Merlyn Rifleworks Review
6421 Central Ave, Ste #108 H
Riverside Ca 92504
Merlyn Rifleworks: The Inland Empire Gunsmiths - Custom Rifles and Gunsmithing
Background: This review may be long but well worth reading for any potential customers considering using Merlyn Rifleworks. I have used Merlyn Rifleworks for a number of years to complete 5 custom rifle builds solely for the use of Jim Gruning (Gruning Precision), who is only open to military and law enforcement, unless you go through Merlyn Rifleworks. Each of the 5 custom rifle builds have been just that “Custom”, top dollar builds ranging upwards of $4000 apiece, with each build including its own headache. Let me also state that I do not have any complaints with Jim Gruning’s workmanship or the quality of his work. This review is solely about Merlyn Rifleworks and its owner Dan Hepler.
On one of my previous rifle builds, my rifle to my knowledge was almost completed and I had talked to Dan and he had told me that the rifle would be done the following week, so instead of going to the range that weekend with my new rifle, I attend the gun show at the Ontario Convention Center. To my surprise Dan was there with my completed rifle on display as an attempt to attract customers to his business.
My 5th and final rifle build was laid out on paper with a complete list of specs, parts, and part numbers, as well as the availability and locations of in stock parts. A deposit of $3000 had been given in advance to obtain the required details. Months passed before parts were ordered, every time I enquired about parts being ordered I was told that they were on their way. After numerous rifle builds and mounting disbelief and lack of trust in Dan’s word, I began checking into the status of the parts he claimed were on their way. To my surprise, almost all of the parts were either not ordered or ordered at the time I had been told, resulting in backorders or addition lead times.
During this last rifle build I had instructed Dan to purchase a new AICS 2.0 stock and it was to be sent to LTM refinishing for a Durakote camo finish. The stock was sent to Joe Larson at LTM refinishing and was returned to Merlyn Rifleworks. Upon what Merlyn Rifleworks considered completion of the rifle build, the stock would not fold. When I brought this to the attention of Dan and his general manager (Scott), they were quick to state that it was due to the Durakote finish applied and that they were not responsible. Bottom line was that they blamed Joe Larson at LTM refinishing. I contacted Joe who is a stand up guy, and he informed me that when he received the stock it did not fold and he assumed it was a “California thing”, that we could not have folding stocks. I informed Dan at Merlyn Rifleworks of this and he replied by saying: “One of my young employees checked the stock upon receiving it” then the story changed to “I’m pretty sure I checked it when I received it” As time went on he later was adamant that both he and one of his associates had check it and it performed flawlessly. He was also adamant that the problem was caused by the Durakote and that he was not responsible and not comfortable working on it due to his lack of knowledge of the stock, therefore he was not responsible, (Now remember that Merlyn’s claims to be a “One Stop Gunsmith Shop)”. After a very unprofessional argument on the part of Dan and his general manager, they agreed to look into it after I suggested they do some leg work and contact TAC Pro Shooting Center with whom they had purchased the stock and AI North America for any information. Time went on and I was informed that they had removed what they said was a teaspoon of sand and that it was fixed. Again they adamantly stated that the problem was caused by the blasting media and Durakote applied to the stock. Upon closer inspection on my part the stock still did not open and close properly.
I again suggested that they contact AI North America and do some more research to try to get the problem solved. They later contacted me and said that they determined the problem and that they had ordered a Teflon “snubber” from AI North America, which was what “they claimed”, was the root cause of the problem. A completely unreasonable amount of time (In excess of 3 weeks) elapsed and they still had not received any parts. Like I have done on many of the other rifle builds by Merlyn Rifleworks, I took charge and contacted AI North America; to my surprise they said that it was a warranty issue and that the stock could be sent to them for repair. Again more time elapsed and Merlyn Rifleworks stated that they were waiting for a RA number and that the point of contact that I had given them was not responding. Once again I took charge (due to Dan Hepler’s compliancy, I contacted AI North America, within 5 minutes I had spoken with someone and had a shipping label sent to Merlyn Rifleworks for the stock to be repaired). This was a clear indicator that neither Dan nor Scott contacted AI North America, nor if they had, it was with no sense of urgency or determination to resolve the problem. The turnaround time was a matter of hours from AI North American receiving the stock and then shipping it back out. The head armorer at AI North America informed me that it was a mistake made at the factory and that a set screw had inadvertently been run down too low. The problem could not have been in any way associated with the Durakote or blasting media. Additionally he stated that the stock would not have functioned properly from day one because of the factory mistake, confirming to me that Dan had lied yet again about himself and his associate checking the stock and it performing flawlessly.
This last rifle build with Merlyn Rifleworks could only be described as a nightmare rifle build. I had a number of encounters which could only be called unprofessional at the very least. I was contacted by the general manage of Merlyn Rifleworks and was told that the rifle was ready for pickup. Dan Hepler, the owner of Merlyn Rifleworks was at that time on vacation. Before Dan had left for vacation he assured me the rifle would be done by a certain date, it was not. I went to pick up my rifle which Merlyn Rifleworks considered a completed rifle build; due to my work schedule I was very busy. I had paid the remaining balance with a check and had taken the rifle home only to be placed in the safe due to other work related commitments. When I had picked the rifle up I had noticed a few blemishes in the Cerakote on the barrel and action and was assured by the general manager that they would be fixed. The next day when time permitted, I pulled the rifle out of the safe into the sun and notice a substandard Cerakote job on the barrel and action. I also noticed that the AICS 2.0 folding stock was inoperable, and that the kill flash ARD I supplied for my Premier Reticle scope had not been installed or given to me. I had personally chosen to use Dan’s cerakote vendor upon his recommendation instead of Joe Larson at LTM refinishing due to time constraints. I had originally wanted to use Joe for the stock and the barreled action.
I immediately deemed this product unacceptable and returned it to Merlyn Rifleworks. I retuned to Merlyn Rifleworks and handed over the rifle and told their associate that was working that day that I was returning my rifle and putting a stop payment on the check until the rifle was completed and met my full expectations of both quality and completion. The associates name was “Brain” It was made clear that I had put a stop payment on the check and that I was giving back the rifle as to return to square one, as if I had never picked it up. More than a week passed when I received a call from Dan who was very heated, in a very unprofessional manner he had told me that my check had bounced and that I would be responsible for the charge he had acquired due to lack of funds in his account, this only solidified my suspicions that Merlyn’s Rifleworks lacks working capital and takes customers deposits to pay/procure required details for another customers build, “borrowing from Peter to pay Paul”.
I had calmly addressed the situation and explained the various problems with the rifle build and that I had returned the rifle and put a stop payment on the check. I assured him that I had told his associate Brian over a week ago that I had put a stop payment on the check and he claimed that that was untrue. I told him that I was not accepting the rifle in its current substandard condition. During the multiple call conversations, I was hung up on more than a handful of times by both Dan and Scott. At one point Dan said “I don’t want to deal with this” and handed the phone over to Scott who started yelling “I don’t mess around”! During this professional conversation I was also threatened by Dan who claimed he could sue me for defrauding him, a statement that make no sense whatsoever. At that time he had in his possession; the rifle, the $3000 deposit I had given him months back, and the $3000 Premier Reticle scope I had provided him to mount on the rifle. So how was I defrauding him? A very professional bunch if you ask me. I don’t appreciate be treating like this, especially when you are spending hard earned money on a custom rifle. Keep in mind this is coming from a person who said before that I was Merlyn Rifleworks favorite customer and that my satisfaction with their product was key. Also keep in mind that in the past I had picked up rifles without paying the balance and multiple times I was told by Dan, “you’re a good customer and I know you’re good for it, ill work up the bill and get it to you” The decision to return the rifle and put a stop payment on the check was made after numerous occasions where I had been blatantly lied to and numerous occasions of frustration due to the lack of commitment, follow up, and attention to detail on Dan and Merlyn Rifleworks part.
Both Dan and Scott wanted to “touch up” the cerakote on the barreled action and that was not what I wanted, I wanted it redone. They both addressed their displeasure with their cerakote vendor and now claimed that they were doing cerakote in-house now. I told them that I wanted Joe at LTM refinishing to do the barreled action. At this point Dan again began to boldly lie to my face; he began telling me that he was not comfortable shipping the barreled action and that no matter what anyone tells you, UPS or FedEx, will not cover lost or stolen firearms. He tried to tell me that a Riverside County Judge he knew had shipped a firearm and it was either lost or stolen and that he could not even get reimbursed. We went around and around about this and I had contacted both FedEx and UPS and was assured there was a way to ship firearms, even though I knew this from the past when I had purchased multiple firearms that were shipped. Now remember if you go on to Merlyn’s website and look at their “Gun Blog” there is a blog explaining how to sell your gun; “Merlyn Rifleworks offers the service of selling your gun on consignment. We have a professional photographer on staff to make the gun look its very best. Our English Ph.D (seriously) writes the description, and we take care of all the shipping and handling--all you need to worry about is when to collect your check! Funny isn’t it? He decided to, what he said was “make me happy” and ship it to LTM for the cerakote job, but that I would have to sign a waiver. Well, Dan is a little scatter brained, so needless to say, I never signed a waiver.
Speaking of scatter brained, on one of my previous rifle builds, I had paid the bill on that build and it wasn’t until after that that I had realized that Dan had shorted himself slightly over $1500.00 I notified Dan of his mistake and he thanked me for being honest and he had said that “accounting would have caught that at some point” On this final rifle build, Dan and his general manager Scott both neglected to have me sign the DROS paperwork, so needless to say the DROS expired and we had to re-DROS the rifle because of their lack of attention to detail.
When the rife was finally completed and I was told by Dan that I could pick the rifle up, I had addressed the final bill and was assured by Dan himself that I would not be charged any charges for his insufficient funds charge he incurred. His exact words were “It’s kind of a grey zone, but I won’t charge you the $108”. Keep in mind that he also tried to charge me 1.5 hours labor for removing basting media which they claimed was the root problem with the stock. In the end he did not charge me for the 1.5 hours of labor for the stock since AI North America had proved that to be untrue, but the return check fee was another story. Dan said that they were going to be closed the day I was to pick up the rifle but that he would be there doing some work and that I could pick up the rifle. Upon arrival, I was greeted by Scott, who had told me that Dan was not there and that I could still pick up the rifle and square up the bill. Immediately upon looking at the bill I noticed the $108 fee and I addressed that with Scott. His exact words were “I’m not the boss ill call Dan and ask him about it” While Scott was attempting to get a hold of Dan I had asked him why Dan was not there and he plainly said “I assume he didn’t want to be confronted by you”. When Scott got a hold of Dan he addressed the $108 fees on the bill and I could hear Dan myself over the phone say “No! I’m not removing the fee, if he doesn’t want to pay it, tell him I’ll see him in court”!
Merlyn Rifleworks General Manager told me that he has been witness to Dan Hepler’s lies on a number of occasions. He stated that numerous times he has been told by customer that Dan had told them that he had ordered parts, only to not find any such parts or information pertaining to their orders. When Dan was asked, his reply was that he had not ordered the parts yet, but “DO NOT” tell the customer that.
Now due you really want to do business with someone that tells you bring your business to us and leave a deposit but don’t call and ask for information about your build and or repair. This is right off their web page:
Due to the amount of work we receive, we ask that you do not call to ask the status of your gun. Instead, please email your inquiries to [email protected], or wait for us to call you at the completion of your project.
•Yelp Reviews:
Merlyn Rifleworks - Riverside, CA
6421 Central Ave, Ste #108 H
Riverside Ca 92504
Merlyn Rifleworks: The Inland Empire Gunsmiths - Custom Rifles and Gunsmithing
Background: This review may be long but well worth reading for any potential customers considering using Merlyn Rifleworks. I have used Merlyn Rifleworks for a number of years to complete 5 custom rifle builds solely for the use of Jim Gruning (Gruning Precision), who is only open to military and law enforcement, unless you go through Merlyn Rifleworks. Each of the 5 custom rifle builds have been just that “Custom”, top dollar builds ranging upwards of $4000 apiece, with each build including its own headache. Let me also state that I do not have any complaints with Jim Gruning’s workmanship or the quality of his work. This review is solely about Merlyn Rifleworks and its owner Dan Hepler.
On one of my previous rifle builds, my rifle to my knowledge was almost completed and I had talked to Dan and he had told me that the rifle would be done the following week, so instead of going to the range that weekend with my new rifle, I attend the gun show at the Ontario Convention Center. To my surprise Dan was there with my completed rifle on display as an attempt to attract customers to his business.
My 5th and final rifle build was laid out on paper with a complete list of specs, parts, and part numbers, as well as the availability and locations of in stock parts. A deposit of $3000 had been given in advance to obtain the required details. Months passed before parts were ordered, every time I enquired about parts being ordered I was told that they were on their way. After numerous rifle builds and mounting disbelief and lack of trust in Dan’s word, I began checking into the status of the parts he claimed were on their way. To my surprise, almost all of the parts were either not ordered or ordered at the time I had been told, resulting in backorders or addition lead times.
During this last rifle build I had instructed Dan to purchase a new AICS 2.0 stock and it was to be sent to LTM refinishing for a Durakote camo finish. The stock was sent to Joe Larson at LTM refinishing and was returned to Merlyn Rifleworks. Upon what Merlyn Rifleworks considered completion of the rifle build, the stock would not fold. When I brought this to the attention of Dan and his general manager (Scott), they were quick to state that it was due to the Durakote finish applied and that they were not responsible. Bottom line was that they blamed Joe Larson at LTM refinishing. I contacted Joe who is a stand up guy, and he informed me that when he received the stock it did not fold and he assumed it was a “California thing”, that we could not have folding stocks. I informed Dan at Merlyn Rifleworks of this and he replied by saying: “One of my young employees checked the stock upon receiving it” then the story changed to “I’m pretty sure I checked it when I received it” As time went on he later was adamant that both he and one of his associates had check it and it performed flawlessly. He was also adamant that the problem was caused by the Durakote and that he was not responsible and not comfortable working on it due to his lack of knowledge of the stock, therefore he was not responsible, (Now remember that Merlyn’s claims to be a “One Stop Gunsmith Shop)”. After a very unprofessional argument on the part of Dan and his general manager, they agreed to look into it after I suggested they do some leg work and contact TAC Pro Shooting Center with whom they had purchased the stock and AI North America for any information. Time went on and I was informed that they had removed what they said was a teaspoon of sand and that it was fixed. Again they adamantly stated that the problem was caused by the blasting media and Durakote applied to the stock. Upon closer inspection on my part the stock still did not open and close properly.
I again suggested that they contact AI North America and do some more research to try to get the problem solved. They later contacted me and said that they determined the problem and that they had ordered a Teflon “snubber” from AI North America, which was what “they claimed”, was the root cause of the problem. A completely unreasonable amount of time (In excess of 3 weeks) elapsed and they still had not received any parts. Like I have done on many of the other rifle builds by Merlyn Rifleworks, I took charge and contacted AI North America; to my surprise they said that it was a warranty issue and that the stock could be sent to them for repair. Again more time elapsed and Merlyn Rifleworks stated that they were waiting for a RA number and that the point of contact that I had given them was not responding. Once again I took charge (due to Dan Hepler’s compliancy, I contacted AI North America, within 5 minutes I had spoken with someone and had a shipping label sent to Merlyn Rifleworks for the stock to be repaired). This was a clear indicator that neither Dan nor Scott contacted AI North America, nor if they had, it was with no sense of urgency or determination to resolve the problem. The turnaround time was a matter of hours from AI North American receiving the stock and then shipping it back out. The head armorer at AI North America informed me that it was a mistake made at the factory and that a set screw had inadvertently been run down too low. The problem could not have been in any way associated with the Durakote or blasting media. Additionally he stated that the stock would not have functioned properly from day one because of the factory mistake, confirming to me that Dan had lied yet again about himself and his associate checking the stock and it performing flawlessly.
This last rifle build with Merlyn Rifleworks could only be described as a nightmare rifle build. I had a number of encounters which could only be called unprofessional at the very least. I was contacted by the general manage of Merlyn Rifleworks and was told that the rifle was ready for pickup. Dan Hepler, the owner of Merlyn Rifleworks was at that time on vacation. Before Dan had left for vacation he assured me the rifle would be done by a certain date, it was not. I went to pick up my rifle which Merlyn Rifleworks considered a completed rifle build; due to my work schedule I was very busy. I had paid the remaining balance with a check and had taken the rifle home only to be placed in the safe due to other work related commitments. When I had picked the rifle up I had noticed a few blemishes in the Cerakote on the barrel and action and was assured by the general manager that they would be fixed. The next day when time permitted, I pulled the rifle out of the safe into the sun and notice a substandard Cerakote job on the barrel and action. I also noticed that the AICS 2.0 folding stock was inoperable, and that the kill flash ARD I supplied for my Premier Reticle scope had not been installed or given to me. I had personally chosen to use Dan’s cerakote vendor upon his recommendation instead of Joe Larson at LTM refinishing due to time constraints. I had originally wanted to use Joe for the stock and the barreled action.
I immediately deemed this product unacceptable and returned it to Merlyn Rifleworks. I retuned to Merlyn Rifleworks and handed over the rifle and told their associate that was working that day that I was returning my rifle and putting a stop payment on the check until the rifle was completed and met my full expectations of both quality and completion. The associates name was “Brain” It was made clear that I had put a stop payment on the check and that I was giving back the rifle as to return to square one, as if I had never picked it up. More than a week passed when I received a call from Dan who was very heated, in a very unprofessional manner he had told me that my check had bounced and that I would be responsible for the charge he had acquired due to lack of funds in his account, this only solidified my suspicions that Merlyn’s Rifleworks lacks working capital and takes customers deposits to pay/procure required details for another customers build, “borrowing from Peter to pay Paul”.
I had calmly addressed the situation and explained the various problems with the rifle build and that I had returned the rifle and put a stop payment on the check. I assured him that I had told his associate Brian over a week ago that I had put a stop payment on the check and he claimed that that was untrue. I told him that I was not accepting the rifle in its current substandard condition. During the multiple call conversations, I was hung up on more than a handful of times by both Dan and Scott. At one point Dan said “I don’t want to deal with this” and handed the phone over to Scott who started yelling “I don’t mess around”! During this professional conversation I was also threatened by Dan who claimed he could sue me for defrauding him, a statement that make no sense whatsoever. At that time he had in his possession; the rifle, the $3000 deposit I had given him months back, and the $3000 Premier Reticle scope I had provided him to mount on the rifle. So how was I defrauding him? A very professional bunch if you ask me. I don’t appreciate be treating like this, especially when you are spending hard earned money on a custom rifle. Keep in mind this is coming from a person who said before that I was Merlyn Rifleworks favorite customer and that my satisfaction with their product was key. Also keep in mind that in the past I had picked up rifles without paying the balance and multiple times I was told by Dan, “you’re a good customer and I know you’re good for it, ill work up the bill and get it to you” The decision to return the rifle and put a stop payment on the check was made after numerous occasions where I had been blatantly lied to and numerous occasions of frustration due to the lack of commitment, follow up, and attention to detail on Dan and Merlyn Rifleworks part.
Both Dan and Scott wanted to “touch up” the cerakote on the barreled action and that was not what I wanted, I wanted it redone. They both addressed their displeasure with their cerakote vendor and now claimed that they were doing cerakote in-house now. I told them that I wanted Joe at LTM refinishing to do the barreled action. At this point Dan again began to boldly lie to my face; he began telling me that he was not comfortable shipping the barreled action and that no matter what anyone tells you, UPS or FedEx, will not cover lost or stolen firearms. He tried to tell me that a Riverside County Judge he knew had shipped a firearm and it was either lost or stolen and that he could not even get reimbursed. We went around and around about this and I had contacted both FedEx and UPS and was assured there was a way to ship firearms, even though I knew this from the past when I had purchased multiple firearms that were shipped. Now remember if you go on to Merlyn’s website and look at their “Gun Blog” there is a blog explaining how to sell your gun; “Merlyn Rifleworks offers the service of selling your gun on consignment. We have a professional photographer on staff to make the gun look its very best. Our English Ph.D (seriously) writes the description, and we take care of all the shipping and handling--all you need to worry about is when to collect your check! Funny isn’t it? He decided to, what he said was “make me happy” and ship it to LTM for the cerakote job, but that I would have to sign a waiver. Well, Dan is a little scatter brained, so needless to say, I never signed a waiver.
Speaking of scatter brained, on one of my previous rifle builds, I had paid the bill on that build and it wasn’t until after that that I had realized that Dan had shorted himself slightly over $1500.00 I notified Dan of his mistake and he thanked me for being honest and he had said that “accounting would have caught that at some point” On this final rifle build, Dan and his general manager Scott both neglected to have me sign the DROS paperwork, so needless to say the DROS expired and we had to re-DROS the rifle because of their lack of attention to detail.
When the rife was finally completed and I was told by Dan that I could pick the rifle up, I had addressed the final bill and was assured by Dan himself that I would not be charged any charges for his insufficient funds charge he incurred. His exact words were “It’s kind of a grey zone, but I won’t charge you the $108”. Keep in mind that he also tried to charge me 1.5 hours labor for removing basting media which they claimed was the root problem with the stock. In the end he did not charge me for the 1.5 hours of labor for the stock since AI North America had proved that to be untrue, but the return check fee was another story. Dan said that they were going to be closed the day I was to pick up the rifle but that he would be there doing some work and that I could pick up the rifle. Upon arrival, I was greeted by Scott, who had told me that Dan was not there and that I could still pick up the rifle and square up the bill. Immediately upon looking at the bill I noticed the $108 fee and I addressed that with Scott. His exact words were “I’m not the boss ill call Dan and ask him about it” While Scott was attempting to get a hold of Dan I had asked him why Dan was not there and he plainly said “I assume he didn’t want to be confronted by you”. When Scott got a hold of Dan he addressed the $108 fees on the bill and I could hear Dan myself over the phone say “No! I’m not removing the fee, if he doesn’t want to pay it, tell him I’ll see him in court”!
Merlyn Rifleworks General Manager told me that he has been witness to Dan Hepler’s lies on a number of occasions. He stated that numerous times he has been told by customer that Dan had told them that he had ordered parts, only to not find any such parts or information pertaining to their orders. When Dan was asked, his reply was that he had not ordered the parts yet, but “DO NOT” tell the customer that.
Now due you really want to do business with someone that tells you bring your business to us and leave a deposit but don’t call and ask for information about your build and or repair. This is right off their web page:
Due to the amount of work we receive, we ask that you do not call to ask the status of your gun. Instead, please email your inquiries to [email protected], or wait for us to call you at the completion of your project.
•Yelp Reviews:
Merlyn Rifleworks - Riverside, CA
