Recent NRA magazine Reviews-S&W and Springfield

raljr1 · Jan 25, 2023

I was somewhat disappointed reading two gun reviews in the most recent NRA "American Rifleman."

They reviewed an X Frame S&W in 350 Legend, and the reviewer said that the gun had timing issues and had to be returned to the factory before they could finish range testing. It had to have the barrel and yoke replaced before being returned to the tester,

Then a few pages later, a review of a Springfield Prodigy 1911 had to go back to the factory because of failures to feed. The factory polished the feed rams and did some work to the disconnector.

Not bashing any manufacturer, as I managed manufacturing companied for many years, and I know quality mistakes happen. I can only think that If I were Smith & Wesson and Springfiled, I would be mortified to have this type of error documented in a periodical with nationwide distribution.

SnidelyWhiplash · Jan 25, 2023

The problems must have been bad if the magazine was going to criticize products of an advertiser. Usually a tepid review would be a sign of a not very good gun without much risk of losing a revenue source.

sigp220.45 · Jan 25, 2023

Good for them for being honest. Most gun rags would have never mentioned having to send it back.

I doubt the magazine writer bought the guns on the open market - how stupid is the manufacturer for not making sure the gun sent for review actually worked?

sceva · Jan 25, 2023

Actually I think it's better to have a randomly picked item rather than a hand picked one for a review. It better reflects what an average buyer may find. Yes, the companies should be embarrassed but then again it is probably not a bid deal to them. Warranty costs are figured in to their bottom line and they know there will be a certain amount of product that requires rework or replacement. They also know that a lot of customers either do not know any better or will never actually use the product and it the words of someone at a company I stopped working for soon after " If the customer doesn't complain it's not defective"

rockquarry · Jan 25, 2023

sigp220.45 said:
Good for them for being honest. Most gun rags would have never mentioned having to send it back.

I doubt the magazine writer bought the guns on the open market - how stupid is the manufacturer for not making sure the gun sent for review actually worked?

I think many would be surprised to know that those guns for review usually come randomly from manufacturers' inventories. A very new gun that may be in short supply sometimes has to be scrounged for so that a sample can be sent to a magazine for review.

Such a gun may not really be new; it may have seen factory use and/or another magazine writer may have already used it for a yet unpublished review. Sometimes, the factory may have no requested guns on the shelf; all may have been shipped to distributors. In such a case, the gun company's PR guy may "buy" the gun from one of his distributors and the distributor will directly ship the gun to a publication or directly to a writer or his FFL.

I realize many believe guns are handpicked for magazines and/or their writers. This likely happens, but not nearly as often as many assume.

LVSteve · Jan 25, 2023

I remember their Remington R51 review. They made it clear that the first test example was a total lemon. I welcome their candor. Now, if they could just stop most of their reviewers reminding us of their preference for 1911 triggers every time they pick up a different gun, we would really be getting somewhere.

As for advertising revenue, I recall it got pretty tense between Ford of Europe and the British car magazine Autocar. In 1990 Ford brought out the Escort MkV, and it was clear to the most causal observer that the thing was a total dog, managing to combine poor handling and ride in one package, despite Ford having spent nearly a billion Sterling developing the thing. That doesn't work for the European driver. Autocar refused to pull their test report, even after threats of no more advertising from Ford.

Recent NRA magazine Reviews-S&W and Springfield

raljr1

SnidelyWhiplash

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sigp220.45

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sceva

rockquarry

LVSteve

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