Don't take this as a poke at anyone, just that I have three Sportsters, two new, and one used. And a friend also picked up a new one about the same time. All in .22
I know that occasionally new toys arrive with glitches, and it can be frustrating - most particularly just because it IS new! (I hate when that hapens! :noway:)
But I wanted to offer a bit of balance by saying that mine (and my friend's) are working great.
I bought 2 in Youth (1 used and 1 new in the box) and 1 in Adult (new) and my kids and I have probably put 1000 rounds throught them (each) in the last month or so.
Had two extraction probs - one with the used Youth and one with the new Adult. We were shooting Colibri at the time and they leave a lot of dirt and stuff behind. Also had a couple extraction failures with the Colibri in my Marlin 39 the same day, so I think it is reasonable to conclude that Colibris, if not the main factor, at least contributed to it.
I cleaned the gun and polished the chambers (on the NEFs) a bit and haven't had a problem since.
So, I am sorry to hear of the troubles others are having, and no doubt if I were having them I'd be less than pleased as well.
But overall I have no complaints. I think they are great guns to train kids with, and its a lot of fun for me to be shooting alongside my son and daughter (9 & 14).
I'm gonna go explore the GBO photo album and see how I might post some pics of the kids and I shooting the NEFs.
By the way the unfired NIB Youth model is available if anyone is interested. I'll let it go for what I have in it $129 + shipping.. or make me an iteresting offer for trade.
By the way if you got one for a better deal, I don't mind hearing about it, but please don't rub it in. :grin:
Cheers
Kerry