I purchased an SW-45 rifle brand new in Nov. 2002 The price was $950.00. This gun is defective in that the bolt head cracks and splinters after in as little as 50 rounds. I am currently on the FOURTH bolt head an the gun has had less than 500 rounds fired through it. Mr. Bailey was notified early on of the problem and sent a replacement bolt head.
The second time this occurred Special Weapons requested I return the gun. I did on 6. The gun also exhibited misfeeds and would attempt to feed two rounds into the chamber. The gun was returned and after 50-80 rounds the bolt head cracked again and continued to misfeed. I was sent a third bolt head which did not last 50 rounds. The ammo was wolf 230 gr. Factory loads at 800 fps.
Upon notification of the third failure I was told by Mr. Bailey that I would be NOT be supplied OR sold new bolt heads. I then sent the gun to an HK armorer who upon inspection instantly stated there is ZERO bolt gap, a slight gap is needed between the bolt and carrier for proper function otherwise the bolt head impacts the bolt carrier resulting in cracking. This could only be repaired by pulling the barrel and resetting it in trunnion/receiver to obtain proper headspace because it was so far out of spec this was the only remedy. He also told me the magazines were all improperly made. They were able to move up and down in the magazine well by 1.5in. The stop plate was welded 1/4in to low on all mags which allowed this movement resulting in double feeds.
They would all have to be rewelded. This should have been identified and corrected when the gun was returned but this was an expensive and labor intensive repair that Mr. Bailey elected not to do. So much for his "lifetime warranty". At present the gun is still at the gunsmith and I have paid an additional $500.00 for repair work and do not have a functioning firearm. The gunsmith will not return the gun until he is sure that no further incidents occur and it is safe to operate unlike Mr Bailey who could care less if I, or worse one of my kids could lose an eye shooting this. I am lucky I was not injured by a catastrophic failure of this very disappointing product.
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