I really didn't want to post this. I've been using Sergio for YEARS since he started in a little back office on 8/Beech Daly. He's done a LOT of work for me, and has always been good to me, but now I've had an absolute horrible experience with him that has made me decide never to use him again, but also to warn MGO about possible issues you may face if you do use him.
I dropped my Hellcat and CP33 off to him a while back. He said 2-3 weeks, it took about 2-3 weeks and they both looked great. I went to pick them up, CP33 was perfect, Hellcat has issues. The magazine was incredibly stiff to remove. It felt like it was jammed, like something was seriously wrong so I left it there.
I texted him a few times over two weeks and he kept saying he was working on it. Then he texted me saying "I'm sending it back to you, it won't get much looser. He tried to tell me "it was normal and it's supposed to be like this" so I had to go online, find a video of someone using a hellcat, and show him that the mags drop free. He told me he'd figure it out. This was...early december, the 1st or second. 10 days later he told me he'd have it figured out with a day or two or send it to Springfield to have them figure it out.
8 days after that I texted him and he said "After christmas I'll get you a new one or something if I can't figure it out by friday".
Finally, on the 27th (almost a month later) he fixed it. He says he put the wrong base plate on the wrong mag and that was causing it to get stuck. He shipped it back to me.
I get the gun back, another issue. The 11 round mag is missing the metal plate that goes between the base plate and the spring, meaning the plate doesn't lock in, meaning it's useless. Springfield doesn't sell these mags, so after arguing with Sergio for a week about whether or not he lost parts he agrees to paypal me money to buy a new mag, once they're available, which won't be for a few months. I still have a 13 round mag, it's annoying, but I can still carry and shoot it.
So I take this gun to the range (friday), happy I got it back, super excited.
5 rounds down range, trigger dies. Wtf? I rack it a bunch of times, I get it to fire one more round. Not cool.
I text sergio, no answer.
I take it apart the next day, notice that there's no pin in the rear trigger housing for the disconnector or disconnector spring. The disconnector is just kinda sitting there, popped into where it goes but wobbling around. This is causing the trigger to die out and not fire half the time.
The ONLY WAY to get the pin and spring out, are to take the trigger out. The ONLY person who's ever removed the trigger, was Sergio. I bought the gun brand new, took it to the range once, and dropped it off at his house. I never even took the slide off of the gun to clean it in the week I had it.
I text him about this issue. No answer.
I called springfield, they said I'll have to send it in, BUT since the guns are brand new they won't have parts available for it to repair it for 5-6 MONTHS. I texted him again and at this point just asked him to take this one and replace it with a new one. 2 months since I first dropped my Hellcat off to him for Cerakote, it's non-functional, and I won't be able to get it functional for another 5-6 months PLUS pay Springfield to fix it? That's absurd. A
A few days go by, he replies with a long message that basically boils down to "It's not my problem they can't get parts, you must have lost the parts, if it was lost it wasn't here". How do I lose parts, that require you to remove the trigger, when I STILL HAVEN'T even taken the slide off the gun? I took it to the range as soon as he gave it back to me, i noticed he greased the rails so I didn't even take the slide off to put an oil on them.
So basically I paid this guy to Cerakote my new gun, and now he lost parts vital to it's function and is telling me to screw myself. I'm out the money for the cerakote, I'm out of my gun for 6 months, and I'm out whatever the hell Springfield is going to charge me to fix it since they already said it won't be warranty repaired.
It saddens me that I have to break off a relationship with someone who I considered not only a great cerakoter, but also an actual friend for the last 6-7ish years since he first started working on my guns.
Stay away from 313Tactical, it's not worth the headache.
As a side note, if anyone knows of any cerakoters (preferably who can do themed stuff and not just solid colours) in the Detroit area (or within an hour) that allow firearm drop offs, and who want my business, please PM me or comment here with their info. I have two projects sitting in my safe right now I'd like to get done here soon.
Thanks for reading, I look forward to him probably replying to this and coming up with a bad excuse on how my parts magically got lost.
~ Mike