Attention Valtro Owners

[pfisto]

Ok guys here is my question:
I have been doing quite a bit of research looking for my next 45. My main focus has been (not in order) Ed Brown, Les Baer, Wilson, Sti, Rock River, Custom Made ie EGW, and of course Valtro. While all of these guns are very good choices I can't get them all. I would like to hear your thoughts about why the Valtro seperates itself from the rest. It seems that all of the guns can be had used except the Valtro which could be partly due to the fact that so little of them are made as opposed to the others. Now I know I can't go wroung with either of these so I'm not asking the question which is the BEST or Perfect gun as this would be unfair. But there is no doubt that the Valtro seems to have a almost colt following. Any of these guns would be a long wait for a new one some less than others and each one has it's own signature but there seems to be something about the Valtro. I have tried to contact Jardine by phone and email many times with no answer which concerns me about any future issues. So please let me hear your thoughts.
Thanks Mike

 

[Preacherman]

Moving to Autoloaders...

 

[rick_reno]

Attn Valtro owners

Have you looked around over on the 1911 forum for this info? They discuss all the guns you've mentioned, and even have forums dedicated to many of them.


I have no direct experience with the Valtro. A fellow I that shoots on our pistol team had a Valtro on order for just over a year. Last week he told me he'd called to find out when it might be coming and Jardine had no idea, he hadn't started working on it yet. He said he'd canceled the order. It's too bad, I was looking forward to trying it out.

 

[McNutt]

The Valtro's have a strong customer loyalty, but don't get one if you want to be able to shoot it in 2004. The wait on those things is incredible.

 

[Sean Smith]

Valtro has become what Rock River Arms used to be... a great value with an ever-increasing lead time to delivery.

RRA is down to about 6 months for a made-to-order gun, by the way.

 

[ZekeLuvs1911]

I own 2 Wilsons, a Protector and a Custom Match. Both are beautiful guns and for me, they have been flawless. Accurate and I had had great customer service from their rep. I recommend them.

 

[Rich357]

I have a Valtro and a Les Baer TRS. They are both beautifully made 1911s. I don't know why, but I usually take my TRS to the range. I may change my mind down the road and start taking my Valtro out more often.

The only problem I've had with my Valtro, is bluing is coming off the slide stop lever. That's with less than 200 rounds through the Valtro.

Rich

 

[bountyhunter]

I own two STI's and they are really fine. The Trojan is by far the best value for the money of any 1911, and it's also the quality line below which I will no longer play. I don't think much of mass made 1911's. A lot of them are OK, but many are junk. I own a Para and I like it all right, but it's poorly fitted and loose... internal parts look like taiwan rejects. For a couple hundred more, the Trojan is much better.

That said: I shot a Valtro and it really felt like class. Rock solid, smooth. Wish I owned one. I called Mr Jardine to ask him if he planned to build any in .40 (answer was no). He's a nice guy who likes to talk guns. He also takes complete ownership of any problems with any gun he builds, if they occur. He probably is pretty busy, all things considered.

 

[pfisto]

Rich357

Rich357,
You know if I was you I would sell the Valtro... Who wants a gun that the blue wears off at 200 rounds and just for replying to my post I will do you the favor and take it off your hands. Hows that sound?????
Thanks for all your comments

 

[Sean Smith]

The only problem I've had with my Valtro, is bluing is coming off the slide stop lever. That's with less than 200 rounds through the Valtro.

Bluing doesn't resist wear. That's just the nature of the finish. Doesn't really matter who does it.

 

[lunde]

Rich357, you wrote:

The only problem I've had with my Valtro, is bluing is coming off the slide stop lever. That's with less than 200 rounds through the Valtro.

You need to hard-chrome that baby!

 

[Sven]

Check out my Valtro Gallery

They are out there...

 

[SiG Lady]

That sinking feeling...

I think several of us have had a sinking feeling about our Valtro orders just lately. John may be overwhelmed by the simple volume of work he has. I admit I'm getting nervous about my own order--and a friend of mine (also with one on order)--has not been able to reach John for a month. I haven't heard from him either. The projected finish date for mine was this month. I haven't a clue at this point.

I do (among other things) tabletop photography of guns and accessories and can frankly hardly wait to put the Valtro under the lights and blast away with the camera. I just wonder if I'll ever get a chance to DO that at this rate...........

 

[Kestrel]

Sig Lady,

That lack of communication was one of the reasons I cancelled my Valtro orders. I ordered them around spring/early summer of last year. Spoke to John on the phone at that time and asked about several options I wanted. For some reason, he was very non-commital on the options. They were very simple options. He could have said no and I would have been fine with that, but to just say he didn't know what he wanted to do just didn't sound right. Also would not commit to a price at the time. Said he would tell me the price when the gun was ready.

I placed the orders via fax, anyway. Two copies. Requested a confirmation of the orders. Nothing. Re-faxed, again requesting confirmation of the orders. Nothing. Emailed him two or three times, asking for confirmation of the orders. Nothing. Called a couple of times and left messages, asking for confirmation of the orders. NOTHING.

After a while, I kind of forgot about the orders. I would remember when I would see postings about Valtros. I'd see Ken Lunde's pictures of his Valtros, so I knew there must be somebody working there.

After reading various posts about the Valtro, I eventually got fed up with being ignored. So, early this year, I sent an email, cancelling my orders. NOTHING. Never heard anything back.

I'm glad everyone who has a Valtro is happy with theirs - I would have liked to be among them, but I have no idea why I was treated this way. It seems like several thousand dollars worth of business to a small business owner would have meant at least a little.

Steve

 

[SiG Lady]

JUST MOMENTS AGO...

Here's the very latest fron John Jardine: Just rec'd a call from out-of-state friend who just moments ago spoke with John... He's not sick or injured or wigged out--he's (as I suspected) totally overwhelmed with work orders. Period. The SHOT show proved to be successful AND he had to fulfill a work order of one kind or other for the U.S. Navy that intervened and slowed down private orders.

I've been assured that my own order is still in the works (he was apparently staring at the box of custom-loaded ammo that I sent while this conversation was going on because he mentioned it) but has been delayed by all this intervening business. Which means that everyone ELSE'S orders may be delayed as well. My order was placed in mid-August 2003.

So he's still out there.

 

[Nalapombu]

You asked what made the Valtro different from all the other semi-custom makers, I'll try and give it a shot. I don't own one, but I have talked to Jardine and several who do own them.
Anyway, the Jardine would be closer to a CUSTOM gun than any of the others listed above. It has ONE guy doing the work wheras the others might have 5 or 6 passing a gun from station to station. That might not make a difference in quality, but to some it means a lot. You are also seeing from the posts about Jardine and Valtro that if you had a problem it might be hard to get it fixed rapidly. The others have extra staff to deal with answering the phone, questions, returns, repairs and other stuff that Jardine doesn't have. Of course the upside to that is that you can have a Brown (or one of the others mentioned) and shoot it for many months and STILL not have your Valtro.
Valtro does have a Cult following and I think it was because at first Jardine was selling them for $1200 and he is regarded as a really good pistolsmith. People soon realized what a bargain they were at that price and then they started to jump in on it.
Any of the guns you mentioned will be great. I wish I had one of each. I would guess that you can get all of them but the Valtro and the EGW pretty quick. Many of them also appear all of the time on the used market, and the Valtro never does. You need to decide if it is important to have a man build your gun by himself and you are willing to wait a long time, or you are willing to accept a couple or 3 people building your gun and can have it right away.
Too bad youcan't go to the shop and check each one out. I have heard though that you can sometimes luck into a Valtro at Bullseye in California. Check the Valro site for info on them. Good luck and let us know what you pick.

Nala

 

[Slowhand]

All those guns are nice. I live near EGW and pop in there a fair amount, and I can say that George makes some awesome stuff. I had him work on a Caspian slide/frame set I got, as well as had him do a fairly substantial amount of work to a Colt .38 Super I've got, among other smaller jobs. A great operation, all the way through. Money no object, I always thought it would be cool to get a Colt 70 Series reissue, and give it to an outfit like EGW to have it turned into a true custom- checkering, rebarrel, sights, dehorning, tighten slide to frame, etc. I wish I had done that versus the Caspian setup I currently have, it probably wouldn't have cost much more.

 

[JAN]

I live 20 minutes from John.
Do not email him!! He probably will not answer. Only becuase the phone rings every 5 minutes and that can be over whelming.
I asked him what time frame is for the Valtro and he said 11 months.

JAN

 

[Rich357]

The hard chrome looks great.

I'm surprised the bluing has come off the Valtro slide stop after so little use. Someone screwed up when bluing that part.

pfisto, if you can find a Valtro go for it. If you can't find a Valtro I suggest you get a Les Baer. The Premier II is pretty reasonably priced.

Rich

 

[Kestrel]

Do not email him!! He probably will not answer.

Uhh... Why post an email address on his web site, then?

And why post it on a page called "Contact Us"?

Also, why post a fax number, if you're not going to answer multiple faxes?

And why post a phone number, if multiple phone messages are not returned?

 

[pfisto]

Valtro

Hey everyone thanks for all you input.

 

[JAN]

[Uhh... Why post an email address on his web site, then?

And why post it on a page called "Contact Us"?

Also, why post a fax number, if you're not going to answer multiple faxes?

And why post a phone number, if multiple phone messages are not returned?


Well maybe he does not like you???

 

[Kestrel]

Well maybe he does not like you???

You may have busted the case wide open.

I've wondered...

 

[SiG Lady]

the price of success...

I think John Jardine is suffering from this thing called 'success'. He may have to meditate seriously on how to handle the volume of business or start turning folks away--or hiring assistants. Nearly a year is a long wait for a gun--even a primo one. Given my own gun order, and the latest update I received, I imagine the-greater-part-of-a-year is what I'm facing, too.

 

[Sven]

There are other things going on, related to the difficulty of managing a manufacturing operation in Italy while the hand-fitting is being performed in California. John has his hands full. If you are impatient, look elsewhere.