Custom products take time.
I ordered a rifle and sent a few actions to a gunsmith that frequents this site. I was told 3 months on the build. At 6 months I started checking in monthly. After 9 months there were no return phone calls or emails for the next 6 months. At this 15 month time I scheduled a vacation to drive to his location to retrieve my rifle. The day before I left my items all showed up. Action was properly bedded in stock. Barrel was fit appropriately. Action on rifle and additional rifle action i sent to him were billed and payed for to be blueprinted, but the work was not done. I don't trust him to send him the actions back to make it right.
This made me mad enough that I decided I wasn't doing this again. I enrolled in the appropriate courses at my local state college. I was fortunate to have a gunsmith teaching metal machining and bench metal courses. I built a rifle the long and hard way with him. It took 2 years. It's a very nice example of a sporterized mauser done in the post war style. I gave it to my Dad for father's day. Not another one like it in the world.
I'm not in a life situation right now that it makes sense to own a lathe and mill. This will change in less than a year. Since then, I've made friends with a handful of gunsmiths that can make me anything I want in a timely fashion. They answer my phone calls. I take care of them when I can. I will have a lathe and mill soon, and will return to doing some of my own work.
Since then, I have a few revolvers at a custom shop now. Very unique in quality and product. Low production. I drop off 3 primary builds in 2008. I got the first one back in 2014. Still waiting on the other 2. No one else builds these, and I'm not skilled enough to do my own. If I want them, I will wait.
I've had a chamber reamer manufacturer burn me half a dozen times. His production volume went up, so he expanded, much like suggested earlier on this thread. Customer service went to hell. I'd inquire about a reamer and get a response. I'd ask to change a dimension or two, and request a reamer print to confirm my changes. No response. Email monthly for 6 months. No response. I order the reamer from a different manufacturer. Original reamer manufacturer bills and ships original reamer without changes I specify. I send it back and tell them to fix it or refund it. I'm charged a generous restocking fee.
I went to school in Kansas City. I frequently stopped by Tom Manners, GA Precision, and Badger. I was treated with respect by all three business. I've bought a GAP action or two from George. with flawless transaction. I continue to use Badger parts in all my builds. I just placed an order for 2 more Manners stocks after I picked up my first one. He gave me an estimate of the first of the year. I'm not sweating it.
I appreciate that my response is long winded. Here is what I suggest. If your timeline is short, buy a finished product. If you want absolute control of the product, learn to produce it yourself. If you can't get an off the shelf product to fit your needs and you can't produce it yourself, you will need to buy from a niche manufacturer.
I swage my own bullets. I use 3 or 4 different suppliers for tooling. Sometimes the wait is over a year. They do give an honest estimate, but the guarantee is quality. Dave Corbin offers the option to have your product expedited in speed for a 50% increase in price. It still doesn't have a time guarantee, but he does guarantee you get moved to first in line.
You could offer that. Order your next stock with Manners. Talk to Tom personally. Get your time estimate. Get your price quote. Ask if he'll guarantee the timing to 6 weeks if you pay him double. Worst he can say is, "no."
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