It's on the Fedex truck heading back to the mothership. Think I'll throw on a 3913TSW, change the lineup for a few days.

I carry a no dash 649 in my pocket every day.............For many years it was the 342PD that I said earler had 1500 rds of 135gr +P through her with no problems.

Someone offered me a price that was good enough to part with that gun, I will say this it did take a few days to get used to the extra weight riding in my Kramer Pocket Rig but I don't even notice it now. The best thing was I became so used to training with the Airlite and +P ammo firing my 649 No dash with the 135gr +P GDHP feels like a 2" Model 64.

Ladder13, I figured you were going to have to go through Rich with the replacement and have your license ammended to reflect the new serial number and remove the old.

Mine, likewise, is headed north. My FFL looked at it, and, like me, wasn't sure. OTIH, as we both agreed, what else could cause such a thing. There's nothing there that could scratch it, and the line is so perfectly straight, just like Ladders, but not as deep and wide.

My FFL has had enough of the cracked Smiths that he has a standard letter on his computer, and all he has to do is fill in the model and serial number. That shakes my confidence in S&W.

Anyway, I'd been thinking about buying another 642 or, preferably, a 638 without the locks. I posted a WTB here, but I expect I am wasting my time.

In the meantime, I am carrying my pre-36 with the small trigger guard. It's soooo heavy, though!

Bob

If they offered the Model 40, I'd probably buy one of those. Unfortunately, they stopped making the Model 40 in the classic line, although they were a bit expensive.

In any case, when I get back from vacation I'll call S&W customer service and see what they have to say.

I'm confident they'll stand behind their product.

Bob, you could get a new 442-642 from Budsgunshop cheaper than used. Being a cop and a vet, you can get one from Budspolicesupplies for $320 shipped. My dealer can' get them that cheap.

This is an interesting thread!

John

I dont think you will have any problems with warranty, I must admit I really liked the Classic Line when they came out, all three of the available finishes were gorgeous.

Thanks Ladder, I'll check it out.

Bob

Ok you got me thinking, I have a 642-2 with the lock and I HAD to go check it. No crack but found I had not cleaned it yet from last trip to the range. My bad I am on my way to the work bench. thanks for the heads up

checked my 342, 642-1, and 49 - happy to say no-crack.

My 642 got to the factory this morning at 9am, we'll see.............

Quite funny how it goes from NY to Newark NJ, then to Springfield Mass.

ladder13,
This thread got me to check my 442-1. I've had it for about a year now and am closing in on 1500 rds. Mostly homegrown loads but some pretty stout. So far no crack. My 442 is a no IL. Maybe you like the stainless look better but if you wanted a no IL gun you may be able to pick one of them up?

UPDATE:

Received a letter from customer service, with a work order number, today. Should hear something soon, I suppose.

Called Customer Service this morning, the 642 has been "scrapped" as they put it. They asked for FFL info, I'm faxing over the FFL right now.
No word of lock vs no lock, they couldn't tell me. I have a buyer for this gun if it has the IL, he doesn't care if there's a lock or not.
Kudo's to S&W.

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Sure you did

Just checked my 1982 Model 37 (no dash), and I didn't find any cracks. (Heavy sigh of relief.) This Airweight is with me near 24/7 since it rides in my pocket at work and is my second primary concealed carry.

ECS

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CPT, Armor (Ret)
Luke 22:36

Gary, did you send your gun back yet?

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Sure you did

I haven't done anything yet. I'm planning to go on a factory tour in April and will call them about a week before. You can drop guns for repair off in person at the guard house. They won't guarantee that it will be turned around in the same day, but it usually is from what I've seen.

I'll keep everyone up to date.

Gary, is that only for MA residents, or could an out of state person deliver their gun directly to the factory? Just curious.

I would guess it's for everyone, but given the MA gun laws, it's not feasible for most out of state residents. In MA, you need a license for the mere possession of a handgun (or any firearm for that matter). MA has no reciprocity with any other state and for a Non Resident License To Carry, you must appear in person for an interview. A NRLTC also costs $100.00 year and you must appear every year for an interview (I think).

Unless you are in a neighboring state and travel to MA frequently, it's hardly worth it.

Update on S&W customer service.

My 642 was replaced with a brand new 642 in less than 10 days. They even paid my FFL for his transfer fee. Kudo's to Smith.

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Sure you did

Ladder, Does the new gun have the lock ??
Thanks John

Glad to hear such a good report about S&W. Glad to hear you got your new gun fast too!

John

Congrats on your results. I missed this thread before, but it is very informative. Thanks for sharing.

Josh P

The new gun is a no-lock just as the one sent in. I'm fortunate to have more than one gun, so had the gun not been replaced in 2,3,or 4 weeks, it wouldn't have bothered me. I'm sure that S&W would probably have a good reason, it's not like they're holding onto the gun to see how long before I would go onto an internet forum and say bad things about them. Maybe I'm abnormal, but I don't get upset if my gun is sent in yesterday and not replaced today. It's only an object to me, just like a defective watch or chainsaw. IF it's your ONLY gun, then that's a whole other issue, and I can understand the concern. I'm glad some learned a little more about these guns than they knew beforehand. YMMV

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Sure you did

Yep, good points Mike. I've noticed some people on the Board totally like the spoiled little kid whose toy broke and he screams like a baby until mommy replaces it. Heck, if S&W is replacing someones broken toy with no hitches, how can anyone have the nuts to cry about it... oh well, some people just can't be satisfied.. nice to see normal people like you share your good story in a grown up way... Great company that S&W

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Jack C

Well, if you read the whole thread, you could gather that I was disappointed, no doubt. But, I posted it mainly to give others some info about the cracked frames, which HAS been discussed before.
For me it's not the end of the world. I have 3 friends who within the past year were diagnosed with various forms of cancer, THAT's more important to me than some firearm. All are in good shape now.
In addition, I'm sure the gun would have continued to do, at least for a short time maybe longer, what it was made for, firing ammunition. So the ability to defend myself had the need arose would not have been in question. Matter of fact, I carried the gun for 2 days after I discovered the crack until the shipping label arrived. Told ya I was abnormal

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Sure you did

I agree with you 100% turbo38gn and ladder13. I too get tired of all the negative whinning that goes on. It is only a gun!
Another thing I get tired of is the barrel indexing issue! All of my S&W's are not indexed perfectly. If the sights can be adjusted within reason to make it shoot what is the problem? I just saw a pic posted this week here of someone claiming thier barrel was not indexed and shouldn't have left the factory that way. I looked at the pic and it was better than most of my S&W's!

Good news and and a good thread. I enjoyed it very much.

John

S&W is much more than just a gun manufacturer. They train law enforcement presonnel and have been doing so for decades. They run armorer training classes for gunsmiths. They provide soup to nuts advice and engineering expertise to security companies. They provide specialized manufacturing to other industries. They have a great shooting sports center in Mass providing resources for new and potential firearm purchasers. And on and on.

And people have no problem with letting the company go under because they don't make A gun that appeals to THEM?

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Sure you did

Like Colt, Smith & Wesson built their fine reputation on revolvers. I have a sense that with all their military and LE contracts for polymerized products that go bang multiple times has taken the focus off their revolvers, and QC has suffered as a result. Sad what the Harvard-Business-School types, bean counters and legal beagles can do to a good company.

That's ugly, I'm sure that S&W will make it right, good luck.

Mike ... Good to hear you got a replacement exactly to your liking. And you make a lot of valid points that are often overlooked. S&W backs up its products 100%, which is tough to beat. If a pistol fails mechanically or structurally, it gets taken care of asap. Is it inconvenient to the owner? Maybe, but in the whole scheme of things, it's not the end of the world. And as far as the gratuitous whiners and bashers who talk ad nauseum about how terrible S&W products are, QC, etc. --> Shaddap.

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I'm with the banned ...

S&W has made it right, they replaced the gun. I'm happy. They honored their warranty, that's all I could ask for, even though I was not the original owner. In todays world, some slick haired lawyer would have used that info to deny me warranty coverage, and honestly he would have been right if one follows the warranty to the full letter.
I have a good friend, Dennis, who works for Kimber. Some here, who own Kimbers, may have had interactions with him since quite frequently he's on the phone in addition to his duties in the Custom Shop.You need to hear the stories he tells about how people butcher their guns and send em' back to Kimber claiming they came that way from the factory. Or the folks who want to know why their 40 caliber ammo cannot be used in their 45 guns "because the hole is bigger than the ammo" YES, that's one of many stories I've heard.
Sorry for the drift here , I started to write:
Kimbers warranty can't hold a candle to Smiths warranty, btw. The guns are hardly what anyone would consider inexpensive.

Edited: Dennis is either loved or hated, he reads some of the forum stuff written about him. He really doesn't care much, haters hate.

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Sure you did

Thanks. I don't work for S&W or own any of their stock Some people may get tired of me saying "they'll make it right", I understand. But hearing the usual suspects saying that the new guns are nothing but junk, or "I don't buy anything made after blah blah blah year" over and over again, is equally tiring.
I wonder why they're even here, I'm sure the Glock forum could use a few more members.
My experiences with customer service have been nothing but great, and there's been a few times when I needed them. Where are these folks going to get their screws and parts for their guns? Numrich, Brownells? Where do you think they get those parts from?I wonder how many comment on customer service or the quality of new guns that have either never interacted with CS nor own a new gun? Is it just fashionable to jump on the bandwagon nowadays? Is CS perfect? NO, who is?
Seriously.

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Sure you did

This thread makes me grateful that my Model 49 isn't a Model 38.

I often carry my Model 38 Airweight in my pocket...were it a steel 49, I doubt I would.
My Model 38 is one of my favorite handguns. It would be a real downer if it cracked like the ones in this thread.

my 49 is a beauty. rich, deep bluing, forged hammer and trigger, but there's no getting around it: it's a boat anchor compared to my 342.

Well, I'm a happy guy. Smith returned my revolver today, said that the "thing" I saw wasn't a crack after all, shot the gun to make sure it was right and even cleaned it afterwards.

And, it's a Smith 642 no-dash which I didn't realize was so rare and valuable till I read another members post trying to trade his. At least I'd like to think he's right and my widow will get bazillions for it when I'm gone. Actually never seems to work out that way for me, though. But, maybe....

In the meantime, I picked up a like new 642-1 that shoots very well, so I'm all set with carry guns.

Bob

All's well that ends well Bob . I posted a message received from a forum member here about his experience with CS as well.

I've got a rant!! You may not like it....

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Sure you did

I have always had good luck with any kind of communication I have had with any firearms company or firearms related company.

I think attitude and politeness go a long way to having good results with any CS situation. Too many people have the attitude that "if you don't fix this I will scream". LOL

People are not taught manners anymore by thier parents. Our culture has changed. How sad!

John

Got a call from CS yesterday. The frame is cracked and they are going to replace the gun via shipping to FFL.

Mine was a 442 in satin nickle finish, which they don't make any longer. It was also an early production gun on the smaller frame. From reading here and SCSW, it seems that they increased the frame size to accomodate the .357 round and that is now called the "J Magnum" frame. The original frame isn't produced any longer, hence I get an entire new firearm.

From that my guess is that if you have a smaller frame you get a new gun. That has a new SN and has to be shipped to you via a FFL who does the transfer.

If you have a J Magnum frame with a crack, you get a new frame and barrel and your internals are stuffed in. The frame gets the same serial number you originally had and it's shipped back to you directly.

Since they don't make the 442 in Stain Nickel any longer, I got my choice of a 442 in Blue or a 642 in Matte Silver. I picked the 642 since it's the closest to what I have. I also asked for a no lock gun. I can get it, but most of the current production has the lock, so there will be a delay until they make up a batch of no lock guns. Fine with me, and the CS guy said that is also his personal preference, especially for a SD gun.

Oh, it was five business days (including one MA state holiday) from the time I dropped it off until I got the call.
Which is within their time line goal. I'm very happy so far, and will be more so when I get the replacement.

That's no BS CS if you ask me.

glad they took care of you.

Gary, glad they worked out a remedy for you, though you're not getting an "equal" replacement. I also have a nickel 442 with the small frame. Since the gun is fairly rare I've decided to relegate it to safe duty, even though I believe the gun probably will never suffer the same fate as my 642. Seems like the frame cracking starts at the factory, and most people don't notice it until it becomes very apparent.

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Sure you did

I had one of those satin 442's as well. Made the mistake of getting it duracoated, and it turned out pretty badly. I traded it off over a year ago. Kinda wish I never messed with it and kept it in the safe.

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Mike C

It's too bad that they don't make that exact gun. The thing I liked about it was that it was pretty rust resistant. I used to carry it when I ran and I sweated all over it. The only hint of rust was on the grip screw. Other than that and a few scratches here and there, it was very clean.

Still, the 642 will be a suitable replacement for pocket or concealed carry. I might even dig out my old waist pack holster and use it when I ride my bike.

ETA: Just got the call, the 642 shipped out to LGS yesterday and they should have it tomorrow. Customer Service even gave me the serial number.

get a rope...

My Smith 329pd had the same crack. They said it's more common in the scandium and aluminum alloy frames. They sent my new replacement as soon as they had a new run being produced. They MUST ship it to an FFL so it can be properly registered(answering question above if Smith will send a new one to the owner). The sad thing is if this happens and they don't make the model anymore....then your out of luck unless they, make another you can apply the value of yours towards. Pushing the tensile strength of metal causes breakage from time to time. Smith will always do what they can to make it right.

That isn't a crack...it's a crevice. Hate that for you.

I had a late 1970s nickel 37 that was given to me by a friend who was at the end of his shooting days. Never really liked the gun. Glad I traded it for a S&W M1917!

Fixed it for ya...this crack isn't limited to new revolvers only. Think 37, 38, and even their big brother, the 12.

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Jim

Holy Necropost, Batman.

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NHI, 10-8.