Is Bonesteel Reliable?

[dross]

Thinking of ordering a Bonesteel upper handguard, but I'm hearing about long shipping delays and lack of responsiveness. I sent an email asking about shipping times but I haven't yet heard back. Has anyone had any recent experience with them, good or bad?

Thanks in advance for any info you have.

[MeatAxe]

I didn’t have any problem with them. CNC Warrior sells some of Bonesteel’s products (which they manufacture for Bonesteel) and they’re pretty reliable, if you don’t trust Bonesteel.

Btw, the Bonesteel upper and lower hand guards for the Vz58 are really nice!

[briang2ad]

Bonesteel is reliable - not the fastest in shipping, but it will get there. 

[jwc007]

I didn’t have any problem with them. CNC Warrior sells some of Bonesteel’s products and they’re pretty reliable, if you don’t trust Bonesteel.

Btw, the Bonesteel upper and lower hand guards for the Vz58 are really nice!

I quite agree! 

Have the Bonesteel upper and lower hand guards. No problems and I've had them on my Rifle for quite some time now.

[dross]

Update: Emailed before I ordered, he got back to me and the upper handguard is in transit - arriving tomorrow. So, for me, outstanding and quick service. Thanks for all the replies.

[RSR]

Bonesteel has never defrauded anyone AFAIK.  He can be bad at comms and doesn't ship your order until all is available -- but I think it's all specified in the fine print on his website before you place your order, so at least he's transparent.

[TJNewton]

I've bought many surplus used and NOS items from Bonesteel and the quality and service has always been excellent.

[wanderson]

I've ordered two of their folding AK stocks.
Both times the wait to ship was long for an item showing In Stock. Since they make most of the stuff they sell they may be making it to order. But 100% reliable and top quality.

[RSR]

I've ordered two of their folding AK stocks.
Both times the wait to ship was long for an item showing In Stock. Since they make most of the stuff they sell they may be making it to order. But 100% reliable and top quality.

No, CNC Warrior makes his designs/stuff.  He ships it all and owns whatever it is CNCW doesn't make -- some of it made by other manufacturers (he used to resell Ronin Grips IIRC, for instance), some surplus.

It's a side hustle, and the products he's designed and CNCW has made are a net positive to the 2A community, Vz58 in particular.  And were it not for Bonesteel, CNCW may have exited the 2A business as I understand it, their 2A business was just a passion project trying to keep their mills running during the Obama-era, maybe late Bush II-era recessions.

It's a side hustle for Chris AFAIK, and he can't ship inventory he doesn't have in hand.  Personally, I don't think I'd be comfortable taking weeks to months-long backorders for product I don't have in hand, but to be fair, I've never heard of Chris Bonesteel ripping anyone off and does refund backorders when requested (which usually means he incurs a cost as is standard for 2A-friendly payment processors).

My only gripe -- and it's digging to find it -- was that he asked to send me a product to T&E FOR FREE (one of his new stocks IIRC), and I asked him to send it to another member here first for an initial evaluation/torture test before I got hands on when that member would ship it to me, and then I'd "gift" it to a relative of that member as a thanks for the help (again, IIRC Re: comms, and don't think I told Chris about the gifting/3rd step).  It was crickets after my comms on that request, even though I specified that proposal was in that order b/c I was buried with something (life/work/maybe a newborn/etc. at the time, don't recall exact year even but roughly a decade, maybe less, ago)...
So to be clear -- my gripe is someone offered me something free and ghosted me when I offered a situation somewhat different from what was originally proposed.  And that's it in decade+ that I've been buying stuff from him, including the at one point he was sponsoring this forum in the banner ad.