New Gun Warranty/Service

[L T C]

Have you had quality control (or lack there of...) issues with a new firearm you purchased?

Did you send it back to the manufacturer for issues that should have been dealt with before it ever left "home"?

I have a brand new Smith and Wesson Pro Series back at S&W now for quality issues with a poor barrel crown, and I was wondering how many other folks are out there with issues with brand new firearms, regardless who makes it?

I have had brand new Rugers repaired too with barrels that were not indexed correctly, where the front sight was not at top dead center. They come back fixed up right, but what a P I T A it is to get it at the dealer in poor shape.

That is another story, not having popular guns in stock so you can look at them before you buy. I nearly always have to order in anything I'm interested in.

I am sure all the manufacturers are probably using the same business practice, save money at the end of the assembly line by letting the quality control dept. go, turn the product out and see how many come back from the buyer with the discriminating eye. Then have the service dept. finish/fix it as it should have been to start with.

It will be interesting to see how many times this comes up with different make modern firearms.

Thanks for readin'!

L T C

[DonM55]

You want to contact S&W.

Just dealt with Henry Rifles. The fore end stock was loose. Went on their web site and sent an email. Next morning they responded by email. Told me what to try to tighten it and if it didn't work email her my address and they'd send out a new part. Emailed back and had part in 3 days.

1st email included contact's name and direct line if I wanted to call her vs email. Thumbs up for Henry

[Don T.]

Yes I have, and I wouldn't have expected anything like it from Sig Sauer!

I bought a new Carry Elite model, and neither magazine would feed the last round. I sent everything back for repair. They said that they polished the feed ramp and adjusted the extractor. When I got it back, the take-down lever was broken. (It worked fine when I sent it in!)

I sent it back in again, and this time they managed to get everything right.

[BearTitan]

Custom built firearms are available in pistols, rifles, and shotguns. Mass-produced assembly line guns will have quality issues in a predictable percentage of units per thousand.

I have had warranty service from Smith & Wesson and Kimber. I had to get a VP involved, at Smith, in order to get them to honor their warranty.

[L T C]

You want to contact S&W.

Just dealt with Henry Rifles. The fore end stock was loose. Went on their web site and sent an email. Next morning they responded by email. Told me what to try to tighten it and if it didn't work email her my address and they'd send out a new part. Emailed back and had part in 3 days.

1st email included contact's name and direct line if I wanted to call her vs email. Thumbs up for Henry

I too have a Henry with a loose forend stock, on a lever action 22. I called Henry and they said tighten the front barrel band screw, but it was already tight , so I have let it go like that.

It is not real loose, but it moves. What part did they send you to replace?

[DonM55]

I too have a Henry with a loose forend stock, on a lever action 22. I called Herny and they said tighten the front barrel band screw, but it was already tight , so I have let it go like that.

It is not real loose, but it moves. What part did they send you to replace?

Told me the same but if it didn't work just let them know. They sent a new fore arm.

[L T C]

Thanks DonM55.

It has been a while ago, but I'll try calling and see if I can get a new forend out of 'em for mine.

L T C

[Franchi20/28]

So far I've had 3 warranty repairs.

1st was a Mossberg 835. Great gun. Beat the crap out of it. Clay Birds, Canada Geese, Clay Birds, Snow Geese, Clay Birds, Small Game, Clay Birds, Barn pigeons, Clay birds. Spent 6 months out of the year dirty and rusting behind the seat of my pickup. The trigger mechanism broke shooting skeet. The first time you pulled the trigger nothing. Release it and pull again and it would fire. Local gun shop shop mailed it back to Mossberg for $10. Mossberg installed a new FCG for free and sent it back. Total time about 2 weeks.

2nd was a Taurus PT101 that I bought around '93 and abused mercilessly. I learned to reload with that gun and ran a lot of HOT loads through it. After about 12 years of abuse the hole for the roll pin that holds the rear sight to the slide got enlarged and the pin fell out and the sight went to parts unknown in the woods. It was due to my negligence and abuse so I just figured I'd pony up the cash to fix it. I ordered a new sight from Taurus through my local shop and when it didn't come in for 12 months they finally said "yeah Taurus doesn't like to sell parts." So a $5 shipping charge and they shipped the slide to Taurus who fixed it up as good as new for no charge.

3rd I bought a brand new Taurus 4" SS model 66 (7 shot .357 Mag.) in March of '10. Picked it up on a Thursday, Took it to the range on Friday and took it back to the shop on Saturday. The cylinder would start to bind up as you shot it. It seemed like the cylinder was not square with the frame. Taurus sent the shop a fed ex sticker (free shipping). 3 weeks later it came back. Picked it up on Thursday and took it to the range and took it back again on Friday. Still had the same problem, but it was pretty smooth otherwise. Back to the factory again. Readjusted darn near everything that can be adjusted and replaced the cylinder. No charge for anything including shipping and it's now the sweetest shooting DA revolver that I've ever had my hands on.

[mp517prct]

I bought a used GSG-5 at Gander Mtn. about 6 months after they came out. Put close to 10,000 through it and the bolt carrier cracked. I took it back to Gander Mtn. (This was back when they included a 1 year warranty on used firearms free, not the $29.99 they now want for the "Pro Plan") and they sent it back to American Tactical Imports. Not only did they replace the bolt carrier, installed a brand new barrel, extractor, ejector, firing pin and springs. They sent the gun back in a new GSG box, and sent me an ATI ball cap, all free of charge. I have the work order with the laundry list of things they did, and at the bottom , where it says "total parts and labor" - $0.00

That's my kinda service!

[Xringshooter]

Have you had quality control (or lack there of...) issues with a new firearm you purchased?

Did you send it back to the manufacturer for issues that should have been dealt with before it ever left "home"?

I have a brand new Smith and Wesson Pro Series back at S&W now for quality issues with a poor barrel crown, and I was wondering how many other folks are out there with issues with brand new firearms, regardless who makes it?

I have had brand new Rugers repaired too with barrels that were not indexed correctly, where the front sight was not at top dead center. They come back fixed up right, but what a P I T A it is to get it at the dealer in poor shape.

That is another story, not having popular guns in stock so you can look at them before you buy. I nearly always have to order in anything I'm interested in.

I am sure all the manufacturers are probably using the same business practice, save money at the end of the assembly line by letting the quality control dept. go, turn the product out and see how many come back from the buyer with the discriminating eye. Then have the service dept. finish/fix it as it should have been to start with.

It will be interesting to see how many times this comes up with different make modern firearms.

Thanks for readin'!

L T C

I understand where you are coming from, no one wants to get some new right out of the box and see something wrong, or an issue with something the first time you shoot the gun.

I guess I've been pretty lucky. I can honestly say I've only had one in 37 years (and I've owned a lot of guns). It was a Taurus PT745 that needed work on the feed ramp. However, it was bought through Davidsons so it went back to them and they sent out a new gun. They then dealt with Taurus for the warranty.

There is nothing manufactured today that won't have some quality issues at some point or another. Also, remember that you only ever hear the bad news. For every gun with "quality" issues, how many were produced and are in service with no issues at all?

Now, about the not having the popular guns in stock so they can be seen before being bought. This is from a gun shop owner point of view. What are the "popular" guns??? You might want to see the popular S&W's, the next guy might want to see the popular Rugers, what about the popular Taurus's, and how about the popular 1911's, 9mm's, etc. (and all the different manufacturers). An average gun shop cannot possibly keep all the "popular" guns in stock and on display, it is not fiscally responsible or feasible, the monetary outlay would be too great. Dealers don't get guns from a wholesaler/manufacturer to show and sell on consignment like an RV dealer, they have to pay up front for what is in their showcases. And I for one don't know any shops that have that kind of capital to be able to do this. Also, guns sitting in the show case waiting for someone to look at it can cost the shop money, they are assets which get taxed at the end of the year.