of parkerizers that can do the work.

Dawg180 you are a joke.......both here and on the other gun websites I have seen you trolling the last few years. You have no kit with Mike, you have not bought any of the repair sections, you have no idea even how the rebuilds were even conducted by Mike. Guys bought repair sections and sent him parts kits for completion, and they pay him upon completion. All the R&D was paid out of his pocket, not from a customer like the SHRIKE folks so notoriously did a few years back.

The fact that Andy is on here bashing Mike after making a tidy little profit quickly selling the gun that Mike built him, is just ridiculous.

I stood up for a friend that has been through a TON of crappy stuff the last two years (which BTW is none of your business) that would probably make all you little boys put a pistol in your mouth and pull the trigger. I am not a shill, or an internet troll like Dawg, just a guy trying to help a friend being repeatedly kicked as he is trying to get on his feet.

Hopefully one day when you all are down on your luck, somebody will give you a hand up as well........but after reading some of the nasty things that have been tossed out, I hope you personally get a swift kick in the teeth.

There is no sense in going back and forth with a "torch and pitchfork mob" out to verbally lynch my friend.

You have your opinion, I have mine. Later

What I want to know is- how the hell did Poorman get his rifle so quick?

from other posts, it sounds like guys are almost going on 2 years, I'm PREPAID and going on 15 months...

( the ol' joke about "who ya gotta blow in this joint to get a drink?"  comes to mind.)

cuz, I'm willing to try most anything to get this shored up.


and yeah, Galilman has a point...  Poorman got his quicker than any one else I've heard of AND made a decent profit to boot.


I think his "license to bitch" has been down graded to C-level.  (Not revoked entirely, just downgraded a bit...    )

My tidy little profit was not as tidy as you think! I had a total of $1800.00 into the STGW57, as would most of his customers who did not buy the kits cheap when they were plentiful. I would have made an even tidier profit on the 510-4 had I waited long enough for Mike to build it.

This has NOTHING to do with making money, I would have been fine with not saying anything against Mike until you came along and started spewing shit about everyone complaining. I only stated EXACTLY what my interactions with Mike have been like, HE is the one who would keep saying "next month" or "a few more days". I told him repeatedly I did not mind waiting, it was he who came up with the deadlines, and it was HE who missed them everytime without so much as an email for MONTHS afterward. So, you can try to paint his customers as the assholes, but, you are just making yourself one instead.





I got mine so quick because I told him to just send me the parts I paid for after 7 months of waiting, and, I did not opt to have him Park it, I got it in the white. I agree, I have a lot less to bitch about than most people here. That is why I kept my mouth shut until Galilman started calling everyone out. The stories of people still waiting after two years is what helped me decide to sell the 510-4 kit, I did not want to wait another two years for its completion. I will say that all of my interactions with Mike were pleasant, he is a genuinely nice guy.

Andy is crying all the way to the bank.

Yes, I changed the $700 all into ones, and I am rolling in it naked

FYI, Dawg and Poorman have been productive, very upstanding members of these and other forums for a VERY long time.  I have absolutely no dog in this fight; I'm not interested in the PE57, 510, et al though I was glad to hear that someone was actually making these in the US and I sincerely hope that Mike continues to produce these.  

I will say as an unbiased impartial observer that you sir are suspect.  Not only are you new to these forums, but you are calling to question the integrity of two gentlemen who have sterling reputations on this site and others. Assuming you are simply a good friend of Mike's (and not a shill), let me tell you that you are NOT doing your friend any favors by posting about his project in this manner.  Do yourself and your friend an actual favor and stop posting about this topic.  You are only making yourself and Mike look bad.

Rifles are going out, people are getting their kits.........and all the rest of this is just internet noise.

People like to talk tough behind anonymous screen names and bash folks who are just trying to earn a living.

If you aren't involved butt out, if you don't like getting called out for posting stupid things, then don't post them. Life is really that simple.

"If you aren't involved butt out".........Uh, you're slinging mud on a public internet forum. You don't get to do that and tell others to butt out. I wish Mike well and may own a PE57 from him some day. I will say it again, you are very poor PR on his behalf.  If he is truly your friend, do him a favor and stop "helping" him by posting online.

Funny that he has more customer orders now more than ever.................too bad though that you and several others will never have a PE-57 or 510-4 kit built up by him as he has a list of names now that he will refuse any future work from.

Life goes on, good luck to you.

Hahaha. This is good stuff. Good luck to you too.

last week, on monday- i got a call from Mike!  the first time he's voluntarily called me.


I wasnt able to talk to him personally-  but he said the receiver was done and that he'd park it on wednesday.  he'd then ship it out on thursday, the following day.  that would be the 4th of september.


checked with my FFL guy this afternoon and nothings shown up yet.


but i still have my fingers crossed!

>>crickets chirping<<


a week later and still nothing.





good god....

Is Mike the only person making these parts kits into rifles and if so is he still doing it?

I have wanted to get a PE57 for a long time, and recently I  have seen a few of the parts kits come up for sale online. Just wondering what my options are or if I should just forget about it. Based of some of the things I have read online I understand that it might take a long time but I think it would be worth it in the end.

Top end (receiver/barrel/bolt/charging handle) showed up Monday.  took a few days to get FFL transfer and to disassemble the full auto features in the trigger group...   but here it is:



I almost hesitate to post a pic, as I feel like one of those youtubers video-ing themselves unboxing their new iphone9c^2 or whatever the hell they have nowadays...  but the pic shows that yes, Mike is finishing up a batch.  They are real.  ....and no, I am not an internet stooge promoting vapor-ware.


had a long and good talk with Mike.  he's a very knowledgeable man.  and a well meaning man too.  On one hand, you've a guy that has invested TONS of money and effort in this project ( you forget how complicated this receiver is until you see it again) and is really doing this in his spare time.  On the other hand, you have a customers that expect a level of deadline keeping and follow thru.

I told Mike that he has a gold-egg-producing-goose in this project, but his customer service is tanking him.  I think it's eroding his potential clientele and eating him up too.  he should stop building "kits" for people, buy the kits himself-  make up 5 to 10 to 100 of these and only sell completed rifles.  He makes more money, customer has immediate satisfaction and perhaps even choice in what is available.

I like Mike, I honestly do.  I think thru this process I UNDERSTAND Mike.  But you can't promise "it'll ship out Monday" at least six times throughout a seventeen month timeline.  So simply don't.  Make them up and sell them for market price.  On HIS timeline.

with that said, the rifle is cool.  It's by no means a slick, light, modern zipper gun...  but it's got character that I wouldn't trade for anything.

kinda like my ugly dog.  


thanks for gettin her done for me, Mike.

Good to see that you got your rifle! Guess I will just hang on and hope for the best.

Sorry I don't have a dog in this hunt but I had to laugh at all of this.

Been reading this thread for a while now, and this is the best post. People on both sides of the argument could stand to be a little more like schmuzzy. my $.02

Schmuzzy,

I know you have been ill but I was wondering if you ever got a chance to shoot your PE57 and if so how you like it?