Springfield Waypoint—an owner's story of disappointment and abject failure

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Minuteman
May 21, 2018
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Hi all, I've posted about this rifle before on here, but wanted to put together a story for anyone interested in this rifle. Here's the link to the original thread and the more exhaustive one on long range hunting. The TLDR version is this: do NOT buy this rifle. It does not perform as advertised and is liable to fail you.

My rifle has been to Springfield twice, has spent over 5 months at their facilities, and still suffered a catastrophic failure by the second box of ammo.

Here's the story. I bought my Waypoint 6.5 Creedmoor with the carbon barrel. After 150-200 rounds of 1.5-2 MOA from match ammo, I sent it back to them to fix the accuracy issues. 8 weeks later, they sent me the same rifle back with a new barrel. They didn't tell me why they replaced the barrel other than their tech said it just "didn't look right."

The first time the rifle came back, it shot within their ¾ MOA guarantee when ice cold. However, on the second or third string of fire, it would open up to the 1.5 MOA of the last barrel. I sent it back a second time. After some back and forth with the Springfield warranty department, they agreed to send me a brand-new rifle in 6.5 PRC. Great, a brand new rifle to start fresh from… or so I thought.

After over 14 weeks at their facilities, Springfield sent me the brand new 6.5 PRC rifle. I shot a grand total of 24 rounds through the rifle before the firing pin sheared off at the tip. Attached are pictures of the firing pin sheared off. Poor heat treating and metal quality.

Springfield's lack of ability to get the basic things right is astonishing. An inaccurate precision rifle is not acceptable given what they ask for this rifle, but it is entirely unacceptable that they have an entire batch of new rifles out there with firing pins ready to break. Imagine sinking all the time and money into a hunting trip for your rifle to go click when it's supposed to go boom. I will never purchase another product from this company again.

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Sorry for your troubles, that sucks. :(

Also, I applaud the fact that rather than simply bash the manufacurer on a public forum without giving them the opportunity to make things right, you did your diligence. You are doing the shooting community a service by pointing this out and given the steps that you have taken, you have standing and credibility in the matter. (y)
 
You are such an absolute guy.

Mistakes happen in all manners of business.
Not owning it and correcting it 100% is the issue.


You want destroyed online for your less than stellar choices?
 
You are such an absolute guy.

Mistakes happen in all manners of business.
Not owning it and correcting it 100% is the issue.


You want destroyed online for your less than stellar choices?
Whatever. Go for it

Companies should be called out when they send out turds

AI sent out stuff with loose bolts. They should be called on it

Terminus sent out at .223 actions with accuracy problems.

Etc

Maybe the shame or exposure will results in better qc / standards


I’m sure there’s a pile of Springfield buyers that wish the OP would have talked earlier about what junk he was getting
 
Whatever. Go for it

Companies should be called out when they send out turds

AI sent out stuff with loose bolts. They should be called on it

Terminus sent out at .223 actions with accuracy problems.

Etc

Maybe the shame or exposure will results in better qc / standards


I’m sure there’s a pile of Springfield buyers that wish the OP would have talked earlier about what junk he was getting
I documented every step of the process in real time via the threads I linked to. If someone was looking at a waypoint and researching via the forums, they would have come across my threads. I agree, companies should be called out for sending out turds. I played nice and went through their processes though—didn't stop me from documenting the pains along the way.
 
Was excited about the way point but lack of ability to do pre fits was a no go in that price range.

SA usually takes care if things, but this definitely puts a black mark on their product line.

We need to know this stuff because any gun reviewer will say it's awesome. You never read or see a bad review of any firearm in publications.
 
I can confirm I had the exact same failure with mine….. last month. Carbon, Adjustable 6.5 CM. They wanted me to ship them the rifle. I was able to convince them to ship me a firing pin instead.
I wouldn't be surprised if it happens again. After getting my refund, I picked up a Seekins Havak Element in 6.5 PRC. I should have done this from the start as the build quality is in an entirely different league from the waypoint. That and I don't have to worry that it will go click instead of boom after investing money and time in a big western hunt...
 
Not to discount anything said in the OP, but a broken firing pin isn’t what I’d call a “catastrophic failure.” I came in here to see a blown up rifle and got a broken firing pin.

Not appreciated.
 
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BSF barrels are known to walk when they get hot.
Carbon fiber barrels, for the most part, aren't meant for strings of fire that heat the barrel.
The bit with the firing pin, shit happens. You aren;t the first to have a firing pin break, and won;t be the last.
Does it suck? Yes.
My money is on that SA doesn't make that part, it is vendor supplied. Sometimes, shit doesn't get heat treated properly.
 
Not to discount anything said in the OP, but a broken firing pin isn’t what I’d call a “catastrophic failure.” I came in here to see a blown up rifle and got a broken firing pin.

Not appreciated.
You came here to see an "abject failure."
A rifle with a broken firing pin and a blown-up rifle are equally useful when you are days of hiking into the backcountry and see an animal you have tags for. I titled the thread "abject failure," and that's exactly what a busted-off firing pin is. If you don't consider that failure "catastrophic" given the circumstances this rifle is intended to be used for, we just have different standards for what we'll accept out of our hunting rifles.
 
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BSF barrels are known to walk when they get hot.
Carbon fiber barrels, for the most part, aren't meant for strings of fire that heat the barrel.
The bit with the firing pin, shit happens. You aren;t the first to have a firing pin break, and won;t be the last.
Does it suck? Yes.
My money is on that SA doesn't make that part, it is vendor supplied. Sometimes, shit doesn't get heat treated properly.
Regardless if SA makes the firing pin in-house, they sell the firing pin as a part of their rifle. They are responsible for its failure by way of failing to test the latest batch of firing pins before they leave the factory in their rifles. This isn't a scenario where a couple of barrels worth of ammo down the line, I had a firing pin fail. I didn't even get through 2 boxes of ammo.
The fact that others have had this same issue leads me to believe this isn't a one-off. Totally unacceptable that a premium branded $2400-2600 rifle targeted at lightweight backcountry hunting won't do the bare minimum any firearm needs to do. I can kill an elk with an inaccurate rifle, or one with a grimy action etc.—I can't kill an elk with a camo-painted carbon fiber stick.
 
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You came here to see an "abject failure."
A rifle with a broken firing pin and a blown-up rifle are equally useful when you are days of hiking into the backcountry and see an animal you have tags for. I titled the thread "abject failure," and that's exactly what a busted-off firing pin is. If you don't consider that failure "catastrophic" given the circumstances this rifle is intended to be used for, we just have different standards for what we'll accept out of our hunting rifles.

My rifle has been to Springfield twice, has spent over 5 months at their facilities, and still suffered a catastrophic failure by the second box of ammo.
You said the broken firing pin was a catastrophic failure.

[Insert “Where’s the beef?” Meme]

Not appreciated.
 
Regardless if SA makes the firing pin in-house, they sell the firing pin as a part of their rifle. They are responsible for its failure by way of failing to test the latest batch of firing pins before they leave the factory in their rifles. This isn't a scenario where a couple of barrels worth of ammo down the line, I had a firing pin fail. I didn't even get through 2 boxes of ammo.
The fact that others have had this same issue leads me to believe this isn't a one-off. Totally unacceptable that a premium branded $2400-2600 rifle targeted at lightweight backcountry hunting won't do the bare minimum any firearm needs to do. I can kill an elk with an inaccurate rifle, or one with a grimy action etc.—I can't kill an elk with a camo-painted carbon fiber stick.
Very few companies test 100% of the piece parts that come in from vendors, if they do any checking, it is a random selection of the lot by a percentage of the lot.
On top of that, no one can predict when an item will fail.
How do you know they didn't test it and it happened to fail at that particular time?
I'd be interested in knowing what testing procedure you would like to see on a firing pin.
There have been other companies bitten by the bug of a particular piece part coming in a bad lot.
Did they replace the firing pin?
If so, they took care of the problem.
I don't have a dog in this fight, I don't own any SA products, I'm not saying you don't have a valid beef, but it seems that you have had a bit of bad luck.
 
You said the broken firing pin was a catastrophic failure.

[Insert “Where’s the beef?” Meme]

Not appreciated.
Glad we're arguing about the meaning of the word catastrophic in the context of me using it once in a write-up...

If the firing pin of my EDC gun broke when I needed it for self-defense, I'd call it catastrophic. If the firing pin broke on my hunting rifle after I'd spent time and money to get an animal on the other end of it, I'd call it catastrophic. We have different standards for "catastrophic" failures.
 
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Very few companies test 100% of the piece parts that come in from vendors, if they do any checking, it is a random selection of the lot by a percentage of the lot.
On top of that, no one can predict when an item will fail.
How do you know they didn't test it and it happened to fail at that particular time?
I'd be interested in knowing what testing procedure you would like to see on a firing pin.
There have been other companies bitten by the bug of a particular piece part coming in a bad lot.
Did they replace the firing pin?
If so, they took care of the problem.
I don't have a dog in this fight, I don't own any SA products, I'm not saying you don't have a valid beef, but it seems that you have had a bit of bad luck.
I certainly have had really bad luck with SA. Most waypoint owners dont have a single issue with their rifle's.
But, I had more interaction than I care to have had with SA's customer service dept., and still ended up disappointed. So much bad luck with one manufacturer probably speaks to the quality of their products. So I figured I'd share my experience so others could choose against starting a streak of their own bad luck by buying SA products. That's all.
 
Glad we're arguing about the meaning of the word catastrophic in the context of me using it once in a write-up...

If the firing pin of my EDC gun broke when I needed it for self-defense, I'd call it catastrophic. If the firing pin broke on my hunting rifle after I'd spent time and money to get an animal on the other end of it, I'd call it catastrophic. We have different standards for "catastrophic" failures.
When catastrophic failure is used in firearms it’s typically reserved for when you blow the whole thing up. Not a simple part failure.

Edit: Actually, that’s the denotative definition of the term. You’re just using it incorrectly.

"A catastrophic failure is a sudden and total failure from which recovery is impossible."
 
When catastrophic failure is used in firearms it’s typically reserved for when you blow the whole thing up. Not a simple part failure.

Edit: Actually, that’s the denotative definition of the term. You’re just using it incorrectly.

"A catastrophic failure is a sudden and total failure from which recovery is impossible."
I think you're missing the point.

When the rifle fails because of a broken firing pin when you're on the side of a mountain, that is certainly a "sudden and total failure from which recovery is impossible." Not going to spend more of my time with this semantics debate.

Point is, firing pin breaking is a big deal when you're using the tool for what the tool is meant to be used for. Hope others can learn from my mistakes and make more informed decisions about which tools they rely on.
 
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Ok, everyone. Stand up if you’ve had a failure on your rifle that sidelined it until resolved. Let’s include the scope if it is your sole sighting system.

Everyone is standing, right?

Keep standing if this was an expensive and/or well regarded manufacturer.

Everyone is still standing, I see…

Ok. Now, regardless of the actual circumstances of the failure… Could the failure have occurred anywhere, ending your match, your weekend, your trip, and/or your life? If so, sit down because your rifle is trash and you make terrible life decisions.
 
Ok, everyone. Stand up if you’ve had a failure on your rifle that sidelined it until resolved. Let’s include the scope if it is your sole sighting system.

Everyone is standing, right?

Keep standing if this was an expensive and/or well regarded manufacturer.

Everyone is still standing, I see…

Ok. Now, regardless of the actual circumstances of the failure… Could the failure have occurred anywhere, ending your match, your weekend, your trip, and/or your life? If so, sit down because your rifle is trash and you make terrible life decisions.
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Hey, look! It's an internet troll!
 
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