it's called "distribution cycle"
There could be something about the way BIG 5 is handling or storing their product.
I can picture a pallet load of marlins getting dumped off the top shelf at the dist. center and then the guns going out to the retail outlets with no inspection. An $8/hr lift operator might not want to rat on himself? And even if he does, the warehouse supervisor may opt to ship the product anyway if everything appears to be o.k.
In transit damage is often revealed by damage to the packaging......but if the gun is bought off of the display rack.....you might not see the packaging. (I bought a case the same day I made my last purchase and took the gun home in the case.)
And if you do take it home in the box, that's not necessarily the box the gun shipped in, especially if there were two or more similar models on display.
I'm not a gun expert by any standard....but I do design industrial packaging for a living and I've been stunned (strong word intentionally chosen) at how bare bones, absolute rock bottom the packaging is on the long guns I've seen NIB. Hot wire cut, expanded poly-styrene foam (EPS), of a lower grade than even the cheapest disposable beer cooler, and a single wall corrugated box made from really crappy recycled material (without a cert. stamp....most likely imported in mass from the third world).
Were talking about $700 rifles shipping accross the continent (ocean?) in a package that cost less than $2.
Price pressure to compete with imports is driving U.S. manufacturers to cut every penny of cost possible.
We've (the company I work for that is) quoted, on several occassions now, the hand gun cases with foam inserts for a U.S. manufacturer with a reputation for the highest quality. It's a big chunk of business, so we go after it very aggresively with reduced margins. Never got the job yet. Next years contract is up for bid again, and I was quite surprised to see that have switched to a lower grade of foam and resorted to some tricks to get buy with a decreased volume of foam. This will cut all of about $0.15 out of the price, but that's what they want.
Part of any manufacturers quality program should be packaging. Product that rolls of the assembly line immaculate, should IMO be in the same condition when the customer opens the box in their home.
As American manufactures scramble to keep their doors open....they've been presented with a lot of pressure to "cost down". But part of the "Wal-Mart culture" is the idea that you can return anything at anytime for any reason. If you want to play, those are the rules!
Here's a little story that illustrates how this affects the products you and I buy today. About three years ago I was speaking with the PRESIDENT of a profitable American manufacturing company (not a maker of firearms, so please don't ask who) about quality problems they were having and some ideas to improve their process. He made this statement.....which I quote verbatim (it made such an impression on me, I'll always remember it).
"IT'S CHEEPER TO PICK UP, REWORK IT AND SHIP IT AGAIN THAN TO GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME!!"
Three years later, this company is doing very, very well.
They can be proud of the money their making.....but not of the product their producing. Sadly, I think it's us, the consumers that have set the stage for this kind of mentality.
