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"My 4 day visit to everything PSA "


bfoosh006

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Good Day ,

I was given the opportunity to visit Palmetto State Armory while I was vacationing in South Carolina... 4 days worth ! , and all of its production, manufacturing,  assembly, shipping, office, etc companies.... In short...ALL of PSA.

I want to preface this soon to be very lengthy thread with videos and general comments...
 
1st off, PSA is a true American Company success story, and has all the characteristics desirable in that context. The employees, workplaces, and attitude is so positive, friendly, and willing to adapt that I was frequently overwhelmed and speechless... when I say that I was overwhelmed.. is was because of the level of capabilities being presented to me.

2nd.. PSA is much more capable then I ever could have imagined... the production and manufacturing facilities, produce on levels I had never seen before. Making barrels, receivers, etc  ( pretty much all the parts needed for the various PSA firearms ) in quantities that would make your mind drift away from the tour... Lol, Visions of the 100's of barrels / receivers being made and ready to be assembled would constantly cause me to ponder the magnitude of what was going on.
And, if you are "Gunny" then you understand what I mean...
 
3rd... The workers, engineers, management and Owners are all just like you and me... average people that actually love their jobs, and want to see a high quality product be supplied to us "Gunny" folk.
The 100% Unconditional Lifetime Warranty proves that to me as well.  Jamin McCallum's video also speaks volumes to me ( PSA, Our Story..... ) , frankly, the comments at the end of video shows the level of commitment to our hobby... and struck me as darn near "Founding Father" like. 
 
I have the utmost respect for all I have seen and learned. That is not something I give readily, or take lightly.

So, Kudos to PSA.

 

4th.... I am still an average guy with normal everyday work loads... so be patient ( please ) while I get my "stuff" together .. Lol trying to do all this while it being Tax week on top of the everyday adult issues of life is a little daunting. I get up at 04:45 and get home about 12 hours later every week day... so just sayin' .. bear with me.

So I will post videos and info a little slowly, starting with the order of manufacturing facilities I visited... there is a lot of info and videos to digest. And, while the videos are most likely going to be VERY amateur in nature ( because of that overwhelming part, and learning curve ) they will still show info and cause most everyone to learn more about PSA.
I will be creating a Youtube channel to help with the linking of all the videos... ( another thing to fit into a average guys day , Lol.. ) there are hours of videos I need to edit ( again amateur learning curve , Lol ) so stay tuned... and again, I am just another guy trying to help show folks the true PSA of today... so , please ...."yesterday's spilt milk" doesn't matter here...again, please.
 
5th... I don't want this thread to be about "I didn't get the right part"... please, there are other ways to talk about those subjects, And Josiah at PSA  and the Customer Service Dept ( which is being increased 2 1/2 times  in size ) is working overtime to help solve purchasers issues. I need to add.... Josiah is much more then a excellent man, he is a VERY hard working, friendly, personable individual. If you could meet him, and spend a week as close to him as I have... you would walk away admiring him. I did.
I have seen the magnitude of his devotion first hand.

6th.... PSA was VERY forthright and open about what they make and how they make it. Allowing me to video and ask very specific questions... no one missed a beat when it came to explaining and answering all my questions. I could tell they all fully believe in their product. And are willing to adapt, and employ improvements in all their products.
They really do watch, listen and learn from all the forums... taking our comments to heart..  ( frankly, a daunting task )
So while we "wish" everything was in stock, all the time ... rest assured any slight delay is simply because of improvements being implemented... so we all can have a better product. They even loosened up the magwell dimensions  ( a few thousand's ) on the PA10 GenII , so mags will easily drop free.... that is how closely they are watching ... I will say much more... but that will come soon enough.
 
I would be very hard pressed to discribe any other major manufacturer being as innovative and proactive as PSA is.
( PSA is the # 1 manufacturer of AR's in the US all while using all American made parts.. as in 50%+ , the Lion's share,  of the market )

7th... PSA has some enviable products coming up soon. Honestly , PSA has already spent more of my money after seeing those products... Lol

8th... a great deal of this report will be more "semi-technical" in nature... all long the lines of "Holy Crap, I never realized PSA made that .. and made that on such massive volumes and with such stringent quality control policies... for those of you folks in the "words matter world "... everything has moved so far forward, that "Quality Assurance" is now the spec... as in,  all of it is so well manufactured , it has moved the standards higher... already meeting a certain spec.. and exceeding it enough, to be allowed an even tighter standard.
The future at PSA is just getting better all the time... I saw it.

9th... PSA really did start by selling P-Mags and PMC Bronze .223 ammo out of a garage in 2008 ( I saw the garage, Lol )... stop for a minute and think about that.
 
2008, selling from a garage... to 50+% ( again, The Lion's share ) of the AR market today... to me that is simply amazing.
Yes, there have been growing pains... but PSA is working VERY hard to adapt and fix any of those past issues.. ( spilt milk ) ... so while some of you folks might be saying... "but, what about... "... please remember the meteoric rise it has gone through. All the time working hard to supply us working men and women with a very effective "cost to quality" product.
I know I would have been possibly driven nuts from the DAILY "time for the next step" progress.. Lol

( Side note, even Jamin's wife was helping load boxes in the UPS van while pregnant ! ... heck of a woman ! )


10th... Again.... I am still amazed, by the professionalism, courtesy, capabilities , quality and people at PSA. I really can't say that enough.
So... if I stumble while posting.. it is because I am still managing the massive volume of info learned.
 
11th... While some of you folks might think I am a "PSA Fanboy"... truth be told.. I am. Not in the "PSA can do no wrong" sense... but in the "I have always been happy with my product sense" .......And now, even more so then before.

PSA has allowed me to purchase products that I would have had put off to a "better time" numerous times.
As an example, all the 9MM PCC Colt pattern, .223 / 5.56 AR's, .308 PA10, and 6.5CM firearms I have bought from PSA offer a solid platform, at a very reasonable price.... and that means I have been able to increase my love of shooting into venues I would not been able to afford before.
When I stop to think of the variety of my PSA firearms, barrel lengths, caliber's, etc... I soon realize how influential and persuasive PSA has been to my shooting life.
"Maximum Amount of Freedom" really does mean something to me.... on all sorts of levels.
I have to say... I could not have done it without PSA's low-priced / high quality business profile.
As you will see me mention frequently... a "Working Man and Woman's" Price / product..... we all know this.. but, again.. since PSA has made this such a routine matter, we can take that for granted. I realize now, I did. Lol
 
All my PSA's just flat out work. Any tinkering I have done, has been at my own desire, to produce a firearm I want to behave for my specific task... the PSA brand offers me what I need to do that. A solid foundation, at a reasonable price.
Lol... in ways I didn't think of... Kind of that whole "Did you find everything you were looking for ? .... "Yes, even stuff I didn't know I needed ! " ( still gotta shoot that 24" .223 Wylde Upper , Lol )
 
12th... The Store fronts are amazing... having all the parts available and on-hand is a true AR enthusiast / shooters dream come true. The amount of variety as far as firearms goes is ... Lol.. Overwhelming.. The staff is Outstanding in their knowledge and helpfulness. You can shoot at the onsite firing ranges... PSA has other full time outdoor ranges as well, also very outstanding.

BTW....
Firing Full Auto firearms was amazing, something the store's rent... everyone would turn around with a Big Ol' Grin from that ... even the random people Jamin, Josiah and PSA folk let try out / enjoy the FA session ! ( Again, Great men !! )
 
13th... The Development and Engineering Dept... Awesome.... Great people... ( BTW, these various places are all separate massive buildings, in a state of "we just moved, to enlarge our dept / capabilities greatly" ...) The fine tuning and development of current and future products was again, simply amazing .
Some of the future products will blow your mind.
The enhancements being done to current products just keeps going.... in subtle ways, just making them better... with levels of knowledge I found impressive. As an example... Making sure what pistol mags worked and why, via feed lip configurations and slight nuances in the specific brand mag / caliber combo was well beyond my understanding of what it takes to design and produce a reliable firearm.
Yet they knew, how to alter the firearm to achieve 100% reliablity... with changes to the firearm.

Again, simply fascinating to see first hand. And I made me realize how much PSA cares. 
 
14th.. If I have forgotten anyone or anyplace ... It is because there is just so much info to share... and I will get that info out here. Further video review will remind me.

15th....As the post progresses, I will try to answer questions... but, would prefer to post what info I have first and foremost.
So please allow me time to respond and if possible get specific answers.
Or post in the PSA Industry thread... so it doesn't get "lost" in my thread.
 
I have hours of amateur video to share. Lol... I will cut those down in length.
I would still like to have time for my own hobby needs as well, ... range time , "life" and helping the never-ending "can you help me move / build / whatever / work stuff."
Again... this will be a little daunting since there is so much info.... and this is completely new to me... so cut me a little slack, Lol

None the less, as will be seen and learned.... I was given the opportunity to share this with all of us. And will do all I can to do so.
PSA wants you, to know, they have your back. In every way possible.
In a slightly "corny" sense... they are like the great shooting buddy you already know... and enjoy being around.
 
I think you folks are going to like this.... more coming soon...
 
bfoosh006
Edited by bfoosh006
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  • shepp pinned this topic

Ok.... please remember.. I suck at video taping, and slowly learned how to listen and pay attention to the spokeperson's, while videoing. I have never been "into" photos of me, nor taking photos of others... so, my apologies for the poor, less then Frank Capra results.
You can't say I didn't warn you... Lol

So if the camera is pointed at the floor... it is because I was using it as a "memo / voice recording" device while showing the courtesy and respect due to the individual doing the talking.
In hind sight, I wish I had literally practiced videoing people speaking... so if you have the opportunity to video stuff like this... be sure to practice first.

The info is still good, IMHO... and more so.. you do get to see some "behind the curtain, Wizard of Oz" stuff.

I will include most all videos... no matter how small or potentially unnecessary ... since, if you pay attention, you can catch some subtle info in the bigger picture.

Remember ... choppy, poor videomanship ahead ( And I was walking around a fully operational machine shop, so watching your step .. was important )  ... but, I still think you guys will enjoy the videos. Most all are rather quick paced, since we were on a tight schedule and wanted to see as much as possible.

I am going to "Hotlink" some of the videos right now... but not all of them... since I am still learning Youtube ( etc ) ... There are still a bunch more ( even DC Machine has about 40 more ) , so bear with me.

And again ... my quality does get better video wise. Lol

I will be posting all the videos at the Youtube channel named "bfoosh006"  ( https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0CMAyA5KS60KbwGS0p4mjA/videos?shelf_id=0&view=0&sort=dd ).... so search for that.
The videos were "loaded" on to Youtube in the order I took them... starting at MVI 0019, then MVI 0020.. etc...

Never mind the dog videos... I just loaded them and another with my PSA Colt Pattern 9MM as a test. ( Just to be sure I was doing it right )

I can't think of much else to say right now.... so, here we go...

 

 

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Ok getting tired... please post any comments on the videos here... I would rather not go to Youtube to see everything you guys have to say. And frankly, I'd bet most everyone else would be interested in your comments as well....And if one video stands out in your mind... feel free to link to it.

Again here is the link

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0CMAyA5KS60KbwGS0p4mjA/videos?sort=dd&view=0&shelf_id=0

 

 

Edited by bfoosh006
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5 minutes ago, GoodByNAair said:

1st sub! lol. bfoosh, what type of phone do you have? android has an easy video editing "app" that lets you join videos and edit. You could make all your 30 sec clips into 1 or 2 or 3, 5 minuets clips ect

It would stream line things, But still great work ! 

Dude ... I am not a Tech kind of guy ! Lol... I will look into combining clips... but wanted to get some of the videos out there. And in unedited form.

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11 minutes ago, bfoosh006 said:

Dude ... I am not a Tech kind of guy ! Lol... I will look into combining clips... but wanted to get some of the videos out there. And in unedited form.

as is, its great info! let me know what your working with "tech" and if you want I can help, I'm not a pro but most phones and laptops come with basic editing software. You just need to find and use it. Again your call it is still a great inside look as PSA. 

 

Thanks for all the clips:thumbup:

Edited by GoodByNAair
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Thank you, like I said there is much more to come...

There will be some fine tuning on the Youtube Channel... since this is all new to me.
I might consider combining the videos... we'll see.

I am open to suggestions help form all of you folks... might not use them all, but you know what I mean... Lol

And will be posting direct links to the more interesting videos... I just gotta spend more time figuring it all out.
Phew ! At least I've got a start going !!

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"As did I. If I could make one suggestion: Edit those short videos into multiple longer videos so as to not have to constantly click back & forth. No idea what it takes to do that though idunno.gif..."

 

I just figured it out... Playlists... I have seen them on Youtube before... so I can Stack the videos in a Playlist , and you guys can watch one after another.

Got my work cut out for me. See you all soon.

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7 minutes ago, bfoosh006 said:
"As did I. If I could make one suggestion: Edit those short videos into multiple longer videos so as to not have to constantly click back & forth. No idea what it takes to do that though idunno.gif..."

 

 

Look it up on youtube. lol.. But really your 30sec clips will be great in any order, as I look forward to more PSA info!! :drool:

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