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From the Post Falls Press, Post Falls, Idaho

Gun accident prompts man to sue rifle company, Wal-Mart
Posted: Friday, Oct 24, 2008 - 10:25:00 pm PDT
Email this story Printer friendly version By TOM GREENE
Staff writer
James Monette lost 'practical use of his hand' when weapon misfired

COEUR d'ALENE -- A Coeur d'Alene man is suing a rifle-making company and Wal-Mart after a gun he bought at the store in Post Falls allegedly exploded, permanently injuring his hand.

James Monette bought the Mossberg 100 ATR 30-06 Springfield hunting rifle as a Christmas present for his son in 2005, according to court documents.

While elk hunting in October 2006, Monette was handing the rifle to his son when "it misfired and the bolt action exploded sending parts (including the rifle's bolt) and fragments into Monette's right hand causing severe injuries ..." according to the complaint filed in district court Oct. 21.

"It cost him the practical use of his hand. He can use the hand, but he can't grip and he can't write," said James Siebe, Monette's attorney.

The complaint was filed against the Mossberg Corp. and its subsidiaries, Wal-Mart and the bullet manufacturer Remington Arms Company. A Wal-Mart representative said Friday the company had no comment at the time since its legal counsel has not had a chance to review the case. Joe Bartozzi, general counsel for Mossberg Corp., did not return phone calls.

The bullet manufacturer Remington Arms Company was named as a defendant in the lawsuit "in the event that any or all other named defendants claim that the ammunition was defective," according to court documents.

Siebe said he is also working with two other men in two other states who had similar issues with rifles manufactured by Mossberg.

"One guy had his face blown off and with the other guy it nearly severed his hand," Siebe said.

The lawsuit is asking for a judgment in excess of $10,000. Siebe said the final amount is expected to be "substantially more" than $10,000.


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most likely due to consumer misuse.

While elk hunting in October 2006, Monette was handing the rifle to his son when "it misfired and the bolt action exploded "

Safes like unsafe gun handling to me.

From what I've seen, we can speculate the hell out of this, and turn it into a 30 page condemnation of Christians, if we just give it a chance.

Not the first time one of these rifles have come apart.

til later

For the attorney's on the board, in what conceivable way is Walmart culpable? Are they expected to test each product they sell or just a handy, deep pocketed target?

Here's a link to a review on another forum. It isn't a bad review, but it does mention the "floating" locking lugs, held by a pin, a design used by several manufacturers.

Mossberg ATR

Apparently, one of the things that can go wrong with this design is the pin can break, and there is no indication to the user that the lugs didn't rotate and lock the bolt to the action.

Perhaps Mossberg isn't using the same quality parts as Savage, if their version has trouble. (?)

Anyway, if this was the mode of failure, it can destroy the action without incorrect ammo or operator error.

Personally, I like the old Winchester Model 70, but I understand it is expensive to manufacture.

I used to have a raptor arms rifle,which the mossberg atr is a direct copy of,in fact,mossberg must have bought the machinery and tooling when raptor arms folded.
Mine was beset with problems,from very poor bedding in the stock,to poor design ,or at least poor execution of design,to the scope base had to be shimmed .050 on one end to let the rings line up.I ended up selling it for half of what i paid for it,and was glad to be rid of it.

IMO, it would take some real strong and deliberate torque on the bolt handle to break the pin. I looked at one of these, and the pin seems substantial. Granted, defects in Material happen...

I've read that the new Marlin XL-7 has a pinned in bolt head,too, but with a key and slot for positive rotation even if the pin was missing.

Still waiting to see one, though.

Bruce

Sounds like either a design or manufacturing defect to me or a case of careless handling. Thsi then would be Mossberg's issue, not the retailer (WalMart) or the ammunition manufacturer (Remington). I assume that there are some rounds of ammo left that can be tested for pressure or defects, and the retailer is certainly not to blame (they have to assume that all goods are manufacturer tested). That leaves Mossberg and its liabilty insurers.

Who knows what happened. But even careless handling would not caurse an explosion. Maybe the firing pin broke or the sear was not fully engaged, OR --

maybe there was no "explosion", but rather in handling the gun to the son, the trigger was pulled and his hand was in front of the muzzle.

We'll just have to wait until the evidence is presented.

Don't forget the barrel full of mud. If it is a defect in design, Mossberg should back it up. I doubt Remington sent out a bunch of stuff that was that overloaded or there would have been other incidents. As for Wal'Mart, "deep pockets". Next someone will be saying their Wally quit selling guns.

I would like to see a more detailed story on this. MSM has the tendency to misquote everything, but gun stories in particular.

If he was simply "handing the rifle to his son" there's no reason that it should have "blown up."

Safety should have been on. Fingers away from trigger. Ammo doesn't explode by itself. Must be one of those "evil black guns." They have a mind of their own.

When this controversy was all said and done...

What happened? Did mossberg pay up? Did they recall rifles? Were they vindicated?

You hit the nail on the head...

Why the [bleep] is he suing Wallmart. Sounds like Bambam is on his defense team.

Sue the guns shops too....

Is this from the same family as the Stevens bolt action rifle currently being marketed guys? I'm looking for an entry level rifle for my daughter, but I've heard a few too many stories about these guns to feel comfortable buying one of them.

Was he really using remington ammo or just using remington head stamp brass to reload and over loaded it? At this point based on the article the whole thing smells like week old fish. tom

Jeff,

You may want to look into a Savage for a gun in that price range on a new gun. Or maybe used?

Stick with the Remington 700 action and be done with it. Law suits like this are always money orentiated regardless