I got my 986 back from S&W's warranty service yesterday. Door to door in 26 days, quicker than i was expecting. It had a timing problem and I asked about paying for a taller rear sight. The repair slip showed a new extractor and complete rear sight installed at no charge. They even put the old sight in the box. The tech also re-used the screw I had fitted to fill the the threaded hole to limit scortching on the cylinder. The timing is now perfect.

This got me thinking about my other experiences with Smith revolvers and warranty service. Since April 2015 I have bought 23 new Smith revolvers and only sent in two others for warranty work besides the 986.

First is my Model 67. Its barrel was pointed to the right enough to need the sight clicked all the way right to hit the target. S&W fixed it in only a few weeks.

Next was a Model 57 Classic. This gun had an uneven barrel to cylinder gap, .005" on one side and .012" on the other side. They called it an "open barrel cylinder gap". The gun was so accurate I hesitated to send it in. Smith rebarreled it and set a flawless .004" gap. The revolver retained its fine accuracy. That only took three weeks.

So my experience with the quality of newer S&W revolvers is pretty good. The quality of the warranty work has been excellent. When I read all the complaining about the newer revolvers' quality, I feel pretty good about mine and think we just hear far less from satisfied late model owners.

Good to hear that .Glad your experianced ha e been positive.

That's a great report! Our natural inclination can tend to focus on the issues when CS is less than stellar. Negative experiences get posted on the inter-webs and rightfully so- in hopes someone at the mother-ship is talking notes to improve the CS experience. I'm with you in that it is just as important to highlight the good and positively reinforce at the CS employee level that we appreciate their efforts. It's comments like these that can motivate them to continue to offer outstanding CS.

I had to return a new M&P 40c many years ago for terribly out of spec trigger pull. No hassles at all, and I couldn't believe how sweet my firearm was upon it's return. It was night and day. Two other times when 3rd Gen magazine floorplates were unavailable elsewhere I called S&W CS and lo and behold they kindly shipped them to me free of charge. That's some excellent CS and above and beyond in my book.

I'm happy to say that I've had good experiences with their CS dept. I've sent in many revolvers or have had certain requests and the person behind the curtain takes care of it. That level of service costs money which is why I suspect we pay more for a Smith than some of the other brands but they stand behind most of us and our firearm needs!

I bought a 5 inch 29 Classic with a loose firing pin bushing.

Called S&W, got a snarky op. Called back and got the postage paid both ways and my gun fixed.

My 940 experienced either a broken firing pin or spring. Called, got the shipping label and sent it in. Less than two weeks later I had it back -- fully functional.

On March 24th I took it and my 547 out to celebrate the high school kids exercising their 1st Amendment rights. The 940 was flawless. The 547 -- for the first time ever -- had a series of light primer strikes. Called, got the shipping label and sent it in. It took a long time for the CS rep to answer, and I mentioned they must be busy. "Yes, extremely." She was courteous as could be and told me the time might be up to twelve weeks. "Okay." Hoping for the same good outcome this time.

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Wrangler of stray Chiefs
Bob

My 617 that I shot in Steel Challenge competition developed a crack in the frame. I called S&W . I had a brand new 617 in 15 days.

I honestly feel we shouldn’t need any new or used product repaired. But it’s nice to know it’s there.

26 days, that's great!

Curious, where did you get the longer screw? I would like to do the same thing on one of my custom revolvers. I have a 66 that is bead blast and the scorching is a pain to get off sometimes.

I got those screws from Midway. They are Forster .200 diameter head 6-48x1/4" blued. They came in ten packs. The 1/4" length is slightly too long so it has to be filed down and test fitted. This will greatly reduce but not eliminate the scorching.

Nice to hear. Thank you.

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Mike
S&WCA #3065

Awesome, thanks so much, ordering them now!

Note that those screw heads are a little thicker so they don't fit fully flush like the factory screws but the bevel is correct so they stay tight.

Just a follow-up on my warranty returned 986. Took it to the range and fired 240 rounds of various loads and primer brand. I used the stock main spring and strain screw because of all the different primers involved, including some CCI small pistol magnums. All of them fired first time.

I don't know for a fact but it's possible the S&W tech may have somehow slicked the action some. Even with full main spring tension, the action felt smoother than I remembered.

I use this gun for plinking and dot torture. Its never been as accurate as my 929 or a good 38. I did discover the cylinder throats pass a .357" bullet with only slight resistance, so I loaded some 38 cal jacketed and plated bullets to try. The accuracy improved with some of these loads to equal the 929. 125 XTP's and Rainier 125 HP's worked really well. Think I'll enjoy some experimenting with ammo for this 986.

I hear what your saying but what you're referring to is "perfection"...that doesn't happen with anything in this world. All you can hope for when (not if) problems arise is that there is someone to help. It's been my experience that S&W does pretty good at that.

I wrote to S&W and asked for two front screws for the sight assembly -- for my 586 and 686 -- and they sent me two for free. While waiting for them to show up in the mail, I found some 6-48 screws with allen-wrench heads at the local Ace Hardware store, in the drawer marked "gun screws." I ground one down to the right length (e.g., not when in the gun, but before screwing it into the threaded hole). Funny thing is, I like the way it looks and only used one of the ones S&W sent me. I got the screws free from S&W just by talking to the CS rep and telling him what I was trying to do -- prevent those scorch marks on the cylinder.

But, to divert back from thread drift, I have always gotten great warranty service from S&W, and found them to be very generous in providing small parts for free. As I mentioned before, if I think I need a new part, I like to send the old one (e.g., a broken SD9 recoil spring assembly one time) in an envelope to show I sincerely need the item, I'm not just trying to cage some free stuff from them.

More anecdotal evidence: A long time ago, I sent my Mdl 65-5 in for a cylinder that wouldn't turn -- they diagnosed it as having "cylinder cramps" -- and they fixed it for free. Later I realized it was just a fouled extractor rod and I could have cleaned that myself by loosening one screw. Another time, more recently, my 686 would not carry up fully for three of seven bore holes -- they fitted a new hand for free. That one is beyond my ability to do myself.

In short, S&W does a great job with warranty repairs, at least they have for me. I know folks get a little grumpy about repairs they believe should never be required, such as flaws that show up on new guns (e.g., clocked barrels) but it is at least good to know we have recourse to get these things fixed.

Bottom line, I have loyalty for this company because of their customer service as well as the overall quality of the products and have foregone buying fancy geegaws (e.g., a Kimber K6 or a Colt Cobra) because of that loyalty.

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S&W Rover

Bought a used 5906 TSW marked "B.P.D." several years ago with a loose light rail. Called S&W, they sent me a shipping label, repaired and returned to me, no charge. That is customer service.
Anybody know what department marked as such? Acid etched at factory I presume.

Just wondering if Service center will send any communication saying that they have received a firearm once it has been shipped to them>? I had to send my brand new un-fired 619-6 in even before I had time to enjoy it :-(