Speed_Addict said:
cmcdonald said:
Speed_Addict said:
Good news for me! Just got an automated messaage from FedEx. Sounds like my SPX is on its way home - nearly 2 months round trip. Keeping my fingers crossed it comes back safely, all issues fixed and no new ones (mechanical or cosmetic) . I'll keep you all posted.
Glad to hear it man! Hope mine isn't far behind!!
Looks my SPX made it home yesterday. Too bad I was there to greet it
(at least my wife was there to sign for it) - on business travel all this week. Saturday I get home, I sure hope that it is like Christmas and I get the weapon I hoped for when I first unboxed my purchase.
cmcdonald - I sure hope you get yours back soon as well!
Well, I said I would keep all posted on my experience. It has been 2.5 weeks since my 930SPX was returned from warranty work and I finally had time to complete my total field strip, clean and inspection. The verdict is mixed sad to say.
The good:
The canted Choate magazine tube extension, in which the extension tube was also so far off center in the collar/nut that it created a huge lip between the extension's tube and receiver's magazine tube that the follower could not pass by, was replaced.
The barrel assembly, which had a ding in the barrel crown that was deep enough to deform the inner circumference on the crown by a measureable amount was replaced.
I am assuming my safety was inspected as it still functions the same - a bit stiff to go on safe after a dry fire but reasonably smooth on/off when cocked.
The bad:
The magazine tube with light scratching from a bur on the gas spring was not replaced - they must have considered it OK - but for something that was still "new" and yet to be unused not addressing it was disappointing. It probably fine from a functional perspective but it was a complaint that was not addressed nonetheless. Now that I know the cause and I can prevent it I will just lightly polish out the marks that are there and hit it with a cold blue - just sad they did not go the extra bit on this part for weapon that has yet to be fired by the customer.
And the ugly:
New barrel seemed to be really crudded up in one area so I cleaned the heck out of it with brush and patch until the patches came out pristine. But after all that it still looked bad. Upon further inspection it was very apparent why, the barrel bore had all of its initial bore and ream marks in the wall on one half of the barrel between the chamber and the gas ports; it was completely unfinished/unpolished - pretty raw. To my untrained eye, it looks like the barrel may have shifted in the tooling when the bore was being finished causing it to be off center with the tooling resulting in one side of the bore getting worked while the other went untouched (my bet is the bore is "over-bored" in this area of the barrel and is likely eccentric). This may also explain why the bore seemed off center in the barrel material at the crown and the thicker side of the crown almost seemed to have a slight lip to it (like a second pass in the machining process did not match up with the first pass).
Multiple pictures with different focal points to show the depth of the affected area:
I am truly amazed what gets through QC in manufacturing at Mossberg (or what they accept from their suppliers) - it is truly shocking to me.
Now at least Customer Service (CS) did not balk and will be sending me a second barrel ASAP but that may be a couple of weeks out as they are out of stock for the SPX barrels. The CS rep was great and took care of me as fast as he could and my wait time on hold was no more than 5 minutes. I think I really feel sorry for the CS representatives at Mossberg. If this stuff is common place they must be swimming in a sea of complaints and hear from far too many displeased customers.
Quality control in manufacturing and in their supply chain has got be out of control or completely non-existent. 3+ years into manufacturing a product line there should be no excuse by Mossberg or its suppliers for shipping product with ANY visually identifiable QC issue (which a lot of this stuff is). Had I known this earlier I would have likely spent the extra money and gotten a F&N SLP, Versamax Tactical or bucked up for a Benelli but, I had read good reviews on the 930SPX elsewhere and figured the basics of quality would be there coming from a company like Mossberg - maybe not in the minute details but in the basic sense of being solidly built and reliable.
Hopefully when I finally get a chance to run this shotgun after all this is will actually run properly - I am not sure I could deal with another 6 to 8 weeks turnaround if after break-in (with all good parts present at the get go) I run into any issues - I am quite frankly concerned about this. At the very least I can say I will not likely be purchasing another Mossberg product until threads like this are far fewer and/or see much less activity - I have been very disappointed.
