Best Carbine money can buy?
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They don't do anything a Daniel Defense can't do at 1/2 the cost.
He seemed like a nice guy. Had dinner with him and everything. Then again, I was never all that great a judge of character (which is why I default to being untrusting).
Sure, CS is only one piece of the puzzle. However, I felt that if Legion hadn't of been so quiet on the comms, then there wouldn't be as many irate customers out for blood. This has nothing to do with whether or not Legion would have succeeded in the wake of the parts shortage, only that they would have gone out with an (relatively) untarnished reputation, which I think still matters quite a bit if the people that worked there want to have another go in the industry, whether it be with a new company or simply trying to get into another one.
I dunno, I personally used only email or else called Johnny Allen; the email responses were slow, but always got answered in detail. The phone calls were promptly returned if missed. However, there was a lot of bellyaching on Facebook, IIRC, about how phone calls were being ignored and full voicemail boxes. Who knows. I had a Helluva time getting in touch with Roy at Weapon Outfitters, yet everyone else I've talked to has said that WO is usually super-responsive. Luck of the draw, I guess.
I wouldn't go so far as to call you a sucker. After all, all the recommendations were for the rifle... not the business plan. They were all super positive on the end product (and I've yet to hear any negative reports on the weapons themselves), but obviously that's not enough. And hey, a lot of people had to have been out on a limb when Noveske/BCM/LWRC/PWS/etc. first started building rifles. If anything, I guess the lesson is, buy only from established manufacturers that don't utilize proprietary parts?
So what happened to all the money? They took in money but, couldn’t buy parts, didn’t pay shipping, and I presume didn’t pay employees to stand around doing nothing.
My guess would be bankruptcy and people owed money will have to go through the courts.
Standard undercapitalized small business story.
Maybe, but my bet is that there isn't enough money to fund a bankruptcy. Instead, the deposits are probably long gone funding operating expenses and they will just close their doors and disappear. If they do go the bankruptcy route, expect a liquidation and pennies (if that) on the dollar. Companies like this usually keep running until the money is simply gone, and then fold and go away.
Yeah, but what are they going to have to liquidate? All of their parts were outsourced: MEGA made their receivers, STI made their pistols, et cetera. So some assembly tools and computers, maybe. They rent a small space in Temple (my family lives down the street, and I've driven by many times), so they don't even own the building.
Someone on Facebook was doing some simple math: if they have 100 customers who spent at least $2000 (and I don't even think they offered something that cost less than $2000), you're easily approaching a quarter million, and that's just to your average joes. Who even knows what they owe to their suppliers, dealers, agencies....
Under-capitalized and over-committed. As common as dirt.
We haven't seen the last of the failures spurred by the Great EBR Bubble of 2013, and (were I the betting type) bigger companies than this will take big hits before it's all said and done.
It rained soup for a little bit there and some people, rather than sticking a bowl out the window, went deep in hock to lease swimming pools to catch it.
("Why doesn't Giant Ammo Co build a whole new factory to keep up with demand?" I heard a lot during the worst of it.)