It seems as if all we hear about are the bad experiences when it comes to manufacturers and the way they stand behind their products. I don't know if it's a function of the good stories not being told or what. With that thought in mind I want to relay a recent experience I had with the good folks at Weatherby.
Back in the late nineties, I bought a Weatherby ultralight Mark V in .240 Weatherby Magnum. This is the neat little 6 lug version of the Mark V action. I mounted a Leupold 3x9 on it and carried it hunting a few times. Then I put it in the safe and kinda forgot about it. Every few months I would take it out, clean the dust off and carry it to the range, put 8 or 10 rounds through it and put it back in the safe.
To make a long story shorter, a couple of years ago I noticed the finish on the stock was looking terrible - the surface was still smooth but underneath looked like a Saturday night hookers make up - all cracked and crazed in a jigsaw pattern.
I finally got around to calling Weatherby this past March and explained to them what the problem was and asked how much to have the stock refinished at the factory. To my surprise, I was told to send the rifle to them, sans the scope and they would replace the stock at no charge. Shocked, I said "You do know this rifle is over 10 years old don't you?" I was told it didn't matter, all Weatherbys had a lifetime guarantee.
I shipped the rifle to them and, 4 weeks later, I got it back looking as if it had just come off the assembly line, new fancy walnut stock with lots of figure that just screams "Now this is the way a Weatherby should look!" - they had even taken the bolt out and polished and reblued it due to a scratch that was my fault.
I gotta say I have never had a more positive experience with any manufacturer. You can bet when I am in the market for another firearm a Weahterby will be at the top of my list.
Just my story.
