A Most Shameful S&W...

[Encore64]

Jun 19, 2023 7:56:23 GMT -5 magnumwheelman said:

maybe it was a reject, & got tossed to a scrap bin, & the thrower missed the scrap bin, & some "do gooder" or clean up person knew it shouldn't be on the floor, & placed it in the cylinder bin??? but, I can't imagine that going out looking like that

Pretty much my thoughts too.

I won't even speculate on what chain of events lead to this gun leaving the factory.

My reason for posting is that guns do leave S&W Factory like this. Therefore, it pays to fully inspect these (and others) guns before you buy them.

It irks me when someone tells me the manufacturer will make it right. When forking out $1500+ for a gun, we shouldn't have to send it back to be made right...

[magnumwheelman]

agree completely... my last ordered new S&W was a stainless 6" 610 ( many years ago now ) had my local gun smith check it out..., he said it had unsafe headspace... called S&W, & they agreed, told me not to shoot it, & sent a recall tag... the thing that irritated me more, was the call tag listed the head space as an issue, & it took 3 returns, & a personal letter sent with it the 3rd time, from S&W's area sales rep, to get it actually fixed to a number they agreed was a safe head space...

when everything is right, they are some of the nicest revolvers you can buy... but a paying customer shouldn't have to pay a premium price, and send it back even once, let alone, to pay for the revolver on order, & not be able to shoot it for several months afterwards

[Encore64]

My LGS also had a 617 4" that I considered. Barrel and frame had completely different finishes. Admittedly, I could have fixed that myself.

But, the barrel was so overly tightened, the barrel rib protruded past the left side of the frame and inset on the right side of the frame. I didn't really care to deal with that.

Was on the waiting list for a couple S&W Classics, but asked to be removed from the list. If they get a gun I requested, I feel obligated to buy it. I'll just continue to scout around and hopefully add a couple more good examples in the future.

[cas]

Even the scrap bin story means people either didn't bother to look in the chambers as it was assembled/packaged, or just didn't care. Sad.


I used to have pictures of bad cylinders people sent me, I'd look at them and think "nobody saw this?" I think it's more they just don't care. (or aren't allowed to care)

[brant]

Years ago I bought a Ruger Blackhawk Bisley Hunter in .41 magnum. It was the 1st run if I remember correctly and I had a hard time finding one. When I did it was on gunbroker. When it came in I briefly looked at it and put it away for about a month before I could shoot it.

When I went to load it I realized it had a 44 magnum cylinder installed. It was even marked 44 magnum. The barrel was .41 and so marked. They even supplied the 44 magnum test brass. Ruger replaced it but it was about 6 months of negotiations.

[gregs]

Yea, I'm about done with buying new S&W items without having it in my hands to inspect. The practice of returning it to the mother ship for "warranty" work is for the birds with S&W. As above, my sister had to return a 629 DX three times for the same complaint.

In the past 4 years I've picked up 2 'Ferformance Center' pieces only to have to complete the action job on my bench. What is the advantage of paying the money up front for an action job that they only do half the work. Save the cash and support your local gum plumber if you have one, not the yolkal parts changer.



Just shaking my head.

[jeffh]

All this is what really bothers me about prices today.

The last new Ruger I bought (77/357) was five or six years ago, just before they discontinued them. $750 then, which was the most I'd ever spent on any gun I've bought new. The gun was a mess, and not just oversight, flat-out terrible workmanship. Contacted Ruger and heard nothing back, so I did the tuning/tweaking I needed to do, but it wasn't much to look at, the stock was pure junk and I wasn't throwing even more money at it for an aftermarket stock, so I finally sold it and told the buyer what the issues had been. He was happy to get it and only cared that he could "hit a deer at fifty yards with factory ammo."

A year after I tried to contact Ruger, Ruger called me and asked what they could do to help with that 77/357. I told them I had sold it and that I'd tried to reach out to them A YEAR AGO. The excuse was that a now former employee was apparently sitting on a huge pile of CSRs and they were now trying to catch up.

Looking at this from a business/engineering background, I can't fault the "now former employee."

1) The company should take full responsibility for the shortcomings of someone they chose to hire, supposedly trained and should have been paying closer attention to;
2) A huge and profitable company throwing a former employee (not a manager) under the bus is cowardly;
3) Hearing the phrase "huge pile of CSRs" is quite concerning to me, regardless;

Yes, that was a Ruger rifle and the topic is a Smith revolver, but the idea is the same. It seems like the trend is to crank out stuff, which is usually pretty decent, but not always. Some genius decided that of the percentage of crappy guns that get out the door, only a small percentage of those will fall into the hands of someone who knows enough to notice, so roll the dice and stop fussing so much about quality that the majority of buyers cannot identify or appreciate.

Maybe I don't have a dog in the fight, because neither Smith nor Ruger are making anything which interests me at all and I've not been overly impressed with what I see lying under the glass at any shop I've been in in a long time. It's not always as bad or as obvious as the subject chambers, but there just seems to be SOMETHING wrong with every one of them I see. If I'm going to have to replace the stock, recut a forcing cone, clean up a slap-dash finish, I want to see a significant discount, not doubling of prices. I think the majority of buyers driving the market don't know any better and that's who the companies are trying to please.

[Encore64]

I believe "Quality Control" has gotten a lot like Company's "Safety Departments." That is a position and talking points more than an actual job.

There's no way guns I've seen could come out of human hands that missed the problems.

Like most of our gun publications, everything gets a blessing and a free pass. I don't even read magazine reviews anymore. I already know the gun is wonderful and we should all buy one...

[rvolvr]

Hey Encore64, is there an update on the original post re. status of the 350 Legend sent back to S&W nearly two months ago?

[Encore64]

Aug 13, 2023 11:20:40 GMT -5 rvolvr said:

Hey Encore64, is there an update on the original post re. status of the 350 Legend sent back to S&W nearly two months ago?

The dealer was so disgusted with it he requested a refund instead of a replacement.

I'd have entertained the purchase of a really good one...

[rvolvr]

Thank you!

[crazyhorse]

When S&W put that ugly little safety on the side I quit looking at them. I love all my older Smiths