I try to be less judgmental as I grow older. I will only report the facts. I sent a set of Parker barrels to Mike Orlen a few years ago for rustblue and forcing cone and choke work. About a $400 job altogether. He was very accomodating on the phone, indicated turnaround was not a problem, but after 6 weeks began to avoided my phone messages for the next 6 months. It took 9 months to get the barrels back, and I, too, was plagued with thoughts of whether the barrels had been lost or irreparably damaged. Mike was less than straightforward with me when we did finally talk, saying the barrels were "almost done" when there was another 3 months to go. Against this backdrop, the work, when received, was of excellent quality. I guess I'd rather have good work with a little brain damage than bad work. That's all.
