I do appreciate the time and effort Brian took to inform us about the poor customer service on the defective Dickenson Arms shotgun that was purchased by his friend.
I seriously doubt if there is any manufacturer, either U.S. or foreign based, that has a 100% zero defects rate. Even the best Quality Control and Final Inspection processes seem to still let a few defective items slip through to be sold, whether they are guns, automobiles, appliances, electronics, etc. It therefore matters very little then that the majority of buyers of those products received good quality items, and are happy with their purchase. What matters is how the Company responds to Warranty and Repair Claims for the few products that were defective.
It is obvious that the headspace of this defective shotgun was not checked after the chamber was bored. It is totally unacceptable for a Shotgun Warranty Repair Gunsmith to attempt to compensate for a rim recess that was bored too deep by crudely shimming out the ejectors with a spot of TIG weld.
If Brian decided to sell this shotgun here, and did not disclose the headspace defect and Bubba repair, people here would be calling him a shyster.
If we heard that Old Ed Lander did something like this, most everyone here would be correctly critical of such a crude Bubba repair. I do understand that breech pressures with a shotgun are a fraction of rifle chamber pressures. I also know that shotshells headspace on the rim. So in this instance, the majority of the rim will be unsupported, other than the portion supported by the shimmed-out ejectors. My question is whether the chamber pressure will blow out the unsupported part of the rim, and possibly create an unsafe condition if the thin brass or steel rim splits???
In any event, Dickenson should either replace the defective barrels, or just bite the bullet and replace the entire gun. Lemons like this do nothing for the reputation of any manufacturer. If I had been contemplating the purchase of a Dickenson shotgun, the responses Brian received concerning this defect would make me very reluctant to proceed.
