Got a buddy who's an "automotive repair technician" (with some thirty years experience) at a reputable major brand dealership ... He says that he does an awful lot of warranty work --
most of his warranty work -- on ... Jeeps and Chryslers ... even the high-end models.
99% of the time for another $50 - $100.00 the buyer could have purchased a Smith, Ruger, glock etc.
And how do you arrive at this conclusion? I just noted that at my LGS, a comparable S&W snubby was
$300 more than a Charter Arms. A polymer Taurus was a little over $300, a Glock in the same caliber, $599. There are some folks who
absolutely, positively, just cannot scrape up that extra 85 or 100 bucks for what might ultimately prove only a marginally better handgun.
Warranty return an indicator of quality? Ranking firearms on the basis of retail price? I'd submit that an awful lot of the higher-priced handguns might not go back to the factory because the owners might just know how to get them running and keep them running ... (Or perhaps because those that can afford them might just pay someone locally to fix a problem or simply stick the piece back in the safe and not stress about, because it's not his/her only gun).
My 1400 dollar SA TRP, I was told, needed a 1000-round break-in ... I had maybe four malfunctions in the first hundred rounds, and it was perfect after that (note: wife absolutely couldn't rack the slide on the TRP). My buddy's $600 Taurus PT-1911 was shot alongside my Springer, and his was terrific right out of the box, just slightly less accurate.
A Taurus PT-92 I bought new in 1991 for a little over 300 bucks has been perfect, absolutely flawless. A Taurus M-85 bought in 1992 has been great. I've gone through a couple Tanfoglio/Witness pistols and loved 'em.
In the firearms community, gun snobbery and brand loyalty (plus bias against certain brands) certainly prevails. (As a Colt/SIG/S&W fan, I accept this.)
Tier ranking? I'll subscribe to that concept in restaurants, but in firearms, it's whatever works for one's budget and needs. Lot more Kias on the roads than Porsches (at least where I live).