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Thompson / Center Arms Found at Fault in Catastrophic Gun Failure


On September 1, 2005, I was severely injured by a catastrophic gun failure. My face was permanently disfigured and sight in my right eye was lost forever. I was shooting with the Thompson/Center Encore Rifle. It blew apart because of a defect in its design. That horrendous day propelled me down a path I never planned on or wanted in my life. I’m not speaking out for personal gain or to be vindictive toward Smith & Wesson or Thompson/Center Arms (Thompson/Center Arms has apparently been sold to Smith & Wesson). I merely want the truth about this rifle to be known. I don’t want anyone to go through the pain and suffering I’ve endured. In my opinion, this rifle defect is something that was known about and has been covered up for years.

After almost 10 years of battling over the Encore, I received the final judgment order from the 46th Circuit Court for the County of Otsego, Michigan. I sued Thompson Center Arms (TCA), and the jury found TCA at fault. The jury found TCA to have a defect in its design and found their manual to be defective.

Throughout this entire process, from the day that my rifle had failed, until being given the green light to speak freely about this rifle, I have felt as though I’m involved in a David and Goliath scenario. In the end, no matter how much money they threw at this problem, with their team of lawyers and paid experts, the truth could not be veiled from the jury. At many points over the nearly 10 years since my injury, I have experienced hopelessness about the outcome of the case. One of these moments occurred during the trial. My attorney had in his possession letters, obtained from Thompson/Center through discovery, from other individuals who had incurred similar injuries from the same type of failure. Although the letters were discussed in open court, they were not allowed to be shown to the jury as evidence, based on a technicality concerning Thompson / Center’s claims as to when they had actually received the letters in relation to the date of my injury. A representative of the company did admit that he saw failures of this kind during testing. He also admitted that TCA destroys customer complaints every six months.

Because of the pending suit, I have not been able to share these details until recently. I cannot adequately express what a tremendous relief it is to be able to finally share the truth about the dangers of this rifle.

Most gun owners I know - including myself - thought suing a gun company was practically blasphemy. My suit was never about anything more than seeking truth. I believe wholeheartedly in the Constitution and stand for our Second Amendment rights. I love freedom. I was an NRA member when my injury occurred and I’m an NRA member now.

This is the first lawsuit brought against TCA regarding this rifle that has been successfully litigated. In my opinion, TCA is fighting me so hard because the Encore Rifle has been wildly popular. A recall would cost potentially a lot of money. Still, I am now finally allowed to spread the truth about this gun. Please notify anyone you know who owns this rifle that it could catastrophically fail!

The judgment is attached. I have blacked out the award amounts because the money is not important in this regard. No amount of money can compensate me for the loss of my sight and the years spent in recovery. Additionally, I truly believe this company will continue to fight this judgment, and as a result I will never see any monetary compensation. The court documents are now a matter of public record, and if you wish to seek out more details they can be obtained.

Thank you for your time, and if you would like any additional information please let me know.

Sincerely,

Brian Ward

I guess you can't upload PDF's here?

One Shot Smack Down!

Brian, I hope you continue to regain your health. I know some of what you had will never be recovered. Prayers are with you.

If you have a web link, you can post that. Or save the PDF as a jpg file and show it through Photobucket.

sorry to hear ot the OP's injuries. But I would like to know the technical details.

What failed?
Why?
Handloads?
Factory ammo?

I have a Contender, but not an Encore - that's what comes to mind at the moment.

I wonder how many 'catastrophic' failures have occured? Just this one? 30? 150?
My guess is very few indeed. Sometimes, bad things happen to good people. Just like the current air bag issue. 50 or 60 million produced. A handful of problems. Lawyers get rich.
No product ever made, is going to be 100% defect free. No design in history has every been flawless. Chit happens. Sorry.

Most likely the gun from the letter above .Look what happens when one take over the other .Don't know what was done to build rifles in the past or men an woman get piss because of a job lose not thinking what could happen when you screw up .Look at the car industry now cut parts plant give the work to over seas lets go with Clinton deal on sending work over seas Right Bill Clinton.

Brain sorry to hear about your deal with these group from Thompson. tis is the way it is Give money to lawyers then taking care of the problem they have

This is the first lawsuit brought against TCA regarding this rifle that has been successfully litigated. In my opinion, TCA is fighting me so hard because the Encore Rifle has been wildly popular.

I had an Encore pistol and have seen one other person shoot one. I have never seen anyone with an Encore rifle, hunting or at a range. Cant agree with the wildly popular statement.

Would like to know the particulars of this "catastrophic failure" as well.

I witnessed an Encore catastrophic failure at my local shooting range. The gun came apart like a grenade, the scope hit she shooter in the head and knocked him out cold landing about 10yds. behind the firing point. The barrel flew about the same distance downrange, when the guy got to his feet he had a large schrapnel wound in his bicep and his buddies loaded him up and rushed him to the nearest E.R.. No details as to what caliber or load, he was definately shooting handloads. I had never witnessed a Kaboom till then and it was really scary as the schrapnel that lodged in his bicep could have wound up in his chest.

Been searching but can't get the judgement to open off other sites.

I did notice that the benevolent jury had a reduction in fault equating to 40% due to your actions, is that correct?

Also, T/C appealed or requested a new trial, is that correct?

Not badgering you, I just want the facts before I rattle sabers.

See the PDF here - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=780669

To summarize and very very briefly in my opinion the big take away from my case was the TCA Encore can not keep tolerances and head space grows overtime, especially with larger calibers like I was shooting (300 win mag).
In my trial we had 3 guns with excessive head space.
My gun was out of spec.
A gun with 5 shots was out of spec.
A gun with no shots was out of spec.

Nope. Can't see it without logging into that site.

It doesn't look like that thread is going well for you, either.

Can't open PDF unless one is a member of that forum. Just post it here, please.

Your summary leaves out that the jury found you 40% at fault. Why?

Your summary leaves out the award made. Why?

Your summary leaves out that T/C has requested a new trial. Why?

Ditto. Not for judgement one way or the other in regard to your case but I would also appreciate it if you would greatly detail your experience.

Edit: and to explain why this headspace becomes an issue with some cartridges as you say. Is there a metallurgy problem, design problem or, maybe, both?

Or, were there other factors involved?

Factory or Handload's that caused this ?

Headspace is a problem easily fixed on TC Rifles.Mike Bellm sells washers to take care of this problem.I have bought Remingtons and Winchesters with head space problems right from the factory.I have had Contenders for 30 years and Encores for about 10.I doubt that they have any more problems than any other rifle.It is the luck of the draw on what you get with anything you buy.Anything man made can fail.It is too bad the gentleman who wrote this thread has gone through pain and misery because of this.I have always considered if you own and fire a weapon you should at least know how it works and how to check for any problems it might have or come up.It is akin to owning and riding a motorcycle.You best know how to work on it because they all have problems.Huntz