Really pissed at ARS

[Maxipum1]

So I have something to say about ARS. Sometime ago I purchased a Belgian sear cut fal,a grail gun for me. I posted pictures on here because other than being in excellent condition the original owner had EPed his SS number and name in a few places on the rifle the worst being EPed SS on the left side of the receiver . At any rate ARS came highly recommended so I contacted Mark and shipped him the rifle in the spring. Rifle arrived back last week. Just let me say WTF!!! I didn’t realize I was getting a rattle can finish on my expensive fal( my fault I should have been more specific about my wants) whoever removed the EPed numbers on the receiver also removed a good portion of the original markings which were nowhere near the EPed numbers , also failed to adequately seal off the chamber face so it is covered in rattle can finish but only partially. When I shipped this rifle to Mark I shipped it in a hard case to protect it so when I saw the charging handle of my rifle sticking out of the side of a shitty cardboard box I honestly about shit. Where’s my God damned hard case ????The email I fired off to mark is not family friendly and would really upset my grandmother but what the actual fugg!!!!!!! You guys take a look am I out of bounds? Mods if this is in the wrong place I apologize move to where appropriate

 

[Sh3008]

Did you make a point of telling him to leave the electropenciled serials alone on the rifle when he was refinishing it?

 

[Maxipum1]

No I wanted the SS removed and that was clear. Just don’t like that they also removed or altered the original markings. That’s piss poor work the EPed numbers were very shallow. And well away from the damaged markings

 

[gw104]

Did you take this concern up with Mark?

 

[Sh3008]

Mark stands behind his work. Let him know and he’ll make it right.

 

[Abominog]

No I wanted the SS removed and that was clear.

And you wanted the name removed. So we have a statement of work issue it seems.

removing markings on a flat surface means the whole surface has to be polished down, OR remove some and the surface will be dished. The only other solution then is to weld fill, mill, and polish. There is no voodoo that removes markings and leaves the surface as original. Which did you contract for?

I’ve never heard of ARS rattle canning anything so that claim will probably take some heat, thus distracting from any validity in your complaint.

do you have photos prior to sending it?

 

[Abominog]

the original markings which were nowhere near the EPed numbers

A quantum physicist would agree with this claim. A gunsmith would not. The EP actually intrudes into the original marking block, and in fact touches the A In MATCH

original photo. https://www.falfiles.com/threads/belgian-fal-refinish.471264/#post-5108107

 

[mp]

That refinish job looks like shit. Agree with you there.

As for the engraving removal, it does go up in the 308 MATCH engraving. Surprised T Mark did not deepen the 308 MATCH after engraving removal. Should have waited until after his move. Maybe he was preoccupied?

 

[TerryN]

My first question is, what did Mark say when you discussed this with him? I realize that the urge is to vent your frustration to people who might understand your concerns. However, venting your frustration in public before (or instead of) discussing it with the other party involved is bad form. Many of us have rifles built (or rebuilt) by Mark. He's not perfect, but he does do excellent work.

 

[jugrunner]

No Comment ... ... Typical sprayed on ARS Finish Though ... Amazing it's not green ... Packing is not Kosher ... He knows better ... Other than that ... No Comment ...

 

[Maxipum1]

My first question is, what did Mark say when you discussed this with him? I realize that the urge is to vent your frustration to people who might understand your concerns. However, venting your frustration in public before (or instead of) discussing it with the other party involved is bad form. Many of us have rifles built (or rebuilt) by Mark. He's not perfect, but he does do excellent work.

Rifle showed up on Tuesday and I emailed him the same day. How long should I wait for a reply? I know he has done excellent work for others here that is why I sent it to him.

 

[Flypaper]

No I wanted the SS removed and that was clear. Just don’t like that they also removed or altered the original markings. That’s piss poor work the EPed numbers were very shallow. And well away from the damaged markings

It looks extremely close to the damaged markings to me.
at this point, re-engraving the original markings would be the way to go.
It is very unfortunate, but I don’t see how it could’ve been completely avoidable.
If I were going to do it to my rifle, I would have used a 220 grit wet dry sandpaper on a sanding block… it takes a while, but you would get there…

I wonder if R.L. Cruit jr. is still voting…

 

[hkshooter]

I'm not sure I want to comment on this or not..... but....

The "308 MATCH" marking is already not an even depth and you can see that in the pic. It's deeper on one end than the other. The old owners info is VERY close to and even TOUCHING the original marking. That job is about impossible to pull off without some degradation of the original marking. That Mark pulled it off as well as he did and preserve the original marking is remarkable and I have zero issue with it.
Mark doesn't rattle can anything but his personal SHTF rifles, period.
The missing hard case and subsequent hole in the box is the biggest issue I would have if it were my rifle.

Looking again at the chamber face pic. Seriously? Looks to me like he made an attempt to mask off the chamber with a plug. Sufficient. A little, and I mean a little extra spray around the area is to be expected and not a sign of incompetence. He could have removed the barrel for an additional cost and risk of damage to the original finish.

 

[Maxipum1]

It looks extremely close to the damaged markings to me.
at this point, re-engraving the original markings would be the way to go.
It is very unfortunate, but I don’t see how it could’ve been completely avoidable.
If I were going to do it to my rifle, I would have used a 220 grit wet dry sandpaper on a sanding block… it takes a while, but you would get there… View attachment 233371 View attachment 233372

I wonder if R.L. Cruit jr. is still voting…

Only voting straight ticket Democrat as he is dead. At least that is what I was told.

 

[Maxipum1]

I'm not sure I want to comment on this or not..... but....

The "308 MATCH" marking is already not an even depth and you can see that in the pic. It's deeper on one end than the other. The old owners info is VERY close to and even TOUCHING the original marking. That job is about impossible to pull off without some degradation of the original marking. That Mark pulled it off as well as he did and preserve the original marking is remarkable and I have zero issue with it.
Mark doesn't rattle can anything but his personal SHTF rifles, period.
The missing hard case and subsequent hole in the box is the biggest issue I would have if it were my rifle.

So the sloppy work on the barrel and the chamber would not bother you? Fair enough. I have seen some of his work on here and it is high quality work just not on my rifle.

 

[hkshooter]

So the sloppy work on the barrel and the chamber would not bother you? Fair enough. I have seen some of his work on here and it is high quality work just not on my rifle.

I edited above as you were posting.

 

[1911Ron]

So I have something to say about ARS. Sometime ago I purchased a Belgian sear cut fal,a grail gun for me. I posted pictures on here because other than being in excellent condition the original owner had EPed his SS number and name in a few places on the rifle the worst being EPed SS on the left side of the receiver . At any rate ARS came highly recommended so I contacted Mark and shipped him the rifle in the spring. Rifle arrived back last week. Just let me say WTF!!! I didn’t realize I was getting a rattle can finish on my expensive fal( my fault I should have been more specific about my wants) whoever removed the EPed numbers on the receiver also removed a good portion of the original markings which were nowhere near the EPed numbers , also failed to adequately seal off the chamber face so it is covered in rattle can finish but only partially. When I shipped this rifle to Mark I shipped it in a hard case to protect it so when I saw the charging handle of my rifle sticking out of the side of a shitty cardboard box I honestly about shit. Where’s my God damned hard case ????The email I fired off to mark is not family friendly and would really upset my grandmother but what the actual fugg!!!!!!! You guys take a look am I out of bounds? Mods if this is in the wrong place I apologize move to where appropriate

Do you have before pictures of the chamber and what ever picture one is showing?

 

[Maxipum1]

Do you have before pictures of the chamber and what ever picture one is showing?

I did post pics in another thread last year. I’ll try to find them. As far as condition goes imagine an excellent condition Belgian Fal ( other than the EPed numbers)in original finish.

 

[hkshooter]

The other thread linked above only contains a couple of pics, none of the chamber area.

Have you tried to clean the chamber area? Curious if that material would come off with a brush and some small effort.

And curious to hear Mark's side of this episode. I hope for the best outcome for Maxipum1. His experiences and expectations are obviously different from mine and others.

 

[Mebsuta]

The FAL looks different because it got worked on and refinished.

There's an SSN ep'd on one of my Mauser 98ks, and I think one of my shotguns has one too. Those things were already old when I got them, so I never thought about removing them.

 

[gunplumber]

Yeah, this guy (James Hovious) is a fucking nut job.

The engraving was very large and deep, and on the side of the receiver, both handguards, the bolt carrier and the stock. Unfortunately, I'd already broken down my photo area for the move or I'd have posted pics to brag about what an incredibly awesome job I did saving this from the horrible cosmetic damage. The engraving has to be removed down to the deepest point of the deepest letter. That I was able to save the .308 Match at all is a credit to my skill and experience. Oh, and I only charged him $50 for all that work because I felt sorry for the rifle. I even re-zeroed it, no charge, 'cause I'm, such a nice guy.

Lets see pics where I was able to remove and then hand polish out the deep engraving on the plastic stock. This was the the part I'm most proud of. Afterhours of hand wet-sanding and polishing, you could still see the sanding marks if you looked closely, but it was pretty damn good even by my impeccable standards. Handguards I polished down to 600 grit - markings completely gone, even under magnifying glass. While I'm proud of that excellent job, it just wasn't that challenging to one of my great skill and experience. Same with bolt carrier - got the social removed from that - perfect job. But again, not nearly as challenging as the stock.

According to his e-mail, he hasn't even seen the rifle, only shitty pictures his son sent him.

Maybe if he had the rifle in hand, he could wipe off the trace of anti-seize compound I put on the muzzle threads and that whining would be over.

Chamber - I don't even know what he's complaining about. I plug chambers with a rubber stopper when painting.

On original FNs, of which I did a few that week, I even go the extra step of masking the charge handle slot, the lug, and a few other areas to match FN's paint and park style. Which also means I deliberately under-spray the inside of the lower and inside of the upper, so some park will show through. All part of my careful reproduction of the original factory style. Otherwise the whole chamber face would be painted. . The other customer of another 50:00 I did at the same time, was quite pleased.

As clearly stated on my website, I return ship in a cardboard box of specific dimensions to avoid additional "dimensional weight" shipping charges. This is how I can have flat rate shipping. I've shipped over a hundred rifles this year. One other had a charge handle poke through. It happens sometimes. Not all people handling packages at FedEx or UPS are careful. Based on the oily black tread marks on that new box, I'm going to speculate it went sliding across a dirty, oily, horizontal surface. Which probably is not normal for a package handler. But based on the 99.5% that don't poke through, I'm confident that the way I pack (learned from 30 years of shipping FALs) is sound.

Normally, if there was damage to a charge handle in shipping, I'd just replace the knob. In this case, after his vulgar and abusive e-mails, he can go fuck himself.

 

[hkshooter]

So the OP comes here to complain about the job on a rifle he hasn't even seen with his own eyes yet. And leaves out a bunch of details.
He should nuke this thread, take a breath, and hold any further comment until he has the opportunity to physically inspect the rifle himself.
And probably offer an apology to Mark, pending inspection of his own.

Edit: Ok, the OP has seen the rifle and is still unhappy. Just updating my own post.

 

[Maxipum1]

I flew in on Friday morning, I have the rifle in hand and yeah very dissatisfied. I guess that makes me a nutcase because I won’t kiss your ass, that’s fine. Honestly Fuck you mark.

 

[hkshooter]

I flew in on Friday morning, I have the rifle in hand and yeah very dissatisfied. I guess that makes me a nutcase because I won’t kiss your ass, that’s fine. Honestly Fuck you mark.

How about sharing the rest of the rifle? Are there areas you are happy with? How did the rest turn out in your opinion? I see you focusing on two particular areas, one was a nearly impossible task to pull off and the other is honestly petty and a non starter.
I'm trying to be objective here and find sympathy for your plight because I was one of the people who recommended Mark. You as the customer need to be happy and on the other hand I'm also of the opinion that not everyone can be pleased due to various reasons. I'm looking for a place to hang my hat on this one but I'm leaning in a direction.

 

[Maxipum1]

I understand, and frankly I was impressed with the stock. I figured the stock and handguards were a lost cause. So not all of the work was disappointing. I have a thick skin and I understand Mark has cult leader status around these parts. I expect to be flamed. If you have any questions I’d be happy to answer them. As far as being vulgar ,I’m guilty. Not always in control of my emotions.