Real Stories of Warranty Wins

I have mentioned it before, but it bears repeating: Those of us involved in the firearms hobby enjoy some of the best customer service anywhere, period.
I started to compile a list of real warranty/customer service resolutions to show how gun companies take care of their customers. These are real stories, from real customers.

This is a salute to those companies who put the needs of the customers ahead of everything else.
 (note...not all the pictures below are from the real guns/parts)


The 1st one happened to me: 
While doing some work to my Ruger Vaquero recently (see the write up here). I found a factory defect, the plunger that puts pressure on the cylinder stop was broken. It appears as if it was forced into a hole that was too small. When I called Ruger to order a new part, they sent me the replacement plunger and spring gratis.

I had bought this Hi-Point 995 9mm carbine used at a local gun store. A year or so later, the firing pin broke. I called the manufacture to order a new one and they sent me a newly designed one (less prone to breaking), free of charge.

Several of my fellow forum members have had great experience with Lee Precision. I recently broke my universal decapping die. I went to Lee's website and filled out the form and sent the picture below to them. They sent a new pin out the next day.

One member of our local gun forum had some problems with his Henry .22 rifle. He called their customer service line, they immediately sent him a pre-paid shipping label to send it back to them. They had the rifle fixed the day they received it and shipped back to him the following day at their expense.

Another SGN member had a couple of problems with his Kel-Tec P3AT. The hammer spring and mag release button both gave up the farm. Both issues were resolved by Kel-Tec with new parts shipped at no cost to the owner.

The same member lost a cap to the turret on his Leupold scope. Leupold sent him two of the covers at no charge.

These Ruger stories never get old....one member had a very used 10-22 receiver that the scope mounting holes were stripped. He called Ruger and they send a new receiver, no cost.

 One of our members got a used Smith & Wesson 340PD in trade, upon shooting the gun he noticed the frame was cracked. He called S&W Customer Service and they had him ship them the gun. Four weeks later it was returned to him with a brand new frame.

My Father purchased this Ruger SR1911 Commander from a dealer at a gun show, the gun only came with one magazine, which seemed odd as my SR1911 came with two. He called Ruger and the promptly sent him another one free of charge. Another member sent his SR1911 in to have it looked at regarding some rust appearing on the surface. Ruger cleaned the gun, polished it and installed a new front sight. The gun was returned 7 days after the owner shipped it.

One member had the frame insert on his Sig P229 Elite, develop a crack (the part that houses the take down lever). Sig had him ship the gun to them and 2 weeks later it was returned, fixed, with no cost to the owner (other than the cost of shipping to Sig's repair facility.)

One person purchased this Daniel Defense fixed rear AR sight from an online retailer. When it arrived the screw was missing. One call to Daniel Defense netted the owner two screws, a catalog and a sticker, all sent 2nd day air at no cost.

Here is another member's experience with Smith & Wesson:

I bought a 'parts gun' from a local range. It was a S&W 66, and the range estimated it had somewhere between 80-100k rounds on it.
They took it out of service after the forcing cone had peeled through to the frame. After that, it sat in the back room for a few years, and over time, had been scavenged for parts for other guns. It was missing a ton of small parts, including the hammer, rear sight and the stocks.

 I called S&W and asked if they could rebuild it, and they only told me that if I sent it in, they could give me a price quote, if the frame wasn't destroyed and still useable.

I mailed it off to them. It came back like a brand new gun. All new small parts, a decent action, well timed, a new barrel, and new stocks. They invoice was marked no charge, not even the return shipping.  

This member had a good experience with Springfield Armory.  His Socom rifle developed a crack in the synthetic stock. He shipped it to Springfield Armory and it was returned 3 weeks later with a new stock, they also cleaned the gun and test fired it to make sure it was 100%.

One fellow bought a well used .357 die set. Parts were missing from resize die and flare die. One call to RCBS customer service and they sent a stem for the size die and a whole new flare die, no charge

One Taurus owner had ejection issues with his Taurus 24/7 Pro pistol. He took advantage of Taurus' lifetime warranty. The gun was sent in for repair and returned just 7 days later

The same shooter that had issues with his Taurus also had trouble with the empty shotgun hulls getting stuck in the chamber of his 870 Remington. One call to Remington and a new barrel was on its way, no questions asked, no money paid.

Another Kel-Tec win, this owner had shaved the magazine release button on his P-32 (to prevent it from dropping the magazine while in his pocket). When he went to sell the gun, he called to order a new one, the customer service representative refused to take his money (even though he explained it was not a warranty issue) and sent him a new at no cost.

This is another one that happened to me: I bought an RCBS priming tool, the plastic insert that holds the shell holder (the black plastic part in the picture below) and aligns the priming plunger would not fit, while trying to force it, I broke the insert. I called RCBS to order another one and they shipped two of them to me ASAP. This really was caused by poor manufacturing (the slot was not big enough, so I opened it up with a file). RCBS took care of the problem and the priming tool has now primed thousands of cases

Another Ruger owner shipped his original old model Bearcat (aluminum frame) in to have it refinished. He sent a check to cover the cost of the refinishing. Ruger returned the gun, completely rebuilt and refinished, along with the customer's check.

Many of the pictures above were found freely on the world wide web and are used under the guidelines of Fair Use, per Title 17 of the U.S. Code.
If you own the copyright to any of these images and wish them to be credited or removed, please contact me immediately.