I'm just wondering if 2-3 year wait times are justified for these rifles.

http://www.bighornarmory.com/catalog/big-horn-armory-products/model-89-carbine-500-sandw-2/


It appears that they've got plenty of satisfied customers from their webpage.

They take $600 deposits and then make you wait several years for a rifle.

Are they worth the wait?

For me, they wouldn't be worth it, but that's a subjective thing. They're beautiful looking things, and I'm a levergun junkie.

But looking at their 'ballistics with factory loads' page, the gains with the .500 over a more-easily found .454 wouldn't be near enough of a gain to sway me. They show most loads running 2600-3600 ft/lbs; I get up to 3100 with the .454, which is frankly already more than I honestly need for anything.

At roughly $3k by the time magnaporting is added, is it worth it? Not to me personally. On any objective level the amount of the gains don't make it worthwhile, and on a subjective, personal level I have no reason to want a gun in either of their two calibers. But if a guy already shot the .460 or .500 calibers, or if a guy just wanted one because he wanted one, it could certainly be worth it to him.

And if I knew a guy who had one, I'd certainly ask if I could shoot it...

I have never seen one in person so I cannot really attest to their quality but.... If I could afford one I would certainly order one.  A two or three year wait for a custom made rifle (or handgun) is not unusual.  A low volume manufacturer is similar to a custom shop, I think that you should go for it if you have the money and the interest.  If you decide later that you don't want it, I suspect that you could easily resell it and get your money back.