Robar Guns Shutting Their Doors After 35 Years

Gah! I've used Robar for black oxide finishes, outstanding service. I was counting on being a long term customer :(
 
My opinion... and only my opinion..

When you offer a service that was once rare and the industry starts to offer changes to the market and you don’t take you blinders off this is what happens.

Not just in the gun market but all markets.. Stop thinking what you offer today have value tomorrow.

Stay ahead of everyone and keep collecting the money. Discard the non-valued services and products and move on.

It’s like stocks. You might hold forever and hope for a rebound or you might just hold forever until you die or the company... whichever comes first.

Learn to roll with the punches.

Just my take. It’s worth nothing.
 
ncengravers said:
My opinion... and only my opinion..

When you offer a service that was once rare and the industry starts to offer changes to the market and you don’t take you blinders off this is what happens.

Not just in the gun market but all markets.. Stop thinking what you offer today have value tomorrow.

Stay ahead of everyone and keep collecting the money. Discard the non-valued services and products and move on.

It’s like stocks. You might hold forever and hope for a rebound or you might just hold forever until you die or the company... whichever comes first.

Learn to roll with the punches.

Just my take. It’s worth nothing.
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So, you're saying they were "resting on their laurels"?

I think you're probably right.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
 
Not familiar with them, what did the business do exactly?
When I click the article and read over it, it seems they're coloring parts of a gun and offering shorter stocks for a shotgun etc
 
ncengravers said:
My opinion... and only my opinion..

When you offer a service that was once rare and the industry starts to offer changes to the market and you don’t take you blinders off this is what happens.

Not just in the gun market but all markets.. Stop thinking what you offer today have value tomorrow.

Stay ahead of everyone and keep collecting the money. Discard the non-valued services and products and move on.

It’s like stocks. You might hold forever and hope for a rebound or you might just hold forever until you die or the company... whichever comes first.

Learn to roll with the punches.

Just my take. It’s worth nothing.
Click to expand...
Easier said than done. I was in a business for 25 years that changed, like all businesses do. Some folks in that business figured out how to keep rolling. I tried to figure it out for five years and finally decided my time was done. We do what we can and move on.
 
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HMP said:
Not familiar with them, what did the business do exactly?
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Robbie Barkman was initially recruited to work at GunSite for Cooper. He was one of the first to really make Big changes to Glock grips. He reshaped and redesigned them to fit smaller hands and changed the angle. He Has to be up in age by now. My hope is that he is just retiring. He did great work. I wish him well.
 
BatteryOaksBilly said:
Robbie Barkman was initially recruited to work at GunSite for Cooper. He was one of the first to really make Big changes to Glock grips. He reshaped and redesigned them to fit smaller hands and changed the angle. He Has to be up in age by now. My hope is that he is just retiring. He did great work. I wish him well.
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thank you for the information
 
Me. said:
As opposed to being a failure.... maybe the business was a success.

If I started a business that was successful enough, I’d retire after 35 years at it. Sure, if it were MORE successful, it might be a business you’d sell to someone else, but sometimes you just close the doors.


I remember the name from all the gun magazines that would drool over his gun finishes.
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They are closing the firearms side of the business not the entire company. They will still do non firearm applications of their NP3 & NP3+ coatings. They are getting out of the gun business. They do industrial coating and aerospace work IIRC.

He confirmed he was “shutting the doors.” Business was down in double digits per year since the end of 2017. It was impossible to keep it afloat. He’d contacted some potential buyers but they’d “read the industry tea leaves” and passed. The conclusion: the large custom shop is a thing of the past.
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To me it’s another sign of the times. It’s a race to the bottom. The gun buying public now wants it faster and cheaper. Quality is secondary. The gun industry is becoming a race to the bottom. It’s said to see.

This is an alloy BHP done in Rogard Black and NP3. It has been carried daily on an off over the years and has held up nicely.

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To me it’s another sign of the times. It’s a race to the bottom. The gun buying public now wants it faster and cheaper. Quality is secondary. The gun industry is becoming a race to the bottom. It’s said to see.

This^^^^
Unfortunately this practice has spread to most industries these days.
 
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