I realize that Ed seems to enjoy a good reputation on these boards, but I have never personally purchased anything from him, so I would like to get some first hand accounts of your transactions with Gunsmoke.
Should I have any reservations about doing business with him?
 Thanks for the feedback.

I've ordered from them (Ed Sr. & Ed Jr.) in the past, once w/ good results & once w/ bad results.  I'm not going into detail (as I'm sure they'd appreciate) but honest mistakes are made by everyone.  Give them some biz.

One transaction; thumbs up.

2x's, 1 misunderstanding. Could of been my fault. I contacted them all was taken care of in a very professional manner. Yes I would order from them again without hesitation. My .02.

3 or 4 transactions with them that I have experience with came out good.  They built my AR10 and tooled a custom barrel.  the work is good but the time it took to get was long (dang near 12 months).  This was back when the waiting game was going on with Armalite and the AR10s so it more than likely wasn't their fault.  Otherwise everything shipped fast and good quality.

Extremely negative, but I won't go into details!

At least five transactions with more than satifactory results. Ed Jr. does the gunshow gig and has been very helpful.
[beer]

negative

If you don't want your order any time soon, go for it.
When you do get your order, don't expect top quality, expect bottom of the barrel.

One business transaction with Gunsmoke.......only 40% satisfied!

If it is Rock River Arms that you are trying to buy, give Donnie Pridemore of sableco.com a ring. He has always done me right.

1 transaction. I purchased a complete FN A2 upper w/ 20" 1X7 twist Gov't Profile barrel, GSE muzzle-break and full-length green furniture. I was satisfied with my purchase. That was almost 6 months ago.

Do yourself a BIG FAVOR and buy from Bushmaster directly.

repeat to yourself:

Do yourself a BIG FAVOR and buy from Bushmaster directly.

Negative for me but NOT due to any purchase experience.

E-mail me if you aren't already convinced.

I feel bad I have not used Gunsmoke.

I am in FLA but far enuff away that I would still be charged

1) FFL fees
2) shipping (sometimes he does free shipping specials, etc)

and

3) FL STATE SALES TAX!!!

So, I have been ordering from other people since, for me, it's more expensive to use Gunsmoke.

Somehow this seems unfair, but, I'm just doing the best thing cash-wise.

Gunsmoke says that they sell BM parts and even uses BMs pics on their website. But, when you get your stuff be ready for nonBM parts. In my case a BM barreled upper came with a crush washer instead of the BM peel washer. My lower parts kit was missing some parts and had doubles of others, which were not of the same manufacture. I think he assembles his own stuff. Also, I ordered the same day as he posted a bunch of stuff on this site(I actually ordered before he posted) and was told it was backordered from BM.

DITTO!  My one transaction from gunsmoke was for the stripped lower receiver.  I had some problems with my FFL shipping them a copy of their FFL...but I think some of the problem was on Gunsmoke's end (but WILL give them the benefit of the doubt).  They weren't particularly polite or informative on the phone...but not necessarily rude.

Donnie Pridemore, however, was EXTREMELY POLITE AND HELPFUL on the phone and via email.  And to top it off, this is not his full-time job (he's a Sheriff's Deputy).  Would buy from Donnie at Sableco without hesitation.

Thanks for answering my question guys.
I guess I will be ordering my parts directly from Bushmaster!

I got a complete upper from Gunsmoke, and am completely staisfied with it!  No screw ups, received it in a timely manner, and shoots great.  BTW, Ed's extended brake works very well.  The weapon recoils STRAIGHT BACK.  NO muzzle climb.  I would not hesitate to deal with Ed again.

I bought a Bushmaster M4 upper from them a while ago.  No problems, good work done, and in and only took 7 days to receive from time of order.

One transaction.  Called them for their sale on magazines.  They were supposed to be in stock and shipping them.  Credit card billed and no mags.  Back and forth for 3 months, then finally just had them send me one of their RRA lower receivers that went on sale for the same price.

Not a good experience.  Will not deal with them again.

Others mileage may vary.

I just don't get them.

I'm afraid that my experience was not too good either.  The work they did for me took MUCH longer than they said it would.  It took multiple emails and phone calls from me to get the upper shipped to me.  The upper never did function properly, so I had it fixed elswhere, then traded it off.  

Bought 2 uppers, no problems.  I do not remember any extraordinary delays.

3 Kits

early post ban M4gery (had to be one of the first) with a DPMS barrel, flat top upper. Fixed RRA stock. ARMS 38 swan sleeve and M68 aimpoint ring.

20" HBAR A2 kit
24" bull kit, DPMS 1 in 9 SS kit, chrome B/C.

All have around 500+ rounds through them with no problems. All the kits arived in about a week.

Have bought misc. parts and stocks with no trouble.

But this was a year and a half ago, so they may have slipped since.

This will sound stupid, but we are not of course talking about the Avila's are we??


Nah!  Couldn't be!!






Sorry Ed,Sr., I just couldn't resist!![:D]

Ed Jr. at the gunshows acted like he didn't care if I bought something or not. Very surly, pompous, and unhelpful.  

Ed Sr. on the phone was exceedingly polite and helpful.

Would rather use InterOrdinance.

bulkhead

One transaction.  Ed admitted that the product I wanted wasn't in stock.  I ordered anyway and ten days later it showed up.

I've give 'em another order.

Bought the M4 stock from them last year.  No problems.  Product was as described.  Shipping was within one week to Washington State.  Come to think of it, I need another one.

shadows

I bought a "bushmaster" M4 pre-ban upper from him, i just hope it was bushmaster after reading some of your posts, it's a flat top upper with a 14.5" barrel and a phantom flash suppressor, the barrel is stamped BM so i guess the barrel is bushmaster , is there a way to know if the upper receiver and the bolt assembly is bushmaster.?

thanx

See, now that would upset me. Poor service is understandable, if not at all desireable, but getting parts other than those you ordered would really tick me off. People buy Bushmaster for a reason, and it's not because they want  no name parts.

Juggernaut

Thumbs up for me. I ordered an M4 weapons kit from there. It took about 12 days to get over here from FL (not bad).

I have bought a Reflex II, ACOG 4x32, (4) sets of M4 handguards, (4) Bushmaster "M4" stocks, 3 Bushmaster pre-ban 16" upper assembles, and over 100 mags all 99% condition.  All of these transaction took place with absolutely no problems and all of the merchandise was as advertised.  I highly recommend them.

The Azalin

Between me and my buddy we ahve ordered 6 times with great service each and every time, Thumbs up for me.

I'll let you know as soon as my order comes in.  I was told that it was scheduled to ship early this week so it shouldn't be very much longer.

Thumbs down for me.  I ordered a post ban Bushmaster M4 upper with a 16inch barrel.  They sent a 14.5 preban without the M4 handguards. I sent it back and received theright upper.  But the delta ring looked like it was put in a vise. Horrible marks they tried to hide with paint. Again a preban barrel.  Back to the shop. I was quite irate by this point. They offered a free Branson muzzlebreak.  So I Accepted. Little did I know they were not accepted by the ATF.  Its my fault for trying to save a few bucks.  If you want customer service and quality, stick to the real thing. Gunsmoke is a POS.

Back in 1993, I specifically asked for a complete Bushmaster upper receiver in 11.5 configuration.  What I got was an upper with no heatshield inside the handguards, and no peel washers underneath the A2 bird cage.  I telephoned Ed Sr., and he was extremly courteous and professional.  He graciously exchanged my handguards with a set that has the heatshield attached.  However, in 1996, after I became aware of the specific marking that Bushmaster uses for identification, I couldn’t find any of those marking on my receiver or on the 11.5 barrel.  Even today, I still wonder if I was had.  I’m hoping it was an honest mistake on the part of Gunsmoke, and I would still buy from them so long as I exercise greater circumspection.

Q: I bought what I thought was a Bushmaster at a gun show. It has a lot of problems, and I think I got taken. How can I be sure of buying a Bushmaster?

A: We have seen this happen many times here. We get rifles all the time for warranty service that have our lower receiver, but every other part is a gun show special. Before purchasing, look things over carefully. You are about to lay down a sizeable chunk of money, so take a minute to be sure of what you are buying.
Bushmaster's identifying marks are:
1. On the barrel, in front of the front sight, it will be stamped:
"B MP 5.56 NATO 1/9 H BAR" (exactly that way). On some barrels, it may be under the handguard, but it will still say that exact thing. The only difference might be a 1/7 instead of a 1/9 . This denotes the rifling twist.
2. Our front sights are held on by two taper pins, one through each of the bands of the front sight. We do not use hollow roll pins, never have - never will.
3. Our upper receiver has raised letters "FK" on the right side by the rear sight base.
4. Our handguards have aluminum heat shields in them.
5. Our barrels have the correct gray/green manganese phosphate finish, not black.
6. Our tele-stocks have a small roll pin holding the nut on under the sliding latch. If it's not pinned, it's not ours.
7. Our hammers and triggers have polished contact surfaces, and the hammer has the letter "P" on the left side, while the trigger has it on the right side.
8. Our bolt cariers have the gas key staked on by 4 V-shaped stamps.
9. We always use aluminum delta rings to retain the handguards.
10. Our buffers have a gold-colored finish on them, which is easy to see inside the stock.
11. Our aluminum parts all have the mil. spec hard anodized flat or matte finish to them, not shiny. This includes the receivers, the charging handle, and the delta ring. However, oil on the surface might make the normally flat or matte finish appear shiny.
The best insurance is to always buy from a local dealer, someone you can go back to if you have any problems. Most of them are reputable, and will at least help you contact the factory for service problems.

Thumbs up for me.  I ordered a matched upper and lower; colors were perfect.  No problems.  I would (and plan to) order from them again.

From what I have read here, it is a 50/50 proposition, I would never take the risk of doing business with someone with those odds.