Just visited my brother. He purchased a new Savage (model 12, I think) 300 WSM from an on-line dealer. It looked fine when he picked it up so he signed the transfer papers. After we fired it, the cases showed an odd defect: the shoulder had indentations that ran all the way around. They were oriented the same direction as the body of the case but slightly at an angle (maybe 5 degrees prox). I have seen very light tool marks on some chambers but they run around the case and are mostly cosmetic. These were different; deeper and oriented differently...something I've never seen before. Clearly not just a cosmetic problem, but an unacceptable chamber on a new gun. Since he had signed the transfer papers, the dealer would not exchange the gun, but gave us a number to call at Savage. I assume Savage will stand behind their gun. Some of you have probably had to deal with a gun manufacturer for a warranty issue, so I have a few questions.
Since it is not really a new sale, does the gun still have to be sent to Savage thru a local FFL dealer? He wants either a new gun (same caliber/style) in exchange or lacking that, his money back. He does not want them to repair that gun and return it (it had a few other minor problems: one of the scope mount screw holes was tapped incorrectly). After he sends the gun to Savage, and they verify the defect, should they replace it and cover the shipping costs?
Just so no one thinks this is a reloading issue, or maybe "gunk" in the chamber. We used a brass chamber brush to make sure the chamber was clean and we had the same issue with commercial cases and reloads. BTW, the marks are the same from case to case.
What could cause this sort of defect? Are Savage barrels hammer-forged? How does that process work...is the mandrel just for the bore/caliber/twist etc or is the chamber and leade in the mandrel too? I assume not, and that the barrels are chambered after hammer forging, but I don't really know. Has anyone else ever seen this on a new gun? Isn't every new gun proof fired? I would have thought that the defect would have been caught before going "out the door."
Since it is not really a new sale, does the gun still have to be sent to Savage thru a local FFL dealer? He wants either a new gun (same caliber/style) in exchange or lacking that, his money back. He does not want them to repair that gun and return it (it had a few other minor problems: one of the scope mount screw holes was tapped incorrectly). After he sends the gun to Savage, and they verify the defect, should they replace it and cover the shipping costs?
Just so no one thinks this is a reloading issue, or maybe "gunk" in the chamber. We used a brass chamber brush to make sure the chamber was clean and we had the same issue with commercial cases and reloads. BTW, the marks are the same from case to case.
What could cause this sort of defect? Are Savage barrels hammer-forged? How does that process work...is the mandrel just for the bore/caliber/twist etc or is the chamber and leade in the mandrel too? I assume not, and that the barrels are chambered after hammer forging, but I don't really know. Has anyone else ever seen this on a new gun? Isn't every new gun proof fired? I would have thought that the defect would have been caught before going "out the door."
