New NEA 10.5” Update
My son recently bought three new NEA carbines. The 14.5 and 7.5 worked perfectly out of the box. The 10.5 had a small problem - the dust cover would not latch closed. The latch itself seemed fine and I assumed the problem was that the receiver had not been machined thin enough.
The handguard came loose. It had clamping screws on each side that tightened the rear part of the handguard onto the delta ring.
I mentioned the problems to SFRC (our dealer). They contacted NEA who then emailed me and suggested I return it for repair. I mailed it to them on Monday and the following Tuesday is was back in my hands.
They report that the receiver recess for the dust cover latch was not machined correctly, so they replaced the upper receiver. That seems like a drastic step for a fix, but it now latches closed.
The handguard has also been replaced with a new one. This is the latest version that uses clamping screws on the bottom of the receiver only, instead of opposing pairs of screws on the original handguard. I have not looked inside, but I am advised that the way it mates with the delta ring is different. This is a neater design than the original.
It is annoying when a new rifle has a fault, but gratifying when a warranty repair is gracious, fast and effective. It has been my experience that the manufactures of guns and reloading equipment have had outstanding customer support, although dealing with American suppliers can be a problem trying to get some parts across the border. In this case, NEA is almost local and they got the rifle in and out of their shop in one day. I am pleased.
My son recently bought three new NEA carbines. The 14.5 and 7.5 worked perfectly out of the box. The 10.5 had a small problem - the dust cover would not latch closed. The latch itself seemed fine and I assumed the problem was that the receiver had not been machined thin enough.
The handguard came loose. It had clamping screws on each side that tightened the rear part of the handguard onto the delta ring.
I mentioned the problems to SFRC (our dealer). They contacted NEA who then emailed me and suggested I return it for repair. I mailed it to them on Monday and the following Tuesday is was back in my hands.
They report that the receiver recess for the dust cover latch was not machined correctly, so they replaced the upper receiver. That seems like a drastic step for a fix, but it now latches closed.
The handguard has also been replaced with a new one. This is the latest version that uses clamping screws on the bottom of the receiver only, instead of opposing pairs of screws on the original handguard. I have not looked inside, but I am advised that the way it mates with the delta ring is different. This is a neater design than the original.
It is annoying when a new rifle has a fault, but gratifying when a warranty repair is gracious, fast and effective. It has been my experience that the manufactures of guns and reloading equipment have had outstanding customer support, although dealing with American suppliers can be a problem trying to get some parts across the border. In this case, NEA is almost local and they got the rifle in and out of their shop in one day. I am pleased.
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