I picked up a model 69 in the first year they came out, and mine is put together exactly like the OP's gun. The locking ball is not centered in the shroud notch, and the top of the barrel serrations do not line up perfectly with the serrations on the top strap of the frame. This appears to be a combination of the barrel shroud being slightly clocked, as well as being a little off laterally to the left. EVERY SINGLE 69 that I have inspected since has this barrel shroud issue to some degree...........most have been much worse than mine. Furthermore, the crown of the barrel liner of my gun was burred up. If I had jammed my fingertip in the bore and twisted, I have no doubt that my finger would be left bleeding. It was that ragged. Has anyone seen this tool that torques the barrel liner to the shroud? I'm speculating that when they torque everything together, these shrouds are forced off-center because of the tolerances in that frame tab/shroud notch indexing solution. I sent my 69 back to Smith complaining about the rough crown and the barrel/frame serrations not lining up. They cleaned up the crown, but I saw no change in barrel/frame alignment. I had the gun back from Smith very quickly. All of this said, this 44 Mag is a great shooter. My gun came with a .003 barrel cylinder gap which was one of the reasons I did not reject it. I knew Smith would fix any major issues. I have not regretted buying this gun. If only I could talk Smith to giving up one of those barrel tools, but they will not budge on that subject. I was told that "each gunsmith" makes his own tool.