Be a good consumer - Ranging Shots

Guns Magazine, Oct, 2003 by Clint Smith

It is probably inevitable that if you buy enough things as you pass through life, sooner or later you'll get something that doesn't work correctly. It just happens. The next issue then is what to do about it. If you buy a gun or a magazine or a holster or a metal finish and it's not in your opinion correct, I have a suggestion for you--call the guys who made it.

We know there isn't anything mechanical that doesn't fail sooner or later, but unless you tell the guy who made the product you surely cannot expect to have them make it right. Try it. Call Robar, Wilson Combat, Les Baer, Ed Brown, Brownells, S&W etc. First see if they will help you to fix your problem, if not, then start your warpath.

The Righteous Warpath?

I was in Alaska teaching a rifle school using my Robar rifle. During a lunch break a fellow cruises by and makes a comment about my rifle to the effect, "I had one of those ba-tards and the finish fell off." So 1 asked him the story. Well he espouses how he, "hunts all over Alaska; bear, moose, elephants etc., he had a Robar rifle and the finish fell off." Inquisitive soul that I am I asked, "Did you call Robbie and tell him?" His response: "Hell no, they wouldn't do anything about it anyway!"

You will never know unless you ask. I think this guy would have told everyone in Alaska and the lower 48 before he would have called Robbie. You can't expect a cure if no one knows you are sick.

The Modified Gun

I'll give you an example--you bought a Thunder Ranch Special pistol from Les Baer. Your complaint: "It don't work right."

You call Les and you say, "Les, this pistol don't work right."

"What don't it do?" Les replies.

"It don't load right," you explain.

Les asks, "You change anything on the gun?"

"Well not much--I only put in a guide rod and one of them rubber buffer things and an extended slide release and damn Les, that slide was really tight, so I buffed the rails and stippled the feed ramp a little--other than that I didn't change much"

Hmmm? Consider, did you maybe fix what wasn't broke?

Honesty Pays

You know what, if you shot crappy reloads in the gun and bulged the barrel, why don't you just say so. You might be surprised, they may just help you out. You know we can't expect much from manufacturers as far as repair, replacement or even consideration if from the beginning we aren't exactly on the level with them. Be honest.

I once heard a guy bragging about how he had modified the trigger on his Colt 1911. "This baby has a hair trigger," I think was the quote. Later that day 1 saw him put a 230-grain FMJ bullet through his leg.

About two days later I talked to him again and he advised how he was, "gonna sue Colt's pants off." He even asked if I would testify as to what happened. "Sure," says I, "as a matter of fact I'll even testify as to how you modified the trigger, drew from the holster with your finger on the 'hair trigger' and took the safety off while the muzzle was pointed at your leg."

The law suit seemed to fizzle out after that.

Be Educated

If you call with a complaint or a problem try to use the correct nomenclature or terminology for the part or problem you are addressing. Something like, "the thingy majig on the whatchama-bob is kinda' bent--you know what I mean?" No, actually they probably don't.

Be Considerate

The person answering the phone probably didn't create your problem. You have a problem, you paid good money, you worked hard for your money, and you woulda' won the world championship if the gun had worked, the finish hadn't fallen off, and the sight wasn't bent.

I'm pretty sure most people in business don't intentionally build or create problems. If they do they are not in business long or then again most consumers catch on pretty quickly.

Try honey first, especially with the nice lady who answers the phone. Guess what--she controls the switchboard, and your access to the person who will eventually solve your problem. Oh yeah, the "stupid broad" on the phone might know the answer to your problem. Damn don't you just hale those women (who really run the office) that know about handguns and holsters and zeroing scopes and calibers and velocity and the ballistic curve and the zoot suit finish you want applied to your gun?

There is an old saying that the squeaky wheel gets the oil. You got a squeak? Call the person who made your squeak, use some honey and you'll probably get your oil.