Gwhite wrote:So, the next question is: Does anyone have any experience ordering from Pistoleer? It's small company (3 employees), but they've been around for 9 years and I found a couple favorable mentions on-line. Their shipping charges seem a little high, but I've seen worse.
Yes, I've ordered from them several times. AFAICT, they don't sell Edelmann or Kruger but for the brands they do sell they seem to have everything. Overall, they seem like good folks and they've even responded quickly to an email I sent them, something I didn't expect. That responsiveness was a pleasant surprise.
Unfortunately, the email was a complaint that when they sent me my last box of targets, they FOLDED the targets to fit them in the box. Now, understand that this was 250 D1 (long, torso-size tombstone targets such as used in the Bianchi cup) targets, so they could be loosely folded over without a problem. Still, in the past they had rolled those targets and put them in a long, skinny box. When this batch arrived folded (to emphasize - folded over loosely, not sharply creased), I was taken aback. The targets are now on a flat surface with weights on top and when I take them to a meet tomorrow, they should be fine.
In their email to me, they said it was impractical to ship a box that was too flat and thin. Shipping damage was too likely. They have a point. I think it's fairly obvious that if someone orders a dozen targets and they try to ship them flat, the targets are likely to arrive as a crumpled mess; thus, I do understand the predicament faced by pistoleer.
I said all that to say this: If you order a small quantity of targets, make sure you put in the comments field of the order that they should NOT fold the targets, even loosely. Instead, instruct them to find a proper size box so they can roll the targets.