Hawk
Member
This probably belongs in "Rate private and retail transactions" but I believe it may be better here.
Having been recently informed of a product discontinuation I panicked and starting beating the bushes for an STI VIP. I found one at Dawson Precision, ordered same with the enhancement package in .40 (the only one they had) and their spiffy fiber optic front sight.
Drove down to Florence to pick up the beast and was very impressed. The enhancement package includes function testing and the thing was suitably cruddy - no doubt it had been shot. I cleaned it up, re-lubed and was off to the range. With me shooting the thing with cheap range FMJ ammo I got a failure to feed on the last round - classic nose-up with the bullet wedged on the barrel hood. I start short loading the mag and burn the box of 50 with around 15 malfs. The last round stuff was pretty predictable and I'd occasionally get a random FTFeed.
Casting a jaundiced eye at the ammo brand I had never heard of, I repaired to the counter and grabbed a box of Winchester Ranger SXTs 165Gr. Back out to the range we go only to discover the problem has worsened. Last round will invariably snag but getting to it usually involves clearing more than one malf (mag loaded only 5 deep at this point).
<anyone wishing to guess what was wrong may insert diagnosis here>
I contact Dawson and they are suitably appalled. Everything will be made right at no cost or inconvenience. And so it was. However, to me, the most impressive thing was that, though I talked to people at both Dawson and STI, at no time did anyone even breath the words:
"Limp Wrist" or "Break-in".
Neither was it suggested that a third type of ammo be tried.
In fact, my guesswork diagnosis proved to be correct (patting my own back while shouting out a thanks to Tuner): they had simply inadvertently placed a .45ACP mag in the box with the .40SW handgun. That simple. And I got a free mag out of the deal. One may safely color me a Dawson/STI customer for life.
The manufacturer and several dealers that had incorrectly diagnosed "limp wrist" and consoled "break-in" on lesser firearms have less than no idea how refreshing it is to be treated as an adult by a distributor / manufacturer. The Dawson-enhanced VIP is one fine weapon, but what I remember is how they handled the one little hiccup.
So, I guess it's less a posting about being an STI fanboy then a simple observation that NOT being treated as the prima facia cause of malfunctions is alive and well.
Having been recently informed of a product discontinuation I panicked and starting beating the bushes for an STI VIP. I found one at Dawson Precision, ordered same with the enhancement package in .40 (the only one they had) and their spiffy fiber optic front sight.
Drove down to Florence to pick up the beast and was very impressed. The enhancement package includes function testing and the thing was suitably cruddy - no doubt it had been shot. I cleaned it up, re-lubed and was off to the range. With me shooting the thing with cheap range FMJ ammo I got a failure to feed on the last round - classic nose-up with the bullet wedged on the barrel hood. I start short loading the mag and burn the box of 50 with around 15 malfs. The last round stuff was pretty predictable and I'd occasionally get a random FTFeed.
Casting a jaundiced eye at the ammo brand I had never heard of, I repaired to the counter and grabbed a box of Winchester Ranger SXTs 165Gr. Back out to the range we go only to discover the problem has worsened. Last round will invariably snag but getting to it usually involves clearing more than one malf (mag loaded only 5 deep at this point).
<anyone wishing to guess what was wrong may insert diagnosis here>
I contact Dawson and they are suitably appalled. Everything will be made right at no cost or inconvenience. And so it was. However, to me, the most impressive thing was that, though I talked to people at both Dawson and STI, at no time did anyone even breath the words:
"Limp Wrist" or "Break-in".
Neither was it suggested that a third type of ammo be tried.
In fact, my guesswork diagnosis proved to be correct (patting my own back while shouting out a thanks to Tuner): they had simply inadvertently placed a .45ACP mag in the box with the .40SW handgun. That simple. And I got a free mag out of the deal. One may safely color me a Dawson/STI customer for life.
The manufacturer and several dealers that had incorrectly diagnosed "limp wrist" and consoled "break-in" on lesser firearms have less than no idea how refreshing it is to be treated as an adult by a distributor / manufacturer. The Dawson-enhanced VIP is one fine weapon, but what I remember is how they handled the one little hiccup.
So, I guess it's less a posting about being an STI fanboy then a simple observation that NOT being treated as the prima facia cause of malfunctions is alive and well.
