How to avoid a lemon?

Question
Hi Paul,

I am new to rifles.  My question is how can I avoid buying lemons when I purchase a firearm.  It seems that after I buy it and bring it home I find something wrong with them.  The last 2 out of 3 rifles I bought were lemons.

First I bought a CZ 452 Lux (22 LR).  Brand new.  I noticed almost immediately that it failed to eject spent casings on the last shot in the magazine ie the fifth round.  I called the CZ Company, returned it, and after a month they sent it back, supposedly repaired.  I took it out to the range and the problem was worse than ever.  It not only failed to eject after every fifth round, but now it failed to eject every round, and even consistently jammed when I tried to chamber a new round.  I gave up.

I traded it in for a Ruger 10/22 carbine (new) which at least shoots consistently although the iron sights are worthless with my 53 year old eyes.  So I gave it to my son.

I also bought a AK variant (WASR 10) from Century International Arms from the dealer.  Once again it was in new condition from the dealer ( or as new as a Romanian reconfigured AK variant can be).

I took it out on the range.  It shot fine.  However I noticed that when the rifle was loaded, it would fail to come to battery every time I put a new magazine load into the rifle, ie. after I pulled the bolt back to chamber the first round of a magazine, the bolt would not completely close!  Then it would not completely close on a random basis after that. It would still shoot however. I contacted the company because I was worried about safety and they told me the bolt  should come to battery after every shot.  They asked me to send it back to them.  I did.  I am still waiting after about a month on this repair job on the WASR 10, too.

So 2 out of 3 *new* rifles I bought have shattered my dreams.  I thought every *new* rifle would be a work of art, but 2 out of 3 were lemons.

Do other people have this bad luck?  Are there some companies to avoid?  Is there some type of *consumer reports* books on firearms which might help me find out about problems before I pay good money? I do not trust the advertisements in gun magazines any more after this. Are there any companies which will refund full price if a rifle is a lemon?  It seems that the best thing they will let you do is *trade it in* on a new rifle. Or you can just keep sending it back to the company for repairs which they do poorly.  By trading the CZ 452 LUX in I lost about $200.00 on the CZ 452 LUX.  I had only kept it for 2 or 3 months.
Do other rifle owners *whine* as much as I do or am I being too much of a complainer?  But I am rapidly losing interest in a hobby I thought I would love.

Thanks for your advice.

Best
Michael


Answer
The 10/22 does have rails to mount a scope.
The problem with the CZ is surpising.
However the lack of service is appauling.
Most of what Century International Arms sells is junk.
I know of no one that will give 100% refund.
Gun Tests Magazine gives real world testing.
In the future I would stick with USA made guns.
They rarely have problems and correct them quickly if one should arrise.