In my opinion, don't worry about buying one subject to the recall. I have one. S&W paid postage both ways and the turnaround was quick. No expense to me.
Like others have said here, it takes a while to break one in. I have owned or used quite a few Walthers, PPK and PP, since 1965. All were very tight unless the previous owner broke them in. That always meant putting about 100 rounds through one before it operated reliably. Another note: Ones made before S&W became involved have an inadequate tang to protect the web of your hand. If you don't grip it a tad low, and tightly, the slide will carve tracks in your hand. I also found that a strong grip is important to accuracy, more than for many other autos. I suppose that may be due to its small size and short barrel. I can shoot a Bersa Thunder with greater accuracy.
In 1972 I went shooting with some other recently-returned Vietnam vet USAF pilots, on a friend's ranch SE of Colorado Springs. I had a PPK and had set up a one-meter-square box at about 8 meters (25-feet-ish) and was shooting at rings I drew around a common soup can. One of my friends, thinking he was a close relative of James Bond, held it at about waist level and blazed away. He missed. With every round! I wish I'd had a video of how much the gun jumped in his hand. He also had a fine set of bloody railroad tracks on the web of his hand.