My new 686 Plus 3" that is at the LGS during the 10 day waiting period as we speak, is all scratched up, just as you are describing. When I first pulled it out of the box to examine it I thought Sportsmans Outdoor Superstore had accidently sent me a used gun, it is scratched up so bad. It's not a huge deal, because I plan on sending it in for the Combat Revolver Package anyways, so it'll come back glass beaded.

On the other hand, it has an incredibly noticeable canted barrel. On a short 3" barrel, that's saying something. When I look through the rear sights the top of the front sight post sits at an angle. I've had about 5 or so S&W revolvers over the years and this is the second very visibly canted barrel that I've bought from them. I totally agree with the folks who say that the internet blows the percentage of problems out of the water, due to being such an easy source of sharing complaints. On the other hand, I've noticed a disturbing trend of people who have never had an issue coming across as disbelieving of those who have. It's easy to ignore an issue that has never happened to you, and to say it doesn't exist.

As I said, 2 canted barrels out of 5 revolvers is not a minor thing. Add to that the fact that I don't stress over minor cosmetic issues. But in this case the issue is not cosmetic because I want to put a set of fixed aftermarket iron sights on it, and a canted barrel obviously can't be adjusted for with fixed sights. So at the end of the day, I plan on sending it to the Performance Center for the package, and also telling them I expect it to be straight when I get it back.