Steve Janes
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Calgary/Ontario
UPDATE Post #162
I have waited quite sometime to write this. But after exhausting all options. Here is the story for posterity for all to see:
I purchased a Swiss Arms Black Special in April 2011. Since then I have about 5000 rounds through this particular rifle. I have kept an accurate log with a round count included, and around the 230 round mark (May 2nd, 2011) I had one failure to eject while shooting some fiochi ammo, it sounded very different and I assumed it was an under loaded cartridge or something. After that everything went great, I did wonder how I could get a failure and others could report 10 000 rounds failure free, but oh well, bad luck right?
WRONG.
In January of 2012, around the 4400 round mark (keep in mind I haven't had a failure since 230 rounds fired) I began to notice casings struggling to eject, they would land about 2-3 feet away, and on video review some were barely clearing the breach. This would happen every 1 in 10 or so rounds, and there was no consistency to it, all the other casings would be ejected normally 15-20 feet forward and right of my position. Every casing that didn't eject normally would have this double dent, now normally the Swiss beats the crap out of the brass but not two dents like this:
[/IMG]
Then the actual failure's started, by March 23 and 4700 rounds I had seven failure to eject malfunctions, every single one was the same, and again there was no consistency to how often it occurred, the casing would spin around backwards while remaining inside the breach and then the bolt would close jamming the casing in backwards while attempting to feed another round. Like this:
Now this has happened with Canada Ammo Mags, Factory Mags, and with various different brands of factory ammo. Also as asked below, the rifle and it's gas system are cleaned religiously after each range session, and I even got complements of wow your gas piston looks well maintained for 5000 rounds fired from the Swiss Gun Smith.
My first thought, was to contact The Shooting Edge. Since they are the only warranty center in Canada for Swiss Arms that I am aware of. The Swiss gunsmith there suggested that perhaps it was the extractor, sometimes they can go as early as 5000 rounds he said. Okay, I shipped it off to Calgary, and got a new extractor, new extractor pin, and new extractor spring, cost like 200 bux or something like that. No big deal. They even worked on it quickly and rush delivered it back just to accommodate me. This was March 2012. Awesome I thought.
WRONG AGAIN.
I get the rifle back and for 160 rounds I go without a failure or a short ejection, I am thinking YES, it's fixed. Then the next day I had 7-8 malfunctions over the course of 190 rounds
Now it was consistent, consistently horrible!!! Literally about every 1 in 20 rounds would fail to eject entirely and then about 10-20 were landing short, 2-3 feet away again. Guess I didn't need to drop $200 on a new extractor and pieces after all. WHAT IS GOING ON
So I contact The Shooting Edge again and the Swiss gunsmith says he can't understand it, I send pictures and video and he still can't figure it. So, I send the rifle back to Calgary and they shoot it and they get the same malfunctions, so they go to work on it. They began replacing pieces and trying to make it eject properly, well they tried everything, they changed out the piston, they changed out the gas tube, they changed the gas regulator, then they took apart the gas block and tried doing a detail cleaning of that, they even changed out the entire gas block and replaced it with a new one, and then they tried with a brand new bolt head and still the rifle isn't ejecting properly. So, I think The Shooting Edge has done there best here, I certainly am not paying them for all this work, so I really feel they have gone above and beyond, there Swiss Gun Smith has been putting up with my emails for literally almost a year. I feel sorry that I cannot complain to someone else but he is the only one and it isn't fair as I can be impatient.
Now it's August, and The Shooting Edge says Swiss Arms wants to get the rifle into there hands to see it for themselves, and, understandably I feel, since they are not being paid for the hours of paper work I am told it requires for export, The Shooting Edge does not want to take on the export of the rifle to Switzerland and so has contacted the Importer and not received response.
Now I want to be clear, the point of all of this is not to write a "The Shooting Edge is Bulls**t" thread as I stated above I feel they have gone above and beyond for little old me, that doesn't mean I don't just wish they could give me a new rifle, but that's besides the point. This is also not a "Swiss Arms is Bulls**t" thread as it just so happens, I bought another Swiss Arms rifle to keep me hard while I wait for the Black Special to get fixed. I love my Swiss Rifles and I will NEVER EVER part with them. What I am writing all of this for is to warn everyone that while I would still suggest these rifles to anyone who asked, and while I would still buy more of them if I had the money, if your Swiss Arms Rifle fails, and I know it doesn't happen often, if ever, I mean I may be the only one!!!! But if something goes wrong and The Shooting Edge exhausts all efforts and still cannot fix your rifle, your options are pretty much zero. At the very least Swiss Arms will have you wait like me for an unfathomable length of time while your rifle is sent to Switzerland, just imagine the possible delays with customs and that is only if you get it back at all.
This is the price we pay for having a rifle manufactured overseas in Switzerland, the lack of a manufacture center for warranty issues. What is left for me but to wait and hope? Because as it sits, I am without my $3000 dollar Swiss Rifle, and have no options.
I still have faith that someone with Swiss Arms will do the right thing and either fix or replace my rifle. Mainly only because it would be too scary for me to think that a company like Swiss Arms would not stand by/guarantee there product.
Thank you all for listening.
Steve Janes
I will post a video of the rifle jamming if I can figure out how.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtfqlRqeyUA&feature=youtu.be
UPDATE Post 162
I have waited quite sometime to write this. But after exhausting all options. Here is the story for posterity for all to see:
I purchased a Swiss Arms Black Special in April 2011. Since then I have about 5000 rounds through this particular rifle. I have kept an accurate log with a round count included, and around the 230 round mark (May 2nd, 2011) I had one failure to eject while shooting some fiochi ammo, it sounded very different and I assumed it was an under loaded cartridge or something. After that everything went great, I did wonder how I could get a failure and others could report 10 000 rounds failure free, but oh well, bad luck right?
WRONG.
In January of 2012, around the 4400 round mark (keep in mind I haven't had a failure since 230 rounds fired) I began to notice casings struggling to eject, they would land about 2-3 feet away, and on video review some were barely clearing the breach. This would happen every 1 in 10 or so rounds, and there was no consistency to it, all the other casings would be ejected normally 15-20 feet forward and right of my position. Every casing that didn't eject normally would have this double dent, now normally the Swiss beats the crap out of the brass but not two dents like this:
Then the actual failure's started, by March 23 and 4700 rounds I had seven failure to eject malfunctions, every single one was the same, and again there was no consistency to how often it occurred, the casing would spin around backwards while remaining inside the breach and then the bolt would close jamming the casing in backwards while attempting to feed another round. Like this:
Now this has happened with Canada Ammo Mags, Factory Mags, and with various different brands of factory ammo. Also as asked below, the rifle and it's gas system are cleaned religiously after each range session, and I even got complements of wow your gas piston looks well maintained for 5000 rounds fired from the Swiss Gun Smith.
My first thought, was to contact The Shooting Edge. Since they are the only warranty center in Canada for Swiss Arms that I am aware of. The Swiss gunsmith there suggested that perhaps it was the extractor, sometimes they can go as early as 5000 rounds he said. Okay, I shipped it off to Calgary, and got a new extractor, new extractor pin, and new extractor spring, cost like 200 bux or something like that. No big deal. They even worked on it quickly and rush delivered it back just to accommodate me. This was March 2012. Awesome I thought.
WRONG AGAIN.
I get the rifle back and for 160 rounds I go without a failure or a short ejection, I am thinking YES, it's fixed. Then the next day I had 7-8 malfunctions over the course of 190 rounds
Now it was consistent, consistently horrible!!! Literally about every 1 in 20 rounds would fail to eject entirely and then about 10-20 were landing short, 2-3 feet away again. Guess I didn't need to drop $200 on a new extractor and pieces after all. WHAT IS GOING ONSo I contact The Shooting Edge again and the Swiss gunsmith says he can't understand it, I send pictures and video and he still can't figure it. So, I send the rifle back to Calgary and they shoot it and they get the same malfunctions, so they go to work on it. They began replacing pieces and trying to make it eject properly, well they tried everything, they changed out the piston, they changed out the gas tube, they changed the gas regulator, then they took apart the gas block and tried doing a detail cleaning of that, they even changed out the entire gas block and replaced it with a new one, and then they tried with a brand new bolt head and still the rifle isn't ejecting properly. So, I think The Shooting Edge has done there best here, I certainly am not paying them for all this work, so I really feel they have gone above and beyond, there Swiss Gun Smith has been putting up with my emails for literally almost a year. I feel sorry that I cannot complain to someone else but he is the only one and it isn't fair as I can be impatient.
Now it's August, and The Shooting Edge says Swiss Arms wants to get the rifle into there hands to see it for themselves, and, understandably I feel, since they are not being paid for the hours of paper work I am told it requires for export, The Shooting Edge does not want to take on the export of the rifle to Switzerland and so has contacted the Importer and not received response.
Now I want to be clear, the point of all of this is not to write a "The Shooting Edge is Bulls**t" thread as I stated above I feel they have gone above and beyond for little old me, that doesn't mean I don't just wish they could give me a new rifle, but that's besides the point. This is also not a "Swiss Arms is Bulls**t" thread as it just so happens, I bought another Swiss Arms rifle to keep me hard while I wait for the Black Special to get fixed. I love my Swiss Rifles and I will NEVER EVER part with them. What I am writing all of this for is to warn everyone that while I would still suggest these rifles to anyone who asked, and while I would still buy more of them if I had the money, if your Swiss Arms Rifle fails, and I know it doesn't happen often, if ever, I mean I may be the only one!!!! But if something goes wrong and The Shooting Edge exhausts all efforts and still cannot fix your rifle, your options are pretty much zero. At the very least Swiss Arms will have you wait like me for an unfathomable length of time while your rifle is sent to Switzerland, just imagine the possible delays with customs and that is only if you get it back at all.
This is the price we pay for having a rifle manufactured overseas in Switzerland, the lack of a manufacture center for warranty issues. What is left for me but to wait and hope? Because as it sits, I am without my $3000 dollar Swiss Rifle, and have no options.
I still have faith that someone with Swiss Arms will do the right thing and either fix or replace my rifle. Mainly only because it would be too scary for me to think that a company like Swiss Arms would not stand by/guarantee there product.
Thank you all for listening.
Steve Janes
I will post a video of the rifle jamming if I can figure out how.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtfqlRqeyUA&feature=youtu.be
UPDATE Post 162
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