Gunsmithing Proof Research, Mile High Shooting issue....

WtxShooter

Gun loving dad!
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Feb 17, 2017
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So as I've been in retail for the majority of my entire life now, I've seen an overwhelming amount of negativity and criticism for companies customer service, or lack there of. And believe me, I'm sure there are several that are well deserving of it. My current employer, which I have been with now for 11 years now, takes a huge amount of pride in maintaining a quality long term relationship with its customers. I truly do not feel like a lot of companies follow the same motto that we do, which is "long term relationships over short term results." With this being said, let me explain to you my recent situation.

So I purchased my left handed Accuracy International AX308 from Mile High last year, after just over a year and a half of BEGGING my wife to say yes to it. After the sales job of a lifetime, she finally said yes. I sprung for a 6mm Creedmoor barrel as well, since I had been shooting that caliber a majority of the time. So after a few months of having it, I came across a second owner, but "supposedly" new 6.5 Creedmoor Proof Carbon Fiber barrel for my AX on the Hide here. For a much cheaper price than new, (because lets face it, these barrels are not cheap by any stretch), I snatched it up.

Well after shooting a few hundred rounds through it, (at the time of this post, its 312 rounds total), I took it out to my family's range to get some rounds through it finally, for this year. So after an initial few rounds at closer range, 250-375 yards, I went to take aim at the further targets of just shy of 1100 yards. After approx. 15 rounds, I wasn't having any luck, so I decided to go back to working on fundamentals, (thanks Frank!), and went back to the shorter targets. So I dial back to my initial settings, miss. reload again, miss. "What the hell?!" I mean, lets face it, 250 yards is a chip shot nowadays. After another magazine full, and a shot to my pride, I tuck my tail in and head home.

I get back to my house, and its just bothering the hell out of me. Was I really off that bad? So I go outside to my 100 yard range, and take a shot after setting up my target. Pow! Dead center. Fire another few rounds, all touching. So at this point I am in shock of how I missed at 250 with the rifle firing at sub-.3-.5" groupings. And then the 10th round...…..low and right. "Hmm, maybe I pulled that?" So I fire again. Lower and MORE to the right. And again. After 3 rounds, I knew something was off. By this time I had already checked the suppressor, (Thunderbeast Ultra 7), barrel, bipod, and scope. Nothing was loose.

So frustrated to no end, I call Mile High to explain my frustrations. I get Mike on the phone. The one and only Mike Menchaca. The one that took my hard earned money for this top of the line rifle, and has me still in hot water with my wife over this purchase. So I explain my situation to him. Here is where it gets crazy. I was expecting him to basically tell me, "man, yeah, that kind of thing can happen since you bought it secondhand." But hell no. He literally tells me that not only does he wanna take care of it, but wants to make sure its fixed immediately. So he goes and grabs Adam to help diagnose the issue over the phone a bit more. I didn't buy this particular barrel directly from them, so they could have easily told me to eat shit, and take it up with whoever I bought it from. But no, these guys stopped what they were doing to help me diagnose this shit like I was their best customer ever! So after several minutes on the phone with Adam, he refers me to Andy over at Proof Research.

Aww shit. Now I'm for sure gonna get kicked to the curb since I didn't buy directly from them, and didn't buy directly from Mile High. So Andy gets on the phone, and I repeat the same story. I offer to send him pics of the issue to see if maybe he can give me some insight to my issue. He basically stops me just before finishing the details of my story, and asks for my address. Cutting me off so soon, I was starting to question whether or not he was sending authorities to my house thinking I stole it or something! Nope. Without any hesitation at all, he informs me that he is sorry for the issues, and he has put in an order to replace the barrel. What?! "Andy, my man, I can send this in for you to inspect, I am just asking for your thoughts here man." Nope, he literally sent me a replacement barrel!

So after reading this long ass topic, and being confused from the title, (admit it, you were looking for a huge complaint on these guys), I wanted to grab your attention and give these guys the credit they deserve. THIS is why these guys have the following that they do, and this is why I will continue to buy from these guys, as well as more Proof Research products in the future as well. Service like this definitely helps with softening the blow of the prices on some of these products of today. Thanks again Mike and Adam at Mile high, and Andy at Proof. Definitely truly appreciated.
 
I've never had a bad experience with mile high and I've spent a metric fuck pound of money with them. Mike is my dood and Jamie is the shit too. I've never had a barrel cut by them but as far as CS goes, they're 2nd to none.
 
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Have to agree. They really are a class act. But I wanted to make sure they all got the credit they deserve. Everyone is so quick to bitch a complain, but these guys all, to me, went above and beyond when they could have easily told me to kick rocks. Awesome customer service.
 
I was looking at purchasing a used AI to save a couple bucks, but after reading your post I might just cough up the extra dough to purchase from Mile High. Always nice to know there’s great customer service to back you up if you have an issue, especially on such an expensive purchase. Thanks for sharing!
 
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I was looking at purchasing a used AI to save a couple bucks, but after reading your post I might just cough up the extra dough to purchase from Mile High. Always nice to know there’s great customer service to back you up if you have an issue, especially on such an expensive purchase. Thanks for sharing!
I’ll be honest, you definitely won’t regret it. I’ve been extremely happy with them. And the AI’s speak for themselves. But good service makes the pain of spending that much coin on a rifle a whole lot easier. They’re just great guys to deal with. Even on a small purchase, like a shooting bag. They’ve treated me the same even way before I dropped the big dollars for my AI. But honestly, I can’t say enough for Andy at Proof. That’s when I was super worried. But Adam was awesome in referring me to him. Dude was top notch in helping me on it. I already am planning another rifle for deer season, and their barrel is a lock for that gun.
 
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Gotta admit, when I started to read your post, I thought....here we go again...
Any business owner here, will probably tell you that most customers never call or email to give kudos- it's just more typical to hear when there's an "issue". It's an unexpected "plus" when you get that picture of the Mulie they nailed with a "thank you" note...

Not at all related to the can't be beat service they extended, but I'm curious- did you determine the problem was, indeed, the barrel after you replaced it?
 
Gotta admit, when I started to read your post, I thought....here we go again...
Any business owner here, will probably tell you that most customers never call or email to give kudos- it's just more typical to hear when there's an "issue". It's an unexpected "plus" when you get that picture of the Mulie they nailed with a "thank you" note...

Not at all related to the can't be beat service they extended, but I'm curious- did you determine the problem was, indeed, the barrel after you replaced it?
They believe its a thermal shift issue. According to Andy, it's a fluke deal, but was honest that they have seen it before in rare circumstances. The new barrel is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, so I'm hoping to take it out Monday and get some break in time on the new barrel. Pretty pumped to have it in.