SwampWolf
Member
On Christmas of 2019, I gave my son-in-law, Jon, a Winchester "Super X Defender" (a Model 1300 pump variant) that I purchased new for $279.99. The gun sat in his closet unfired until he went to a range last week near Apex, N.C., where he lives (raising my three grandchildren and being the owner of his junk removal business "JunkLuggers of the Triangle" keeps him a busy man) to fire it for the first time. The following is an account from Jon describing his experiences via e-mail that he forwarded to me:
12-16-22 E-mail sent to Winchester from Jon: "Hello, I own a Winchester 1300 12 gauge, serial no. L35798xx. I was at the range and the barrel hanger broke off. The gunsmith at the range told me I should contact you because apparently this is something that should never happen. The range officer said the gun was defective and should be repaired by Winchester for free."
12-19-22 E-mail sent to Jon from Winchester: "Hello, Thank you for reaching out to us on your gun. Due to the age of the gun, we no longer offer service on this firearm. All gun parts and service have moved to Midwest Gun Works. They are an excellent dealer that we trust to do a superb job on our firearms. Please reach to them at 636-475-7300."
Jon contacted Midwest Gun Works and received this estimate for repair: "Hi Jon, this happens often and we can repair it. You're looking at 1 1/2 hours labor @ $112.50 to resolder it, $125.00 to reblue the barrel and return shipping/ins is about $50.00. We are 10-12 weeks out on service work at this time."
Winchester made a lot of Model 1300 pump shotguns over the past several decades and I thought they were still making them. I'm very disappointed with the cavalier attitude from the customer "service" department. Obviously, a cost of $287.00 (plus whatever it costs to ship the gun to the repair shop) isn't viable in terms of what the gun is worth. My only advice to Jon at this point in time is to find a local gunsmith and get an estimate.
Any other advice? Entropy to the rescue?!
12-16-22 E-mail sent to Winchester from Jon: "Hello, I own a Winchester 1300 12 gauge, serial no. L35798xx. I was at the range and the barrel hanger broke off. The gunsmith at the range told me I should contact you because apparently this is something that should never happen. The range officer said the gun was defective and should be repaired by Winchester for free."
12-19-22 E-mail sent to Jon from Winchester: "Hello, Thank you for reaching out to us on your gun. Due to the age of the gun, we no longer offer service on this firearm. All gun parts and service have moved to Midwest Gun Works. They are an excellent dealer that we trust to do a superb job on our firearms. Please reach to them at 636-475-7300."
Jon contacted Midwest Gun Works and received this estimate for repair: "Hi Jon, this happens often and we can repair it. You're looking at 1 1/2 hours labor @ $112.50 to resolder it, $125.00 to reblue the barrel and return shipping/ins is about $50.00. We are 10-12 weeks out on service work at this time."
Winchester made a lot of Model 1300 pump shotguns over the past several decades and I thought they were still making them. I'm very disappointed with the cavalier attitude from the customer "service" department. Obviously, a cost of $287.00 (plus whatever it costs to ship the gun to the repair shop) isn't viable in terms of what the gun is worth. My only advice to Jon at this point in time is to find a local gunsmith and get an estimate.
Any other advice? Entropy to the rescue?!