Lucas bore guide

[TonyH]

Has anyone here dealt recently with Mike Lucas in the USA about buying one of his well thought of bore guides? I've emailed him twice, with a few weeks interval, and he has yet to reply... Maybe he's not interested in selling these things to the UK - I don't know.

TonyH

[20Tac]

Has anyone here dealt recently with Mike Lucas in the USA about buying one of his well thought of bore guides? I've emailed him twice, with a few weeks interval, and he has yet to reply... Maybe he's not interested in selling these things to the UK - I don't know.

TonyH

 

I got some off him a couple of years ago and he was very good to deal with, but they took a while as they are made to measure. Someone tried the other day but said he's no longer shipping to UK apparently...

[6BR]

had two from mike Lucas but they were sent to a friend in the states and pick up whilst on holiday there, he makes a nice product at a good price.20tac might be right

there a lot won't ship out side the USA now.

[TonyH]

I got some off him a couple of years ago and he was very good to deal with, but they took a while as they are made to measure. Someone tried the other day but said he's no longer shipping to UK apparently...

Ah, I see. He should still have the good manners to reply and tell me this himself, I think. Pity - seems like a unique product, but I suppose one ought to be able to duplicate the principle of a guide at the back to keep the rod straight when entering the bore. Anyone suggest an alternative? I'm picking up a .20 cal ProShot rod soon, maybe they make a better than average bore guide.

Thanks, Tony

[1967spud]

you can get them here http://scopeusout.com/ from bill shehane and hes shipps to the uk but there is about a 4 week wait . i have just received mine and they look the dogs bollies

[TonyH]

you can get them here http://scopeusout.com/ from bill shehane and hes shipps to the uk but there is about a 4 week wait . i have just received mine and they look the dogs bollies

Thanks Mark. I just emailed Bill, will wait & see. Four weeks is OK, probably be about that 'til I collect my 20Tac.

Tony

[DaveT]

I have used these bore guides for years (Love them!) and advised my son to order some recently but it seems that he got a reply that Mike Lucas either cannot or will not ship outside USA now... SURELY the USA authorities are not now banning exportation of a simple plastic tube!!!~?????

 

Anyway.... does anyone know of another current source of these or something directly equivalent / effective?

[TonyH]

I have used these bore guides for years (Love them!) and advised my son to order some recently but it seems that he got a reply that Mike Lucas either cannot or will not ship outside USA now... SURELY the USA authorities are not now banning exportation of a simple plastic tube!!!~?????

 

Anyway.... does anyone know of another current source of these or something directly equivalent / effective?

I too found Mike Lucas difficult/uncommunicative, but I got one of his boreguides earlier this year from Bill at D& B Supply, http://scopeusout.com/, email bill@scopeusout.com. There's no reason why boreguides shouldn't be shipped out of USA - the federal restrictions apply only to such things as rifle components, ammo, some optics. But many US dealers see no point in possible hassles connected with shipping abroad so they don't bother. Fortunately there are exceptions - only yesterday I ordered a small item from the ever helpful Russ Haydon's in WA, great to deal with. Try Bill at D&B Supply, hope it's successful.

Tony

[Barrelsniffer]

I contacted mike lucas at beginning of the yr asking about ordering one but he will not ship to UK.

[brown dog]

I contacted mike lucas at beginning of the yr asking about ordering one but he will not ship to UK.

 

Understandable, the bore guide was among the supposed Iraqi WMD and is a well known Al Qaeda weapon of choice, and it's not as though we're an allied country or anything....... disloyal hick lunacy

 

If it was anything else you'd all go elsewhere -why buy the product of someone who doesn't deserve the business?

[Barrelsniffer]

If it was anything else you'd all go elsewhere -why buy the product of someone who doesn't deserve the business?

 

So very true..

[TonyH]

...... disloyal hick lunacy

 

If it was anything else you'd all go elsewhere -why buy the product of someone who doesn't deserve the business?

 

Fair point, but we have similar problems here - shooters regularly complain about certain UK mail-order suppliers, so we just buy stuff elsewhere from the good guys. Mike Lucas's policy of not shipping abroad is unlikely IMV to be at all connected with the whole federal clampdown on exporting firearms-related kit; for many small dealers, or individual "cottage industries" like Lucas, shipping stuff outside the USA just seems like too much hassle, and you lay yourself open to a can of worms that includes stuff disappearing in foreign postal systems, shipping problems, greater chances of theft, customs hassles, etc etc. They decide it's just not worth it, and I find it hard to blame them. I've used Ebay for some years and I've sold stuff to N.America, Hungary, China etc - but always with caution, declining responsibility in advance for problems caused by local post services, insisting on using e.g. premium services like Airsure... When you ship something surface mail to Australia (at the buyer's insistence) and it takes weeks longer than scheduled, the hassles from the buyer become very annoying!

A couple of days ago I needed a small Redding item; they don't sell direct but have a list of mail-order suppliers on their site. Working through that list I found several dealers who just say they don't ship outside USA - full stop. There are big dealers who have the same policy: last I checked, major optics seller SWFA in Texas won't ship foreign either.

ps An afterthought. I'm always irritated by people who fail to reply to emails, and I see I'm not the only one to have been treated this way by Mike Lucas. But I don't think we have a right to expect that any given dealer abroad will sell to us - especially US dealers, and especially small outfits. Selling abroad opens up a whole new set of potential difficulties such as those I mentioned, and why should they bother? Keen riflemen such as UKV members must be a (very) small proportion of UK riflemen generally, and we represent a tiny, tiny market compared with the huge domestic market they have in the States for shooting stuff. If I ran a gun shop over there, or produced some shooting gizmo like boreguides, I'm not sure I'd want to know about shipping the occasional item to England or some other foreign country. Greater potential for fraud, disappearing in the post, getting investigated by the Feds, etc - why bother? I think we're pretty fortunate that there are a few really good dealers in the USA willing to sell direct to us.

My Lucas guide works really well, as advertised; finding an alternative supplier took hardly any time at all.

Tony

[DaveT]

I too found Mike Lucas difficult/uncommunicative, but I got one of his boreguides earlier this year from Bill at D& B Supply, http://scopeusout.com/, email bill@scopeusout.com. There's no reason why boreguides shouldn't be shipped out of USA - the federal restrictions apply only to such things as rifle components, ammo, some optics. But many US dealers see no point in possible hassles connected with shipping abroad so they don't bother. Fortunately there are exceptions - only yesterday I ordered a small item from the ever helpful Russ Haydon's in WA, great to deal with. Try Bill at D&B Supply, hope it's successful.

Tony

 

Thanks Tony.... I will give the website a try...shouldn't be this hard!

[Elwood]

I have to say that I too tried to get a Lucas bore guide direct, he did answer my initial email but when I asked the question would he ship to the UK he didn't reply. I have always found the yanks to be extremely courteous when I have made inquiries, Mike Lucas bucks the trend and can kiss my ****.

 

I have done pretty well up to this date without using one of his bore guides and shall continue to do so.

[DaveT]

I have to say that I too tried to get a Lucas bore guide direct, he did answer my initial email but when I asked the question would he ship to the UK he didn't reply. I have always found the yanks to be extremely courteous when I have made inquiries, Mike Lucas bucks the trend and can kiss my ****.

 

I have done pretty well up to this date without using one of his bore guides and shall continue to do so.

 

Elwood....what would you say is the best alternative? The 'swine' about this supply situation is taht (IMHO) they are bloody good little tools!

[Mike357]

Provided the item is not actually prohibited from being sold outside USA and it is just the dealer/supplier being awkward or covering his arse, then why not get a US shipping address and have them shipped there and then forward them on to the UK?

[DaveT]

Provided the item is not actually prohibited from being sold outside USA and it is just the dealer/supplier being awkward or covering his arse, then why not get a US shipping address and have them shipped there and then forward them on to the UK?

 

Good idea if you know someone US-based that can assist... unfortunately I don't have such a contact.

[John MH]

Provided the item is not actually prohibited from being sold outside USA and it is just the dealer/supplier being awkward or covering his arse, then why not get a US shipping address and have them shipped there and then forward them on to the UK?

 

 

They are good bore guides and the quote above is just what I did as my wife has a very amienable friend.

[Mike357]

Good idea if you know someone US-based that can assist... unfortunately I don't have such a contact.

 

You don't need to know someone, you just register for one at Bundlebox or Ship2me. Your stuff gets sent to Kentucky or Florida depending on which one you use. You can delay postage to UK while other item arrive then send them all together. Not always the cheapest way to get out the States but sometimes the only way.

 

Remember to stay legal though!

[Elwood]

Elwood....what would you say is the best alternative? The 'swine' about this supply situation is taht (IMHO) they are bloody good little tools!

 

David I do agree with you, they do appear to be well thought out, and if I could have got one direct from Mike Lucas with a credit card then I would have several. But I ask myself what would it bring? would it make my rifle shoot any better? I have been using the Dewey bore guides for years now and all my rifles shoot well, well enough to win a few competitions.

 

I actually have a technique now where I use my thumb to keep the rod reasonably central.

[dannyt]

Callum sells em at P.R.S Scotland , At least ive had a couple of him .

[DaveT]

Callum sells em at P.R.S Scotland , At least ive had a couple of him .

 

Thanks for the tip Dan,,, I will try Callum

[C23]

I live in Canada now.

 

He won't even ship here and I order from the U.S all the time!

 

We're all fighting together in Afghanistan....10 years already.

[brown dog]

Yup, disloyal hick lunacy.

 

Understandable, the bore guide was among the supposed Iraqi WMD and is a well known Al Qaeda weapon of choice, and it's not as though we're an allied country or anything....... disloyal hick lunacy

 

If it was anything else you'd all go elsewhere -why buy the product of someone who doesn't deserve the business?

[Ronin]

Forget Luca, get Davy on here to make one for you.

 

Truly excellent guides.