Warranties: Buyer be Aware

Is there any difference between a warranty and a guarantee? In practical terms, no, though legally they do mean something different! A guarantee is usually included, free of charge, when you buy something, and is a promise from the manufacturer that they’ll repair or replace the item or give you a refund, if it is faulty within a certain amount of time. A warranty is a contract between the buyer and the trader or manufacturer, making the seller responsible to repair or replace the item if it becomes faulty.

Good deal?

Plenty of companies offer an ‘extended warranty’, which will usually cost you extra, and are not always as good a deal as they appear to be! As you may already be covered by the existing warranty, or the item in question may be covered by your insurance. A few things are vital to remember, if you wish to ensure that you can make use of a warranty (which is what we’ll call it for the purposes of this article). Under the 2015 Consumer Rights Act, anything you buy should be of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose, as well as lasting for a ‘reasonable’ amount of time. This last is difficult to qualify, but certainly if a firearm develops a fault or breaks within six months, one can assume that it was faulty to start with!

Of course, this is all dependent on the fact that you haven’t caused the problem! Failure to clean for example, or, worse, trying to ‘improve’ the rifle with your own modifications are not a manufacturing fault and so do not fall under the seller’s responsibility. Equally, if you try to fix the problem yourself, or even get a gunsmith to do so, you could jeopardise the warranty.

So what do Britain’s firearm distributors offer shooters in terms of warranties?

Highland Outdoors

With Howa, Webley & Sott and Lithgow rifles in their distribution, Highland Outdoors follows the manufacturers’ guidelines for each, with Howa and Webley & Scott being covered for three years, and Lithgow for four. The warranties for each of the brands cover failure due to manufacturing defects. For Webley & Scott, all details need to be added via the website, and with all of the brands, you need original proof of purchase.

Edgar Brothers

Length of warranty on all rifles is three years. Edgar Brothers offers a five-year warranty on all Zoli firearms purchases and one year on all air rifles. Customers can register online by visiting www. edgarbrothers.com, or they can return the form included in the box. If a rifle needs repairing, the customer will need to supply proof of purchase, as well as a copy of their Firearms Certificate. The warranty covers all working parts of the gun; however it does exclude stock damage, unless it was due to grain weakness in the wood. Currently, warranties cannot be transferred or extended, however the latter is something that Edgar Brothers is looking into. As with many manufacturers and distributors, the warranties become void if the rifle has been altered or changed by the user, depending on what has been done. If for example, the rifle has been shortened, but the trigger develops a fault, the trigger will still be under warranty, but the barrel wouldn’t be.

International Sports Brands (Browning)

Browning offers a three-year warranty on the action frame, as well as a two-year warranty on functioning parts, including the butt and forend. All rifles come with a card in the box, which should be returned once filled in, or can be registered online at http://browning.eu/warranty/. Once this is done, the rifle can be returned to be fixed or replaced. Browning will try to repair the rifle as a first course of action, however if it cannot be fixed, it will be replaced. There is no extended warranty available and nor can the warranty be transferred on sale of the rifle. Warranties are voided if the rifle has been altered or badly maintained.

John Rigby & CO.

Rigby rifles, being hand-made, fall into a slightly different category than the rest, as Marc Newton, MD of Rigby, explains: “We’ve not yet had a problem, and so far all our customers have been delighted with what we do. We offer a complimentary service and clean after a safari, and of course provide an excellent follow up service should the rifle owner want some minor adjustments. For our top-end rifles, we have a gentleman’s agreement that, in the very unlikely event of something going wrong with the rifle while on safari, we will send one of our riflesmiths out to the safari to fix the issue. I’m glad, but unsurprised, that this has never happened!” The standard warranty for Big Game rifles is 10 years.

GMK

GMK offers a two-year warranty on its Tikka and Sako rifles, which should be registered at www.gmk.co.uk/warranty. If a problem develops, the rifle should be returned to the dealer it was bought from, who will return it to GMK for repair – a covering note to explain the problem should be included. If repair is not possible, a replacement will be arranged. Refunds are arranged between the dealer and customer. No extension is possible on the warranty and it can’t be transferred to another person. The wood on the stock will be replaced for up to 12 months, but this does not apply to the finish (dents, scratches etc., which could have been seen prior to purchase). The warranty is also void if the rifle has been abused, misused, damaged by accident, fired with hand loaded and/or reloaded or improper ammunition or with an obstruction in the barrel, or damaged by failure to provide reasonable and necessary maintenance, nor does it cover normal wear of any parts, including metal, wood, plastic, rubber and other materials, surface finish or where an unauthorised repair and/or alteration has been performed.

Blaser Sporting Ltd

With three German-built brands of Sauer, Blaser and Mauser, all of which pride themselves on the quality of build of their rifles, it’s no wonder that UK distributor Blaser Sporting Ltd offers a 10-year warranty on mechanical parts. The warranty covers products bought from partner dealers. Warranty can be registered, either by posting the warranty document, which is included with all of their rifles and shotguns back to the factory or online. “In most cases though, it is as simple as taking the product back to the dealer you bought it from,” says CEO Robert Sajitz, adding: “Due to the exclusivity of our dealer network, the relationship we have with them allows for quite an informal arrangement, where we can take our dealers word for it. We trust them to make the decision for us that if they send something back to us, it needs attention.” If under warranty, the rifle will have any faulty part exchanged, or, if the problem is insurmountable, will exchange the rifle for a new one. Warranties are not transferable, and become void if the rifle has been worked on by someone not recommended by Blaser Sporting Ltd.

Case Studies:

Above and beyond

Andrew Kelland was impressed by the service at GMK: “I bought a Tikka T3 in .308 as part of a package deal, so with a sound moderator, from Mike Ladd’s Guns at Crediton. It wasn’t grouping properly. I know my way round a rifle, as does Mike, but neither of us could find the problem. Mike sent it back to GMK, and within a week he called to tell me it was ready. There’d been an issue with the sound moderator, so GMK fitted a new one. Not only that, they test fired it with several sorts of ammunition and let me know which load suited it best. I couldn’t fault the way that Mike dealt with the problem, and as for GMK – that’s amazing service. They went above and beyond to ensure the rifle was in perfect working order before sending it back to me.”

An all-round service

Eddie Hunter was out hunting rabbits with his BRNO CZ 452 in .17HMR, using his usual Hornady ammunition. He took a shot and heard a click rather than a crack. Believing it must have been a misfire; he waited, worked the bolt and, thinking the bullet had been ejected, took aim at a bunny. “Luckily, I’ve had a lot of experience shooting, and as my finger crept towards the trigger, I just felt something wasn’t right. I lowered the rifle, emptied the chamber, and saw that the previous bullet had become lodged in the barrel.” Eddie took the rifle straight to his local gunshop, which sent it to Edgar Brothers. “A week later I got a call to come and pick it up. Edgar Brothers had not only removed the obstruction, they’d serviced and cleaned and test fired it, then sent complementary 500-rounds of ammunition and a new magazine. Impressive service.”

Buyer beware

A reader rang me to complain about the service he got from a gun shop. He had bought a rimfire rifle and the shop owner asked if he would like it threaded for an extra £50, to which he agreed. When he shot it, it would not group, no matter what he did, he took it back and complained saying the threading was at fault and the owner denied it and said it was the rifle and to send it back to the importer, which he did. The rifle was checked and found to be sound, but the threading had been cut off-set, which was the problem. The importer wanted to know if the threading job was after-market, which it was and said that as this had not been done at factory or by their approved gunsmith they would not honour the warranty. In the end the buyer had to get the barrel cut shorter and re-threaded by a competent smith, which cost him around another £100. Always best to shoot the rifle before you get anything done to it!

Pete Moore (Editor Shooting Sports)