JohnT: Had I known my post would inspire you so much,I likely would not have commented at all. I did not direct my comments to you,but perhaps you felt that need to respond for reasons I do not understand.
Apparently we "mutually" inspire each other.
That said,your analogy of exchanging a truck and comparing it to exchanging a rifle action,is a poor one.What,precisely, is the nexus between his decision to exchange the first action,and the faulty action he later received. By your logic, it can be said that if a customer returns an item,the company is perfectly justified in replacing it with something that does not work...properly..and the faulty item is that darned customers'fault for returning it in the first place
I really have no idea what the consumer laws are "Down Under",but I can assure you, that dog does hunt "here"
I'm afraid that I do not understand where you are coming from here;nor ,frankly,am I interested in finding out..
Not exchange truck. Just change engine. He wanted bits of the internal changed. (thought it was a pretty good analogy). After 10 months "down under" they would tell you to "F off you sheila" ("sheila" means girl)
. Look I know USA is the ultimate land for customer service. But here if you just change your mind forget it. For all we know the 1st action may have been OK.
Second, I have had enough top-end custom rifles built by "known" makers to understand fully what is,and is not,expected of them.Generally I have been happy,but there have been issues.
Thanks for sharing.
Third,I don't know who Jack Belk is, nor do I care since I do not need him to tell me about Montana actions,or any others for that matter.
Jack was a very active member of the American Custom Gunmakers Guild did very nice work who I believe fell on hard times. He was the presenter of their video on custom guns. He did all of us a great service by throughly examining the MRC1999 and giving us a detailed account of the good, the bad and the ugly. I am obviously not as knowlegeable as you as I like to learn from those that know more than me and their actual experiences. BTW BobinNH how many MRC actions do you own or have owned? Have you dealt with MRC personally?
If there was a safety issue,and someone got hurt,they'd all be sued.Who would bear the brunt of liability depends entirely upon the "facts" of the case.
Again thanks for sharing.
What I am trying desperately to understand, is, what part of "IT DID NOT WORK" is it that you don't understand? I agree the gunsmith SHOULD have checked function.OTOH the damn things should WORK and have the CORRECT parts when it leaves Montana.This is so basic and fundamental to me that I can't understand any contrary view.
The part where "it did not work" could be changed to "it can be fixed" without a lot of trouble.
But then again a lot of gun building today is "form" over "substance",a lot of "sizzle" but no "steak".I will bet that at LEAST 50% of the rifles "custom built" today are not tested reliably for function before they leave the maker.So you and I are in agreement there.
I wouldn't know. But its pretty simple to ask them or tell them that you want it tested. But I also recognise that I am part of the problem. Often we want something done quickly or less expensively than the gunsmith we know we should use. Most times its OK but sometimes it bites us in the bum! 7mmrem should consider bum duly bitten.
Lastly(thank God)I doubt there is an "agenda"; the guy wanted to build a rifle that WORKED.He PAID for it.He depended on two entities,Montana and the custom maker, to deliver a properly functioning rifle. He DID NOT get it.Agenda? You bet there's an AGENDA.Fix the damn thing and make it RIGHT.
Don't say that I was enjoying our exchange of ideas
. Which is precisely what he should do and not spit the dummy. 7mmrem did say he had a Dakota built so he probably wanted a rifle like a Dakota but for substantially cheaper. Fair enough too why not. There are rare exceptions but most times you get what you pay for. He may have to pay a bit more but I am sure his MRC will be quite serviceable once fixed by a good gunsmith.
Personally, I'd tear the rifle apart for salvage,start all over again with a GOOD action,and chalk it up to experience.I would not care who fixed it at this point; I would never trust the thing.And yes I have done that when what I paid good money for was a POS.
Everyone is different but I don't believe that its a big deal to fix and maybe he should get a second opinion from another gunsmith.
Apparently,today,the custom gun industry has deteriorated to the point where even the expenditure of $3-4k does assure reliable function.
Both you and I look at this from the point of view of the customer. But from the gunmaker side $3k definitely and maybe $4k is probably at the borderline of where you can make a living if nothing goes wrong! (And your customer does not change his mind - sorry I couldn't resist
) . Let's be realistic therefore that even at that price range we are taking a risk that things don't turn out the way we want. But with patience & perseverance we can get a good outcome.
Regards,
JohnT
