Golden Hound
Member
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2008
- Messages
- 778
I came across this letter that Hunter S. Thompson wrote to Bushnell, after a scope he had bought malfunctioned. This letter, according to the compilation book it is printed in, got him a refund from the company. I thought this was funny so I typed it up - here it is:
***
Bushnell Co.
c/o Angevine’s Gun Shop
Deland, Fla.
Gentlemen,
Here is a nutshell of this scope, purchased by me from Mr. Angevine about June 20, 1963. I mailed the postcard registration to you a day or so after the purchase.
In the gunshop, the scope was mounted with a little difficulty. I then took it out for sighting in, but after four rounds from a .44 Magnum the cylinder expanded against the mount and would not swing open. I took the gun and scope back to the gunshop, where Mr. Angevine and I worked on it to secure a closer fit. This was done mainly by gently tapping the mount closer to the topstrap, then tightening the mount screws as far as they would go. After several hours of this, on successive days, the cylinder would swing out, with pressure, after 10 or 15 rounds, and the scope was more or less sighted in.
I then left Florida for New York, where I stayed a few weeks before going to Las Vegas and then to California, where I intended to hunt boar with the .44/scope combination. During this period of travel I dismounted the scope and repacked it in the box, doing the same with the pistol. I did not deem it wise to travel across half the states in the union with a scoped .44 Magnum riding loose in one of my suitcases. It would have been difficult to protect, and even more difficult to explain if I’d had an accident.
Upon arriving in California, I unpacked both instruments and attempted once again to mount the scope on the gun for a new, and relatively permanent sighting in. It was during this attempt - the second mounting - that the metal base of the scope gave way under pressure on the mount screws with the Allen wrench. No other instrument was used; there seemed no need for anything but human hands, since I had successfully mounted the scope by that method once before. Nor am I a brute of some kind. But I began to notice, as I tightened the screws, that one of them was oddly loose. Upon inspection, I found the metal in exactly the situation it is in now.
I also discovered the word “Japan” engraved on the bottom of the scope, and was not happy to see it. This was the third time I had bought something with an American label, but which was actually Japanese. If my Smith and Wesson revolver had blown up on the third shot, and had I then discovered that it had been made in Japan of Japanese steel, I think I might have had grounds for complaint. It did not, however, and I don’t expect it to. As I might have if the label had been Asahi, instead of S&W.
My point is that I am not returning this scope to have it replaced with another of Japanese make. I am asking Mr. Angevine for a full refund, and I assume you stand behind him. I note, on the guarantee, that my refund offer ceased after thirty days. But since I was traveling during that time, and had the scope packed in its original box, I don’t consider it quite the same as if I’d been using it. All in all, I fired no more than 25 rounds through the gun while the scope was on it, and all I got out of it was a series of circular score marks on my new cylinder - the result of your mount not fitting snugly enough to allow the cylinder to swing freely. All in all, my experience with this scope has been unsatisfactory in the extreme and I have no use for it.
Sincerely,
Hunter S. Thompson
***
"Nor am I a brute of some kind". Ha! Such matter-of-fact writing that gradually adopts more and more of a frustrated tone as it goes on. This is why I love everything the guy wrote - even his letters are extremely entertaining to read.
***
Bushnell Co.
c/o Angevine’s Gun Shop
Deland, Fla.
Gentlemen,
Here is a nutshell of this scope, purchased by me from Mr. Angevine about June 20, 1963. I mailed the postcard registration to you a day or so after the purchase.
In the gunshop, the scope was mounted with a little difficulty. I then took it out for sighting in, but after four rounds from a .44 Magnum the cylinder expanded against the mount and would not swing open. I took the gun and scope back to the gunshop, where Mr. Angevine and I worked on it to secure a closer fit. This was done mainly by gently tapping the mount closer to the topstrap, then tightening the mount screws as far as they would go. After several hours of this, on successive days, the cylinder would swing out, with pressure, after 10 or 15 rounds, and the scope was more or less sighted in.
I then left Florida for New York, where I stayed a few weeks before going to Las Vegas and then to California, where I intended to hunt boar with the .44/scope combination. During this period of travel I dismounted the scope and repacked it in the box, doing the same with the pistol. I did not deem it wise to travel across half the states in the union with a scoped .44 Magnum riding loose in one of my suitcases. It would have been difficult to protect, and even more difficult to explain if I’d had an accident.
Upon arriving in California, I unpacked both instruments and attempted once again to mount the scope on the gun for a new, and relatively permanent sighting in. It was during this attempt - the second mounting - that the metal base of the scope gave way under pressure on the mount screws with the Allen wrench. No other instrument was used; there seemed no need for anything but human hands, since I had successfully mounted the scope by that method once before. Nor am I a brute of some kind. But I began to notice, as I tightened the screws, that one of them was oddly loose. Upon inspection, I found the metal in exactly the situation it is in now.
I also discovered the word “Japan” engraved on the bottom of the scope, and was not happy to see it. This was the third time I had bought something with an American label, but which was actually Japanese. If my Smith and Wesson revolver had blown up on the third shot, and had I then discovered that it had been made in Japan of Japanese steel, I think I might have had grounds for complaint. It did not, however, and I don’t expect it to. As I might have if the label had been Asahi, instead of S&W.
My point is that I am not returning this scope to have it replaced with another of Japanese make. I am asking Mr. Angevine for a full refund, and I assume you stand behind him. I note, on the guarantee, that my refund offer ceased after thirty days. But since I was traveling during that time, and had the scope packed in its original box, I don’t consider it quite the same as if I’d been using it. All in all, I fired no more than 25 rounds through the gun while the scope was on it, and all I got out of it was a series of circular score marks on my new cylinder - the result of your mount not fitting snugly enough to allow the cylinder to swing freely. All in all, my experience with this scope has been unsatisfactory in the extreme and I have no use for it.
Sincerely,
Hunter S. Thompson
***
"Nor am I a brute of some kind". Ha! Such matter-of-fact writing that gradually adopts more and more of a frustrated tone as it goes on. This is why I love everything the guy wrote - even his letters are extremely entertaining to read.
