In order to do so, I need a new crystal ball, the one I had has a crack in it
When the Calibre Series was announced it was unfortunately advertised as a whole. It was not intended to be announced that way but I went along with it. There are far too many variables involved in manufacturing to be able to accurately predict a release date. As of now the 50 cal should see a spring release as well as another project I will be working on. The second project is time sensitive and needs to see a specific release period. Therefore, should time slip away on the main project, the 50 cal will have to take a back seat.
In the last year of operation JRCT was able to streamline processes etc... for faster turn around times. Improvements to the processes will continue in 2012 with a focus on streamlining to ensure quicker turn around times. That being said, I am a one man operation and do not farm out the work, it would defeat the reason I am in the business (doing something useful in retirement) while providing the consumer with an affordable quality product.
The remaining two calibres will see improvements in both the top and bottom connectors. As a mfr I must endeavour to strike the iron while it is hot. What I am not prepared to do is fabricate and release a product conforming to the hype generated on the forums vice the need to provide a quality product at a reasonable cost, in a reasonable amount of time.
The 50 cal was shelved until 2012 for many reasons. Insufficient feed back on the 2 previously release calibres caused a caution, without customer feed back as a mfr I was more or less navigating without a compass e.g what do the customers need and what would they like to see (improvements) in my mods, the latter being the most important criteria to any mfr in order to support the consumer better. If we look at many manufacturers we come to find that no particular mod has seen its original release date or period for that matter. Although we strive to meet a predicted release date or time frame, there is just too many variables that come into play such as daily life commitments.
As stated when JRCT was launched, this is a self funded operation and does not accept pre-orders, or waiting lists. We still see many mfrs do this and that is entirely up to them to do so - in my business model I chose not to do so. The main one is I don't feel the pressure of serving wine before its time. For example JRCT has been down since mid Nov with an anticipated re-start date of 8 Jan. Whilst manufacturing is not taking place, many other important avenues are being worked on (part of any business) to ensure a smooth running and successful business, something some folks take for granted.
In closing, I am glad I shut down manufacturing when I did. It allowed a new focus for 2012, of which is building the store, all this is customer driven, and like everything it takes time
I hope I was able to answer your question albeit in a somewhat long answer.
