What to do when new gun has a design defect?

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Brlux

Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2018
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Location
Mesa AZ
So today I pick up a Rossi Gallery .22 pump (RP22181SY) and when I get home I notice the receiver is broken in half around where it locks in the Barrel. Of course I can't get ahold of Rossy warranty, It says all representatives are busy and hangs up on me. Same story at Palmetto where I ordered it from.

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Even if they could replace the receiver it would break again due to the thin wall in a really poor zinc alloy.

I know Brazilian firearms can be a questionable proposition, I have had some really good past Taurus experience, but wow, not even fit for intended purpose fresh out of the box.

What next?

https://palmettostatearmory.com/rossi-gallery-22lr-pump-action-rifle-blk-rp22181sy.html
 
Because it has already been transferred Palmetto will not take it back or to anything to assist. I don't think a receiver replacement would result in a suitable firearm. This is a design defect. I doubt Rossi would offer a refund. I am hesitant to go the credit card dispute route because I know the firearm industry already struggles working with banks for card transactions.
 
Your only real course of action is to contact the manufacturer and start a warranty claim. Palmetto isn't going to do anything...they didn't make it.

Not sure of the gun design...if that part is separate or part of the serialized frame, which would result in a complete replacement gun; meaning a replacement (new serial number) would have to be sent to an FFL, instead of a repaired gun being sent to your front door.

Not sure of what time you tried calling Rossi, but they are in the east coast, so keep in mind the 3 hour time difference. Call them until you get through...or contact them through their website.
https://rossiusa.com/support/rossi-repair-policy

BTW, it's not a design defect...that is a "don't buy cheap shit" defect.
 
You know what, it is a cast part that is very brittle so I assumed it was a Zimac type material but I just dabbed some Vinegar on it and it did not react so it may actually be a cast AL.
 
Is there any damage to the box or to the muzzle? I could easily see someone bending or dropping the box to create a tension on that barrel receiver block to crack like it did.
 
No damage to the box or gun. It is a very thin walled part made out of a very brittle material that mounts the barrel. 0.088 wall by 0.65" long of material. There is a lot of force in that junction with it being the middle of the gun. Even if it was mad out of a stronger material it would be a suspect design.
 
Be patient. Go to their website and submit a service request. I suspect they will make things right with you.
 
So it King Joey got me thinking about the alloy. All the receiver housing parts are made from some sort of molding process, you can see to mold release pin marks. The receiver top cover that I had to take off may or may not be made form the same alloy as the broken lower part. All receiver parts are non magnetic. The top receiver part feels to me significantly denser than aluminum. I dunked the removable upper cover in a full cup and measured the water displacement a few times, came to about 50cc. The part weighs 292g for a density or roughly 5.8g/cm3 which is significantly higher than aluminum's 2.7g/cm3 and slightly less than Zamak-2s claimed 6.8g/cm3. It ls likely some version of a Zinc casting alloy like a Hi-Point slide.

As for contacting Rossi warranty, I tried 6 times throughout the day, one time I actually was on hold for an hour before getting disconnected. all other attempts resulted in them telling me all representatives were busy and hanging up. Their web sight only offers a phone number or adders for writing a letter, no email. I expect their version of making things right will be a repaired or replaced gun in 6-12 months which will have the same design defect and quickly break again.
 
As an engineer that has designed a few guns and a lot of gun parts, that part isn't optimized for normal casting. I would hope they used vacuum casting, but with the ejection marks it is most likely die-cast. When you have a part like that with dissimilar thicknesses, it can cause warpage or brittleness when cooling due to tensions in the metal as it contracts. You can also have issues with porosity in small/thin features as the molten alloy flows through those smaller passages less readily. Parts like that would optimally need be insulated after casting and allowed to cool slowly. Looks like the design was optimized for cost, not for structural strength. If you cast something like that and remove it from the mold while still hot, the places where the metal is thin and along the edges will cool quicker which will impart tension in the material. General rule of thumb is to have all sections be at least 60% of the thickness of the thickest section.
 
I don't think all Rossi/Taurus firearms should be lumped into the same category. I've have 7-8 Taurus revolvers and autos over the years that gave me great service, and currently have a lever action Rossi Puma that I have shot the living hell out of for around 15 years, and it still looks and functions perfectly.

Too bad its a crap shoot and some of their products still suck.
 
I agree with the above. I have a Taurus PT1911 that has served me faithfully for 8 years without any problems and is very accurate as well.
 
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