Primary Weapons Systems' (PWS) True Character...Not so good

[tallburnedmidget]

Hi everyone. I figured I would share an experience I have been having with Primary Weapons Systems (PWS) for the last 10 months.

You can always tell a great deal about someone's character when they encounter adversity. This seems to hold true for a business as well.
I put in an order to PWS for a rifle in May of 2012 that was suppose to take 180 days to arrive for me to pick up in Nov 2012. It is now March 2013 and the ordeal ended in me having to cancel my order.

From Nov 2012 (when I should have already had my rifle) until today I have tried numerous times to find out the status of my order only to be neglected, deceived, and flat out lied to.
Two calls resulted in an excuse about rifle stock parts being an issue and a message of "we will email you and give you more details" which resulted in no emails. Two more calls resulted in excuses of "out of spec" carrier groups and a message of "we will email you and give you more details". The 2nd to last call I addressed with Lloyd, PWS' lack of communication and them giving me the run around. I received a list of the same excuses as well as an excuse about how things have been so crazy since the Conn. shooting. I replied that I ordered my rifle way before the Conn. shooting and that I don't mind waiting as long as they follow through on their communication and they stop beating around the bush with me. I was assured that I would be given a call "within a couple of days" to let me know where my rifle build stood.

...three weeks later (today), I called them back to find out that they had already decided to cancel the line of rifles and they hadn't gotten around to letting people know. The best option they could offer me other than a refund, was to wait another 6 months on a different rifle and that there could be a price difference depending on what rifle I would choose to go with! I told them I would weight my options and call back.

After what I had experienced with their behavior I could not bring myself to attempt anymore business with PWS, so I chose the refund.

They basically got in over their head with a rifle they had not done enough research on and could not produce. People and businesses get into this situation more than they care too admin.
However, PWS' response to the adversity they encountered was to run away from the customer and fall through on their promises to communicate. Their response was to repeatedly regurgitate the same line of excuses instead of providing constructive input. Their response was to offer little to no effort to correct the situation. In all, their response was to deceive, lie, and run away from being a responsible business when faced with a tough situation.

I've heard nothing but wonderful things about PWS from everyone I talk too. I guess their situations have been common or less difficult than my own. I have had nothing but horrible experiences with PWS and after seeing their true colors cannot recommend them for anything.

Hopefully they learn from their mistake and in the future show more honorable character than what I encountered. The good from this experience is that I am reminded to work hard to make better decisions and be a better person when faced with adversity.

Anyhow, I had to let the community know about what happened. I hope all of your dealings with PWS go well, but let my experience be a warning of what you may encounter with PWS. Thanks

[ohl_san]

What rifle did you have on order?

[tallburnedmidget]

300 Blackout PWS Woodlands, Walnut wood furniture. Their prototype looked better than any wood furniture AR I had seen, and I wanted to go with a sporty more traditional look plus the supposed PWS quality and aftermarket perks that were to come with the gun.

I pre-ordred, was one of the 1st three people to do so, I was told. Now on to a different approach. I think I'm going to buy a plain Jane AR, slap on a Noveske barrel and then turn it into what I desire

[dyezak]

I have no doubts about the poor dealings you had with PWS on a retail level.

But, I did get a chance to play with a PWS 9" 300blk rifle about a month ago. That rifle impressed me more than my Noveske. It is/was a work of art. I just can't bring myself to purchase a weapon based on an operating system that makes so many critical parts proprietary. But it certainly was drool worthy.

[tallburnedmidget]

I agree that they do make some cool stuff. If they can actually make it.

I will probably never do business with them again and I would warn against pre-ordering anything new that they come up with because seems that they rely on pre-sales money to do their R&D for real rifle usability/performance as well as the mass production of the rifle.

There are enough issues to contend with even when using standards and standardize parts, I imagine that when you go proprietary the issues easily pile up, hence my ordeal.

[LiveFreeorDie]

I looked at PWS awhile back and certainly drooled over their coolness. But my dealer, whom I trust, shared all the same thoughts expressed here about proprietary designs and horrendous customer service. Also expensive. Didn't buy PWS and glad of it. Sorry for your troubles.

[moparwade]

I had unpleasant dealings with PWS as well. I had one of their uppers in 300blk that I screwed the barrel up on while working up some subsonic loads (stuck bullet and bulged barrel). Not their fault of course, but I called them up to order a barrel for it and the person I spoke with acted like all their rifles are way different than any other and I would need to send it in to get rebarrelled for about $400 minus shipping. No way would he just ship me a barrel that i was willing to pay for.
I ended up pulling the barrel off and having it shortened and rethreaded.
I could have purchased any barrel and made the gas port the same diameter of the old one, but I ended up going the cheaper route. Their rifles aren't much different than any other AR-15 and can be taken apart and put together just like the rest. But their barrel nut was kind of a pain.

[tallburnedmidget]

That sucks. The outcome of my situation was probably a blessing in disguise. I would not enjoy having to be so tightly coupled to a vendor in order to make simple changes or deal with issues.

[Stickman]

At the end of the day, all piston ARs are proprietary. If that is something that concerns you, don't buy a piston gun.

While things didn't go the way you want, at least you aren't out anything.

[45r]

Might have been better not to get the rifle from them if it's a hassle.Piston rifles are overblown it seems to me.I like my AAC upper,it's accurate,light,quality parts and probably the best for the money out there.They stand behind their product.
The AR-15 is just as reliable as the piston rifles,has less parts and easy to run suppressed.Parts are easy to find and replace.The only piston rifle I might want someday would be a Scar.It was designed to be a piston rifle.It's expensive and I don't think it's much more reliable than an AR that has good mags,springs,right buffer,etc. but it is a very good piston design.
I'd like to have one in 300BLK.I wouldn't mind having the Rem model ACR also if they would put more effort into it and bring out the 300BLK option.