Kicker, call Jim Foley at (406) 721-6999. It is his business as you probably know. I hope he is not closed too. I have mine but hate to see the business closing. Jim stopped shooting skeet a few years ago but I doubt that is related.

 

There was another thread on TS.com a couple of weeks ago where some folks spoke very firmly about the fact that he has closed up the shop. I also have one of his covers and am dissapointed that they are no longer up and running. I thought they were great people with a great product and super customer service.

I tried to e-mail him using the old company's e-mail address and that bounced back also.

 

There was another thread on TS.com a couple of weeks ago where some folks spoke very firmly about the fact that he has closed up the shop.

I believe, in the thread you are talking about, somebody posted where they had confirmed this fact with the owner. Maybe it was another thread, but I saw this somewhere.

Bruce

 

I bought a new 2 barrel Americase about a month ago and emailed Jim for a cover. He told me he is no longer in business making the covers. He told me since I had purchased cover's from him in the past he would make me one. The cover is perfect! Great product sorry to see them close up. Their case covers are the best.

 

darn, another small business gobbled up by the so called administration. For what it is worth, I will never get rid of these cases now. I was planning on buying a new americase for 3 bbls and sub gauge tubes but not now if I can't get a big sky case cover for it.

 

darn, another small business gobbled up by the so called administration. For what it is worth, I will never get rid of these cases now. I was planning on buying a new americase for 3 bbls and sub gauge tubes but not now if I can't get a big sky case cover for it.

What happened to them Kicker?

Jim

 

What happened to them Kicker?

I'm not kicker, but just heard from a friend in Missoula today. Mr. Foley got hit by the downturn in the economy. Another example of what "Hope and Change" is all about. :evil:

 

Hey all; just a little more on Jim Foley; Jim is one of my best friends and a local shooter, when we can get him out. many things led to the end of Big Sky Case Covers. One was Burn out from being the State President, one of the movers and shakers at our club. second was a down turn in orders and last but not least retirement. we are hoping to do somethings with the Case Cove bussness locally as it is a fine product and was what we called the right of passage into registered shooting when Jim made your cover you were one of the club!!.hey it never hurts to keep calling him if you need a cover. mabe if we get enough orders he will run a special run. Jim is a great guy and a top level shooter, anything we can do to get him back in the game we will do. i miss shooting with him. jesse geddes missoula mt

 

Hey everyone,
I am a close personal friend of Jim Foley who is the proprietor of
Big Sky Case Covers. I believe I can get Jim to do some more case covers. He has decided not to proceed with the business due to excessive overhead but will still be open to doing them word of mouth. If anyone is interested they can email Jim at jimfoley0402@gmail.com. My email is ram@montana.com if you have difficulty getting in touch with Jim. He is an avid outdoorsman and this is just one of the reasons he has decided to abandon his case cover business. He is not readily available to answer phone calls/emails etc. He does not want to come across as a bad business man as he pursues his passion of the great outdoors(hunting, fishing, etc). He cannot always return calls promptly while pursuing his passion so he believes it is better to abandon the business rather than do it "half assed". I have made him aware of the desire to continue his product via this chat room and I believe he will continue to produce for the short term as long as there is a demand. You can email Jim at the address provided but please forgive him if he is away and can't answer promptly. Any of you that have had the privilege to work with Jim knows what kind of individual he is but those who have not worked with him in the past please be patient and realize he is very attentive but might be out of touch exploring his passion. A case cover order shouldn't be an emergency but a luxury. I believe Jim can be persuaded to continue his business as long as he doesn't have the pressures to perform in a typical business environment and be more laid back in his approach. It will be difficult for him to take this perspective as he is at nature very attentive but maybe with his clients help and patience we can give him a laid back atmosphere so he can continue to produce his product without the pressure and time restraints he puts on himself. Let me know your thoughts.
.

 

Not familiar with these.

Any chance someone might post a picture please?

Thanks.

 

Not familiar with these.

Any chance someone might post a picture please?

Thanks.

Here's a picture:

And, here's a link to a cached page from their site from 2008:

http://web.archive.org/web/200803230630 ... ode=SCASES

Bruce

 

Thanks Bruce....

My wife could make those in her sleep. Without the Big Sky logo of course.

Hmmmmm.....maybe something to add to her product line.

How heavy is that fabric? Is it nylon? Canvas? Maybe something like the Sunbrella used for boat tops? Sunbrella sounds good maybe....nice and waterproof.

Just curious.

 

HI Old Vet - its heavy ballistic Nylon. It must be multiple layers..it feels somewhat padded. It has a heavy duty nylon zipper and a nice carrying strap.

They were a very well made case cover.

 

Here's a link to a page that gives some description of what they are made of:

http://web.archive.org/web/200803230629 ... _cases.htm

Bruce

 

Thanks guys.

That is a good looking product. I'm a tiny bit surprised at the price....that does look quite reasonable.

It would appear that the gentleman's wife is as skilled on her sewing machines as my wife is on hers. Of course....I'm ASSUMING it's the lady there doing the sewing.

I must check with our Marine fabric supplier and see if they have that Cordura material and what the cost is.

With the cost of materials, and labour....I'm not sure we could put them out on the street for the $150.00 as Big Sky was. And make it worthwhile that is. "shrug"

Maybe I'll get the wife to experiment and put together a prototype for my case and see how things go.

Must look into this a little further.

 

I sent Jim an email....how many others on here are looking to get a case cover from him? How many orders does he need for him to do a special run?

Thanks.

 

Those look great. I want one for my Americase. Please add me to the list.

 

With the cost of materials, and labour....I'm not sure we could put them out on the street for the $150.00 as Big Sky was. And make it worthwhile that is. "shrug"

Keep in mind, the pages I linked to are cached snapshots of the site from 2008. These may not be the latest prices.

Bruce

 

Another option that Jim had available was a pocket between the straps on the top that is a great place to put your score shoot for registration. I had mine in a plastic zippered folder and it fit in there perfectly. The opening of the pocket was secured with velcro so it would not come open by accident. They are a very good cover and I have mine on the case all the time.

 

If Jim were to do a another run, I would buy one or two covers from him. Love the one on my K80's Americase.

 

The best option was the shoulder carrying strap. Those blasted hard cases are way too heavy, and the shoulder strap was divine.

 

I don't fly to shoots so I'm not particularly interested in one for myself but.....I just may still have my wife take a shot at producing a "proto-type" for one of my gun cases.

There's no question in my mind at all that we could produce those....equal to or better than the gentleman in Montana. Certainly no disrespect intended to him...it looks like he is...or was...putting out a very nice product.

By "better"...I don't necessarily mean better in quality....because his quality certainly does look good.....but "better" in that I'm a bit of an accessory nut...and if I happen to think some little extra thing that might be a "nice to have"...we would incorporate it to perhaps enhance the product just a bit more.

We have a small boat interior re-upholstering business going focusing primarily on larger boats. So we certainly have the technology to produce these case covers.

Our fabric supplier does have that Cordura fabric available.

It appears that our cost for that fabric alone would be somewhere in the $30-$40 range for 1 cover. Add to that the zippers, velcro, webbing for the handles and straps, padding....then labour (not sure how many hours just yet). Then shipping to "wherever" if we decided to go with it.

Don't know what the final price might be......but NOT likely that $152.00 shown on Big Sky's website.

If we decide to make one up......I'll get back here with pictures of the finished product and approx cost.

If the gentleman in Montana just doesn't want to do it anymore....and there's a market out there...maybe we'll consider taking a few orders here and there. We're not interested in cutting him out of any business....but if there's a demand....and no where else to get the product, well.....we'll see.

Never know...if/when the boat business drops off....and it does during prime boating season which is now approaching.....we just may have to diversify a little. :lol:

 

I have a K80 ProSporter in the Krieghoff americase and need to get the exact dimensions to have a case cover fitted to it.. I get the dimensions as:

H: 10 1/16"
W: 4 10/16"
L: 34 9/16"

H was measured from the bottom of the feet to the top of the handle folded down.

Anyone else get the same dimensions or close to it?

 

Add me in if he is going to do a special run,

I need a new case cover for my single with tubes case Americase, and another for a two barrel tubed case as well.

I have an Americase cover on the first one, but it is a joke and need better protection on the cases before the airlines kills them or the handles.

Carry strap a must, and a slip on wheel unit would be even better (throw on a extra pouch for such during check in, and the airlines would have a hard time destroying the wheel clip on as well) .

 

email him....he just completed mine this week....