Chiappa Spencer Problem

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Sharps '74

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After my initial happiness with the Chiappa 56-50 Spencer I recently purchased from Wolverine Supplies, a problem developed .....

I was cycling dummy rds through it and after ejecting the last cartridge, something felt odd and the front sight was no longer top-dead-centre and the barrel had turned in the receiver !!!

I was warned by the Spencer Shooting Society on CasCity that this was not unusual for the type and the fix was to Loc Tite the barrel in place, which I have done. It functions well with dummy rds but I have not fired it since due to extreme cold temps.

The manual lists Murray Charlton Enterprises as the Canadian warranty/repair centre but they are now defunct. Chiappa/Italy referred me to grechoutdoors@wightman.com in Ontario, so I checked out their web site. I have never read more negative comments about a business, very few positive comments !!! One claimed they offered the worst customer service ever.

I passed this on to Chiappa/Italy and recommended that they use Wolverine Supplies as their Canadian warranty/repair depot as they sold me the gun in the first place.
 
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It s a shame that a company that can make such a good looking gun cannot make the effort to make sure the quality control is there.I had one of their 1887 shotguns and loved the look of it but it had some problems which made me very disappointed in it
 
Wolverine just sold the carbine. Grech Outdoors is the designated warranty/repair agent.

I ordered the Spencer from Wolverine after I returned unfired a pair of Cimarron Open Tops in .44 Spl. due to defects out of the box. What happened to them, I've no idea.
 
I would clean the threads with solvent or acetone, put on some loktite and screw the barrel back in the correct location. Make sure the extractor functions when the barrel is screwed in and before the loktite hardens. The only cause that I can think of for the barrel loosening is that the extractor drags down on the cartridge but the barrel would have to be fairly loose for that to rotate the barrel

cheers mooncoon
 
Grech serviced a Savage for me last summer. It took a few months, and I've yet to have the opportunity to test it, but I didn't have a problem with them (other than that Savage should have picked up the entire shipping cost for the repair of a factory defect)

What was wrong with the revolvers, if I may ask? Those are Uberti guns, AFAIK, which tends to be the only Italian maker of historic guns that I trust next to Pedersoli.

Chiappa... I'd like to try one of their Rhinos, but....."Chiappa"

Sorry to hear that even their spendy guns have QC problems.
 
Mark-II said:
What was wrong with the revolvers, if I may ask? Those are Uberti guns, AFAIK, which tends to be the only Italian maker of historic guns that I trust next to Pedersoli.

Sorry to hear that even their spendy guns have QC problems.
Click to expand...

One of the Open Tops had a too high locking bolt (or it didn't retract sufficiently) and after the first few rotations of the cylinder I had a nice ring around the cylinder. The second one had a poorly fitting and poorly finished (not matching the case colours of the frame) loading gate that required an additional movement after you closed it.

Both easily correctable, but these were NEW guns I paid a premium for because they were "Cimarron" products. The guys on CasCity regard Italian revolvers as "kit guns" requiring work to make them function properly. The latest Piettas are getting the highest marks for fit and finish these days.

The Spencer is an odd ball action with a "Click-Clank-Clunk" movement in operation. Failure to operate with gusto will almost certainly cause it to jam. It does NOT operate as any other lever action rifle and was not too refined in the manner of chambering a round. The originals are reputed to be much more reliable or the owners are just ragging and bragging ... ;>)
 
mooncoon said:
I would clean the threads with solvent or acetone, put on some loktite and screw the barrel back in the correct location. Make sure the extractor functions when the barrel is screwed in and before the loktite hardens. The only cause that I can think of for the barrel loosening is that the extractor drags down on the cartridge but the barrel would have to be fairly loose for that to rotate the barrel

cheers mooncoon
Click to expand...

Perzackly what I did to get things top-dead-centre again. Mine is not the only Chiappa Spencer to have the loose barrel issue as I've heard on the Spencer Shooting Society forum.

I heard back from Chiappa/Italy re: the comments made by customers on the Grech Outdoors web site and they thanked me for the information - BUT, they did not comment on the loose barrel! I asked them to do so a second time.
 
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