UM Custom Rifles - Reviews

[PredatorSlayer]

You say this like it is a bad thing.

I have been in the service industry for a very long time and one thing I have learned over the years is that you are not going to make everyone happy. I have also learned that the customer is not always right and that sometimes you have to fire a customer, just like sometimes customers will fire you.
If you are being unreasonable, treating my people like crap, or trying to take advantage of my company (including making threats to ruin our reputation), you will quickly find out how much of an asshole I can be. I have yet to have a situation like that lead to an outcome where I, my people, and my company weren't better off.
So, if I were searching around the internet looking for a company that could fulfill my needs for custom ammunition, custom rifles, gun parts, etc. and ran across this thread, I would actually be drawn to UM based on this because what I see is an owner who gives a crap and is a normal human being, not some suck-ass who only wants your money.

My final thought on this would be that based on your very well documented opinion, you probably aren't a UM customer, and most likely won't ever be. So, why would Jake even give a rat's ass what you think of him?

Agree - I am a nobody. More of a reason not to engage with me on this thread which he did. You should have read the entire thread before responding to my first comment. Some people have a hard time putting their ego to the side and doing the smart thing.

 

[bmart2622]

Irony

 

[bergerking21]

I've had real good luck with my rifle builds at UM. I've also learned a lot over the past few years by going into the shop and talking with them. They've always been very helpful and have bent over backwards to help me and other customers I've met in the shop. From what I've seen, it seems they will go above and beyond to make things right and make the person happy. They've shared a lot of load dev data on different bullets/powders etc which has been helpful as well. Build times have been in the ballpark and competitive with other builders myself/friends have used. The quality on mine have been top notch. I hope OP's hammer like mine have.

For builds I've done a 300 prc, bat vesper, XLR chassis, carbon 6 barrel, NF nx8 4-32. Maybe took 6-7 months, I'd guess a lot of that time was waiting on a barrel. Barrels were pretty back logged at the time. It hammers with 215 hybrids and 208 lrht. After a while shooting suppressed with 79 gr H1000 it developed a carbon ring. Not UM fault. Seems to happen with geometry of the case, suppressor use, case trimming, etc. Some 215's wouldn't feed, could see abrasion/scuffing on copper jacket. I tried a lot of carbon removers. Finally went into the UM shop and asked if they had any ideas. Taylor turned me onto Thorroclean. It worked, super easy. Back to hammering. Should of just went in or called them at the start. lol

Tikka 6.5 creed, Blaine tried to talk me into a 6 which he was probably right but I was already tooled up for 6.5 reloading, mcmillan game warden 2.0, benchmark 5, triji tenmile 3-18, scythe ti,140 eldm. Maybe took 3-4 months. It hammers.

7 prc, bat vesper, XLR, 22" ace spiral fluted, NF nx8, 180 eldm. Probably took close to 10 months give or take. A lot of that was probably waiting on backlog of cerakote, they've since added more people to cerakote. It turned out great and it also hammers. Got lucky and drew several elk/mule deer tags this year and it was awesome. Road in truck across half the country several times, fell down a steep mountain strapped to side of pack. Rattled around in my pack on 4 wheeler for hundred miles. Kept zero. Whacked them at 400, 330, 435, 710, 540.

 

[JM151]

@bergerking21 great to hear. Sounds like they are all hammers

 

[Gadjet]

I've had real good luck with my rifle builds at UM. I've also learned a lot over the past few years by going into the shop and talking with them. They've always been very helpful and have bent over backwards to help me and other customers I've met in the shop. From what I've seen, it seems they will go above and beyond to make things right and make the person happy. They've shared a lot of load dev data on different bullets/powders etc which has been helpful as well. Build times have been in the ballpark and competitive with other builders myself/friends have used. The quality on mine have been top notch. I hope OP's hammer like mine have.

For builds I've done a 300 prc, bat vesper, XLR chassis, carbon 6 barrel, NF nx8 4-32. Maybe took 6-7 months, I'd guess a lot of that time was waiting on a barrel. Barrels were pretty back logged at the time. It hammers with 215 hybrids and 208 lrht. After a while shooting suppressed with 79 gr H1000 it developed a carbon ring. Not UM fault. Seems to happen with geometry of the case, suppressor use, case trimming, etc. Some 215's wouldn't feed, could see abrasion/scuffing on copper jacket. I tried a lot of carbon removers. Finally went into the UM shop and asked if they had any ideas. Taylor turned me onto Thorroclean. It worked, super easy. Back to hammering. Should of just went in or called them at the start. lol

Tikka 6.5 creed, Blaine tried to talk me into a 6 which he was probably right but I was already tooled up for 6.5 reloading, mcmillan game warden 2.0, benchmark 5, triji tenmile 3-18, scythe ti,140 eldm. Maybe took 3-4 months. It hammers.

7 prc, bat vesper, XLR, 22" ace spiral fluted, NF nx8, 180 eldm. Probably took close to 10 months give or take. A lot of that was probably waiting on backlog of cerakote, they've since added more people to cerakote. It turned out great and it also hammers. Got lucky and drew several elk/mule deer tags this year and it was awesome. Road in truck across half the country several times, fell down a steep mountain strapped to side of pack. Rattled around in my pack on 4 wheeler for hundred miles. Kept zero. Whacked them at 400, 330, 435, 710, 540.

I just got my UM built 7PRC. Loving it so far. What is your coal? Did you try any other powders besides H1000?

 

[bergerking21]

I just got my UM built 7PRC. Loving it so far. What is your coal? Did you try any other powders besides H1000?

coal is at 3.35 for the 7prc. I tried H1000 and N565 and found loads with both. 67 and 67.2 gr H1000 both shot well, sub 10 fps SD. Hunted with 68 gr N565 this year since that's what was loaded and didn't want to mess with it mid season. 22" barrel, 2875fps over 30-40 shots, SD also less than 10. H1000 and N565 produced very similar speeds. I'd like to test them both and see what kind of temp sensitivity they show. For late season cow hunt I just kept mag in jacket pocket until it was time to shoot, was probably around 15 to 20*F out, my binos in harness said they were 64*

 

[WeiserBucks]

Probably took close to 10 months give or take. A lot of that was probably waiting on backlog of cerakote, they've since added more people to cerakote.

Quoting this as a general question, how long does it take to cerakote a rifle? Is it reasonable for one person to cerakote a rifle in one day? Does it take several days?

Assuming it takes one day per rifle, that's 260 rifles per year given an average work week. Is UM doing that much volume?

 

[Gadjet]

coal is at 3.35 for the 7prc. I tried H1000 and N565 and found loads with both. 67 and 67.2 gr H1000 both shot well, sub 10 fps SD. Hunted with 68 gr N565 this year since that's what was loaded and didn't want to mess with it mid season. 22" barrel, 2875fps over 30-40 shots, SD also less than 10. H1000 and N565 produced very similar speeds. I'd like to test them both and see what kind of temp sensitivity they show. For late season cow hunt I just kept mag in jacket pocket until it was time to shoot, was probably around 15 to 20*F out, my binos in harness said they were 64*

Thanks for the info. I have a few pounds of 565 and H4831sc, 180eldm's, 215m primers, and Peterson brass. I'm shooting a 20 barrel suppressed so I'm assuming my velocities will come in slightly lower than yours.

 

[bergerking21]

Quoting this as a general question, how long does it take to cerakote a rifle? Is it reasonable for one person to cerakote a rifle in one day? Does it take several days?

Assuming it takes one day per rifle, that's 260 rifles per year given an average work week. Is UM doing that much volume?

I think it depends on how many layers the pattern has. If it's simple one layer, probably pretty quick, spray and cure. If it's multiple layer pattern, probably a week or more. Have to print and cut patterns, apply patterns to rifle, spray, cure, repeat until it's done, seems like 4 layers could take some time. That's my understanding, I'm no expert though

 

[WeiserBucks]

I think it depends on how many layers the pattern has. If it's simple one layer, probably pretty quick, spray and cure. If it's multiple layer pattern, probably a week or more. Have to print and cut patterns, apply patterns to rifle, spray, cure, repeat until it's done, seems like 4 layers could take some time. That's my understanding, I'm no expert though

I don't know jack, just curious how long it might take.

 

[HandgunHTR]

I think it depends on how many layers the pattern has. If it's simple one layer, probably pretty quick, spray and cure. If it's multiple layer pattern, probably a week or more. Have to print and cut patterns, apply patterns to rifle, spray, cure, repeat until it's done, seems like 4 layers could take some time. That's my understanding, I'm no expert though

Add to that the fact that you have various bake times based on size and type of cerakote and things can get backed up pretty quick.

Also, they are cerakoting a ton of different things, not just stocks and rifles.

 

[JM151]

7 PRC +P
Manners PH
Vesper
Benchmark 20”
UM bottom metal
Trigger Tech Diamond
Nx8 4-32

Got my rifle couple months ago and I absolutely love it. Looks great and is a hammer. Super easy load dev, so much so I had to play around with some other powders. First powder I wanted to try was RL26 and it was a winner right out of the gate. Found a load in 38 rounds.

Final load was confirmed today (180 eldm going 2880) with a 10 shot group measuring .573”.