Southern Gun Company New rifle

[ovenpaa]

Thanks for updating me on that Mike. Do you know if any of them were formally submitted for inspection by a third party or simply posted back to Bob?

[phaedra1106]

Mine was never sent for independent testing as originally offered by Shooting Supplies, every time anything was requested they simply passed it to SGC. It took months to get replies and the eventual return of the rifle, even then it came back with most of the bolt assembly missing and had to be returned yet again.

Even though it failed using a factory round I was told that under no circumstances would it be repaired under warranty as I had at some point used reloaded ammunition, a fact I was not made aware of before I purchased it despite emails beforehand directly to Bob Clarke asking for the best barrel configuration to use with reloaded ammunition, he knew it was to be primarily used with reloads and was more than happy for me to place the order. He has also given numerous other 9mm users reloading advice and sold them the components to do so.

I'm waiting for information on the other failures (I was told there were 2 or 3) which appear to be very similar to mine, upper rail detached etc. before proceeding further.

[Dangermouse]

Problems with the 9mm aside,

I can not help feeling that if these do start hitting competition circuits* then it will be a case of everybody having to catch up or the competitions having to be re written so that it is more about accuracy than how many rounds hit the target. If that does happen then you might as well be using a bolt action rifle which as we all know you can get a sub moa magazine fed rifle and good scope for under £1500-£2000.

Funny how when the 9mm lever release came out everyone said "if only they did them in a rifle calibre" - now that he is people don't appear to be so quick to put the money down. Has anyone actually seen a £5 grand price tag or is that a rumour that is doing the forums?

*= assuming that they operate as they should, feed and are accurate.

DM

[John MH]

What competitions would need to have the timings adjusted for these rifles?

[saddler]

One failure in the field is hardly a trend of failures...

ONE = I'd agree 100%

I know of FOUR, one being Jeff's

[dodgyrog]

Batch of porous castings maybe? Poor foundry work or die design with inadequate feeds and/or venting?
It's all speculation at the moment.

[ovenpaa]

So it is four failures now, I do wonder if SGC know this as well. I have known rifles be banned from use for a lot less on some ranges so I have to ask if these are first hand known incidents or from reading on forums.

[John MH]

IIRC the use of certain 'Montana' actions is banned at Bisley due to some sort of catastrophic failure.

http://www.nra.org.uk/common/asp/conten ... NRA&id=749

[judders]

Has anyone actually seen a £5 grand price tag or is that a rumour that is doing the forums?

Bob told me it was 5k himself, whilst I had the rifle in my hands at the Phoenix. Nice idea, but far too expensive for me.

[Mike357]

Thanks for updating me on that Mike. Do you know if any of them were formally submitted for inspection by a third party or simply posted back to Bob?

The one that failed is still with the user while the next course of action is decided upon. Blew the bottom of the mag out to as well as failure of the receiver. The other was returned after repeated returns to SGC and solicitors were involved. Not tested.