Close to Giving Up on Rifles

[Kurts86]

What is this supposed to mean? I don't understand.

You turn the windage turret to the elevation position to get the new windage turret on the non ejection side so the empty might clear because Sako 85’s eject at the 1 o clock position.

 

[WeiserBucks]

You turn the windage turret to the elevation position to get the new windage turret on the non ejection side so the empty might clear because Sako 85’s eject at the 1 o clock position.

So the windage turret wasn't even there and the brass still hit it? I must be missing something in your description of the issue.

 

[Kurts86]

So the windage turret wasn't even there and the brass still hit it? I must be missing something in your description of the issue.

Depending on spring wear and extractor tolerances 85’s can eject vertically. They had some geometry issues largely driven by the 3 lug bolt they used.

 

[Fatcamp]

Model 70 did not have proper control round feed. Claw extractor was out of spec and Winchester kept saying it was fine but myself and others who are knowledgeable enough about the action all saw that it wasn’t feeding properly.

Kimber Mountain Ascent Caza was a complete disaster and the internal mag did not feed the rounds at all and once again the claw extractor was out of spec. Stock on the gun also began to fall apart immediately.

The Sako 85 had the dreaded design flaw where rounds would not eject and would fall back into the action. Gun was great other than that, but if I wanted a single shot I would have just bought that.

The X Bolt had a thing where in order to feed the rounds I had to push the bolt home and then slightly lift it up and wiggle it in order to feed. Was annoying and once again out of spec.

The Marlins both did not feed and had the dreaded “Marlin Jam” per Ruger customer support.

The only rifle I’ve owned that’s flawless is my LWRC AR15. That thing is incredible and has not jammed no matter what I’ve put it through in training or just regular range use.

Holy cats! That sucks.

Especially the Sako.

 

[KenLee]

Marlin lever guns are known to be jam nightmares even with improved lifters and manufacturing.

Later Remlin GBL were spectacular

 

[Bama67]

I must be lucky, I have many rifles and no issues with any,
Only rifle I ever had that I wasn't impressed with was a Howa .308

That was only because accuracy wasn't that great. Every other gun I have will shoot sub-MOA.

 

[Hunter270Win]

I will be updating here when I get the Tikka in. I really think this one should be it

 

[Macintosh]

Tikka is not the second coming. Ive had one that was too finicky on ammo for me. But out of half a dozen have never seen an actual failure to function properly that wasnt easily fixed. Their hunting mags feed well ime. Ctr mags occasionally need the spring bent. Have heard of some issues anecdotally about firing pin issues, although have never seen that and the person saying it had a chip on their shoulder so dont know if it was legit. All other problems Ive seen or heard of I believe were due to aftermarket parts or pure user error. Im sure theres issues out there, but if you get a lemon tikka…lets just say I wont be riding in any cars or airplanes with you.

 

[S-3 ranch]

If you are looking to cure your stress , and decide to sell
Pm me a list of the caliber and such on the sako, browning, Winchester
The rest I think are novelty guns or are over priced

 

[hereinaz]

Ahhh, makes more sense.

Consistent control round feeding seems to need a gunsmith to really work every time. My Nucleus needed just a little tweaking on the extractor.

So, I can see a new factory gun not coming out right, but I can’t see “giving up” on rifles when the fix is an easy and known one.

It is a good cautionary tale for others, sometimes the cost of a gunsmith for the first failing control round feed or to add a second ejector to the Sako will be much less than all the crap and loss a person might go through trying to replace it.

 

[Woods Sleeper]

In college, I bought a Ruger American as a first rifle in 2020. It shoots nice groups, but my magazines have never fed correctly out of it. Lucky if I can even get a follow up shot with it. It hasn’t ever costed me an animal, so I wasn’t too aggressive getting Ruger to deal with it, but after hunting in Montana with it in wet and freezing weather, I’m ready to throw it in the dumpster. I wish I would’ve just bought a nicer rifle in college, but live and learn.

 

[mahonsr]

Ahhh, makes more sense.

Consistent control round feeding seems to need a gunsmith to really work every time. My Nucleus needed just a little tweaking on the extractor.

So, I can see a new factory gun not coming out right, but I can’t see “giving up” on rifles when the fix is an easy and known one.

It is a good cautionary tale for others, sometimes the cost of a gunsmith for the first failing control round feed or to add a second ejector to the Sako will be much less than all the crap and loss a person might go through trying to replace it.

What’s the easy known fix on the control feed issue? Got one of your 2.5s on sale and really looking forward to putting it to use.

 

[SDHNTR]

Depending on spring wear and extractor tolerances 85’s can eject vertically. They had some geometry issues largely driven by the 3 lug bolt they used.

That has to be one of the dumbest designs in firearm history. Look at the ejector blade. It’s at 6’oclock. Of course it’s gonna kick rounds up and not out!

I can mostly relate to the OP too. I’ve owned dozens of firearms. Mostly high end customs recently. Almost all of them have had flaws of one form or another.

 

[elkguide]

I guess that I'm the odd man out. Other than getting a rifle that didn't shoot consistently, I've never had a rifle that had any of the issues that the OP has described. Yes, I've had to open up a barrel channel or two and I've bedded a lot of the rifles. I've changed a magazine spring or two, but in the end, all of the rifles that I've owned, have functioned just fine.

 

[Hunter270Win]

That has to be one of the dumbest designs in firearm history. Look at the ejector blade. It’s at 6’oclock. Of course it’s gonna kick rounds up and not out!

I can mostly relate to the OP too. I’ve owned dozens of firearms. Mostly high end customs recently. Almost all of them have had flaws of one form or another.

Yeah no idea what Sako was thinking with that… Rifle was incredible outside of of that

 

[fisherman983]

For whatever reason I have the WORST luck with firearms. In the past two years I have purchased and sold:

Marlin 1895 GBL
Marlin 1894 Trapper
Kimber Mountain Ascent Caza
New Super Grade M70
Sako 85
Browning X Bolt

All of these guns have had QC issues/design flaws that impacted the gun to the point where it was so frustrating to deal with them. You would think operator error, right? But every time I call the manufacturer I’m pretty much told “yeah that’s a known issue send it in”.

I am about just done. The last rifle I’m giving a chance on is a new Tikka T3X. I cannot go on with this torture anymore. Even the Mossberg 535 I bought is a joke.

Anyone else dealing with insane QC issues post COVID?

No because I wouldn't have bought any of those guns..

Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

 

[7RemMag]

I bought a Savage 110 Predator .22-250. This was during the height of Covid. It was one of the models that came with a factory mounted scope “ready to go”. The scope was a Vortex Crossfire which I knew I was just going to sell anyway, however, it was mounted with the rings clear up on the bells of the scope and the bases were stripped. That was only the beginning.

To make matters worse, the rifle was slam firing out of the box. When handling the rifle, the blade on the accutrigger was actuated as if the rifle had been fired. A little bit of tinkering got that issue resolved and I ended up buying an aftermarket trigger almost immediately. The rifle shot excellent, but had significant feeding issues which persisted despite My Dad and I’d best efforts to fix them. I moved to Wyoming a few months later and left the rifle with my Dad. He finally got the feeding issue fixed with a radical approach. He used a dremel to grind on the extractor. When my parents moved to Wyoming several months later, he brought my firearms as well as his own, and the rifle was back in my hands. It is now a really sweet rifle, with my only real complaint being the weight.

 

[Craig907]

For whatever reason I have the WORST luck with firearms. In the past two years I have purchased and sold:

Marlin 1895 GBL
Marlin 1894 Trapper
Kimber Mountain Ascent Caza
New Super Grade M70
Sako 85
Browning X Bolt

All of these guns have had QC issues/design flaws that impacted the gun to the point where it was so frustrating to deal with them. You would think operator error, right? But every time I call the manufacturer I’m pretty much told “yeah that’s a known issue send it in”.

I am about just done. The last rifle I’m giving a chance on is a new Tikka T3X. I cannot go on with this torture anymore. Even the Mossberg 535 I bought is a joke.

Anyone else dealing with insane QC issues post COVID?

At the risk of driving up the prices even more, I will tell you to save yourself the headaches and just get a pre 64 Winchester M70 if reliability in a hunting rifle is what you’re after. Study the design and you’ll get it. If that’s not your style then order a straight up custom rifle. I don’t think quality control is actually a thing with gun manufacturers these days, Winchester included. I think they all simply slap the guns together and send them out the door, then use “customer service” as a crutch to deal with the problems. A lot of customers don’t really shoot enough to know they got a dud, and the industry is very good at promoting the idea of user error being a much bigger problem than it really is.
I stopped buying new guns years ago, well before the times of bat virus. I worked in a few gun shops from the mid 2000s through the mid 2010s and witnessed a staggering amount of defects in new guns. Ruger is the worst offender by far. I know a bunch of guys will get defensive about this and say they “own 10 ruger guns and they’re all great” and that’s great for them but here is the thing: your chances of getting a bad one are nowhere near 100%, but on the flip side unfortunately are way more than zero. I have seen way too many defective guns from Ruger, but they do have great customer service…
S&W barrels are often crooked, usually a little and sometimes a lot. I have seen Rem Marlin lever action rifles with gaps between the wood and metal so big you could stick a nickel in there, not a playing card mind you, an actual coin. Truly bad fit and finish on so many of these. I baffled as to how so many folks are willing to drop and grand or more on those.
Stock fitment with bolt action rifles is poor across the board. Chatter marks in barrels and bad crowns galore. Anyone who tells you he has never had a new rifle that wouldn’t shoot sub moa straight out of the box with any factory ammo is either a liar or the luckiest man in the world, or he has only owned the 1 gun. The truth is most new rifles are 2 to 3 moa on average and many are 4 or worse. Some of these can be corrected and others can’t. I had a $375 Savage .270 that would actually shoot sub moa with most factory ammo, alongside a Browning that cost twice as much (yeah this was over a decade ago) and that A-Bolt would not go better than 2 moa and was usually more like 3 or 4. Cheers for the Savage, right? Well sure, but it’s ugly. Tikka makes a decent rifle these days but honestly examine the way it is made; they’re cheap guns, not inexpensive (not anymore) just cheap. A lot of plastic things that ought to be metal. Do they shoot? Sure. Are they worth a thousand bucks? Not to me.
If buying a new gun were the only way to go, I would go with the simplest or most generic things like a mid priced AR-15/AR-10 for rifles or a Glock for pistols. You may get a lemon but they are really straight forward to get right by yourself.

 

[Macintosh]

Tikka makes a decent rifle these days but honestly examine the way it is made; they’re cheap guns, not inexpensive (not anymore) just cheap. A lot of plastic things that ought to be metal. Do they shoot? Sure. Are they worth a thousand bucks? Not to me.

If buying a new gun were the only way to go, I would go with the simplest or most generic things like a mid priced AR-15/AR-10 for rifles or a Glock for pistols. You may get a lemon but they are really straight forward to get right by yourself.

Whats the difference? The quoted sections seem like a double standard. One could easily say the same about a lot of things, “it ought to be metal” (or wood or x or y or z). But if it “shoots” and feeds and doesnt cause future reliability issues, and is pretty easy to correct yourself if anything is wrong or you prefer otherwise…not to mention having production tolerances such that any legit barrel shop will happily spin up a shouldered pre-fit, and an action that makes the legit “cheap” rifles feel like they’re full of sand…why quibble??

Fwiw, new stock tikka t3x lite stainless at 2 different local gunshops is $759, blued 659. Its about $100 less than MSRP, but a new tikka can still be had under 800 at full msrp. Coincidentally, that’s not that much more $ than a (plastic) glock.

 

[bergie]

Go ahead and give up, bow hunting is fun.