QC and the current gun environment

Everything appears fine and up-to-standards to me.

If I could find the revolvers I'm looking for, I would love to find out. LOL

In recent weeks I've acquired a Smith 57 and a 66, and a Gold Cup National Match. I see no quality issue. I think I was most impressed with the quality of the finish on the Smith 66. Now if I could just find .41 mag ammo....

I purchased a new Winchester (Miroku) 1892 Trapper Takedown Deluxe (.45 Colt) back in late December. It had minor scratches in the CC finish, the lever was slightly bent (a tad off center when closed), had small dings/ dimples on the edges of the lever and it would not “takedown” - it was like the two pieces were welded together.
I called Winchester (Arnold, MO), stated my concerns - they issued me a return label back to Morgan, UT. I sent the rifle off in early January and I just received it back early this week. The rifle returned with all concerns/ detail repaired to new condition. The rifle was initially disappointing but to Winchester’s credit, they backed their product with excellent repair detail - the rifle is now pristine new.
I like Winchester products and I have always had high regards for Miroku quality but, I am starting to wonder. I purchased an 1873 about three years ago that had less but similar cosmetic problems but, a trip back to Winchester made the rifle pristine. About two years ago - same story with an M70 EW - cosmetic challenges, back to Winchester, returned pristine.
I am sure that COVID caused QC challenges with many companies; my ‘92 may have been COVID related but how are the other two rifles explained - poor QC from Japan and Portugal? - I do not know. I do know that all of the rifles were made right with the headache and cost (to Winchester) of a second trip - I am very happy with all of the rifles but I would think that Winchester needs to improve their QC - their designs/ engineering/ manufacturing is (to me) impressive but final processes need some fine tuning.

I've continued to purchase new production firearms since the pandemic began, and frankly, I'm noticing no difference in quality (and I am the extremely picky guy who will never, ever buy the "last one we have in stock" that's been in the display case for weeks).

Picked up another Model 70 recently, and it is not only gorgeous, it's flawless.

I work in manufacturing (specifically food manufacturing) but in my area at least I've been impressed that quality control has stayed consistent through the last year and in some areas we've even improved. Demand has gone up significantly for us, but any quality program worth it's weight is designed to cover increases in production. And the nice thing about increased demand and production is there's some extra cash to bring in new people to cover new demands if needed.

No problems with the single gun i purchased, in September.
but, you know, many of the guns sold this past year were made before Covid entered our lives.

Late in the Obama years post Sandy Hook I picked up 5 new Ruger Revolvers. Like today Ruger was in the all hands on deck mode for semi auto production and single and double action revolvers were just starting to trickle out again.

Two NMVaqueros had to have the base pins replaced and 2 of the 3 Single 7s had to go back due to problems of brass dragging on loading cutout surfaces during loading /extraction. The 3rd Single 7 prob could stand to be adjusted as well but I adapted.

Ruger made it all right and the guns run perfect now.

Only new Ruger I bought recently was a stainless RSI in .223 shown at the top of the pic. I have yet to shoot it but wood and fit and finish are fine.

Usonia3 said:

but, you know, many of the guns sold this past year were made before Covid entered our lives.

Click to expand...

Yeppers, I'm pretty sure the Ruger "American Rimfire" .22LR I ran across in Sportsman's, and bought for my wife's birthday in October was built "pre-covid,"
We just got our 2nd shots yesterday, and in 15 days (once the vaccine has fully kicked in) I'm going to start seriously shopping for my next rifle - a Mark V, Weatherby chambered in .257 Weatherby. I doubt covid has affected QC at the Weatherby place in Wyoming (where the Mark Vs are built) very much. I suppose it might have affected the Weatherby place in Japan (where the Vanguard I was looking at in Sportsman's a while back was built), but I have my doubts even about that. Weatherby bolt-action rifles just don't seem to me like something most of the recent panic driven 1st-time gun buyers would be interested in.

I've purchased a number of new guns in the last few years from Remington, Ruger, Beretta, Browning (Miroku), Walther, Savage, Bergara, Sig Sauer, and had to return for repair a Savage and a Bergara. Both companies did a stellar job. Based on this experience, I see no decrease in quality and the warranty work was perfect.

I’ve seen no dip in quality for any recent purchases. Inclusive of Beretta, Glock, Springfield 1911’s, and a couple of lowers

Saw a guy on another forum that bought a couple of Ruger revolvers lately and the problems he showed were inexcusable.

If they keep this up, they will do a worse job of producing Marlin lever-guns than Remington did.

I've had a few Taurus revolvers over the years. All but one have been fine. The one that hasn't been was purchased new in 2014, during the shortage on .22LR ammo following Sandy Hook, and is chambered in that caliber. It shoots remarkably well and where I want it to, but empty cases are extremely difficult to extract from all of the chambers, even on the first load-up fired in a clean cylinder. Live rounds slide in and out readily, and rattle loosely when the gun is loaded.

I'm guessing the chambers are a bit to wide in diameter, allowing the fired cases to swell themselves into place. Being a Taurus rimfire, it's not certain that "gun-politics" and any resulting production step-ups had anything to do with this flaw.

Black powder has seen a decrease in QC, but i think that's been going on for a while. For example, most Black Powder Revolvers need to be worked on out of the box. Timing, mostly. Most come with issues, like arbor length or orientation, maybe the nipples are too short. I can't say myself out of experience, since mine is an older one that's flawless, but newer ones seem to be project guns out of the box.

I’ve only bought three new guns since the pandemic took off. Two are Rugers and both were bought at the same time in May...so I don’t know if they were built during the crunch or not.

The Mk IV had no issues other than a fair to middling trigger, while the 10/22 International had a nose cap screw under the front that wouldn’t unscrew to allow the stock to come off. This went back to Ruger and was fixed on their dime.

The third gun was a Glock 43X. Nothing has gone wrong with this pistol.

Stay safe.

My latest M&P was made on 02/08/21, looks good shoots great.

Compared to my M&P9C made in 2018 fit and finish is every bit as good.

I've acquired a new Kimber Micro 9 Rapide in the last month that has been flawless in it's operation. Shoots everything I've fed it to point of aim. Can't ask for much more than that.

My last gun I bought was last August and the last ammo was around the same time.

No issues for me so far.