A customer of mine called me yesterday. He had purchased a new Beretta SO-5 a few years ago from one of Beretta's Premium dealers. Not long after receiving the gun he noticed that the mid rib was a little loose in the area under the forearm. He was told that it was not a safety issue and not to worry about it.
A week or so ago he sent the gun to a gunsmith at one of Beretta's Gallery's to have a leaf spring replaced. As this Premium Gallery is authorized to provide warranty service he asked them to re-solder the loose mid-rib while it was there.
The gunsmith called back and replied that the gun couldn't be fixed under warranty because, as he advises, the loose mid-rib was caused by a bulge in the barrel. This bulge was measured by the gunsmith to be 1/1000" (.001). He advised that this rendered the gun unsafe, and before he could return the gun to him my customer would be required to sign and return a waiver advising that he acknowledged that the gun was being returned in an unsafe condition and any continued shooting would be done at the customers own risk and Beretta would absolved of any liability in the event of an accident.
They advised the customer that the barrel bulge was most likely caused by shooting a popular brand of imported shells which was known for problems with cocked wads. (This customer has never reloaded a shell in his life).
My primary experience is with wood, and I do not profess any expertise or knowledge on safety issues on barrels. However, having said that, I am struggling to understand how a bulge of .001 renders a gun unsafe, and how this obviously becomes the customers fault because he may have shot factory shells that had a cocked wad.
I also have an extreme dissapointment with Beretta in the level of support they have provided to a customer who spent $20k on a premium gun.
I would appreciate hearing anything the members could contribute.
Thanks,
Hack
