Hi Guys! As most of you already know of the woes I've had with my 610-2, and have offered some great advice. Unfortunately I cannot afford to take her to a gunsmith at this time, and I'm terribly fearful of shipping her back to the factory, and I've been burned several times selling guns, so I won't sell it. I'm guessing that the 610 will be relegated to the status of "Safe Queen", At least for a couple of years until I can scrounge up some disposable income/nerve to have it fixed. My question is, have any of you retired a "new" firearm? Please tell me about it, and make me feel better about my decision.

I have many firearms that are still unfired since leaving the factory

Some are that way because I bought them with the intent to preserve them.

Some are that way because they are duplicates of things that I already own

Others are that way because I bought them and simply do not have the free time to shoot everything that I currently own

I have never bought a firearm, gone and shot it(or tried to), learned of a function problem and then tucked it away in a safe.

I would always fix it as soon as possible. The is especially important when discussing a discontinued firearm. The longer you wait, the harder it is to get firearm specific parts for the discontinued piece

We're now toting two mortgages, recovering from another adoption fiasco, and we're sending our only child to private school. I can hardly afford to pay attention.

Calling S&W and asking them to supply a return tag costs $0.
Any way you try to excuse it, sitting on a discontinued gun that you think is defective is a bad idea. "Yea, but..." notwithstanding

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Science plus Art

If I bought it it gets shot. If it turns out I don't shoot it enough is gets sold. I am too old to leave a bunch of guns around for my kids to deal with.
That said, what is left is a few really nice firearms that would drive the anti-gunners up a wall.

I went back and read your first thread on your 610. A couple of thoughts/comments:

The only new firearm I’ve ever put aside is a CZ 75BD I’m saving for my son. I shot it evough to know it functions and has good accuracy and does not need any warranty work

This appears to be a new revolver? If so and it’s under warranty, send it in for warranty service. I’m not sure why your reluctant to give S&W a chance to repair under warranty. I sent a 669 semi in for possible safety recall 25 years after the gun was purchased. S&W couldn’t tell me over the phone whether the problem was part of the recall or not. Turns out they repaired the problem without charge even though the parts replaced were not the recalled parts. Also I had the 686 recall done a long time after the recall was announced. Quality work and reasonable turn around.

If you sell the 610 I hope you identify the problem and don’t just dump it on someone else. Would I pay full value for a revolver that has problems? No, but then it has problems. Most people expect a discount on anything used. Gun shops won’t pay full retail for gun, they have to make something. They won’t stay in business without markup.

You might have a gunsmith evaluate your 610 and if it’s a warranty matter then send it into S&W, as the posts on your other thread advised. With a smith’s evaluation, which shouldn’t cost much, you give S&W a place to start from

Warranty returns have been very smooth and painless for me, so far.

If the firearm needs a tweek, I'd warranty fix it and keep it. If it has a design defect that is not changed, I'd warranty fix it and sell/trade it.

I AM MORE THAN EMPATHETIC, WITH YOUR FINANCIAL PLIGHT. YOU HAVE RECEIVED SOME VERY SOUND ADVICE, HOWEVER. YOUR "YES BUT" RESPONSE IS COUNTER PRODUCTIVE ! ! !

AT NO COST TO YOU, YOU CAN SEND YOUR 610 IN FOR WARRANTY WORK---WHILE PARTS FOR THIS DISCONTINUED MODEL ARE STILL AVAILABLE. AND, YOU CAN SEND IT BACK, AS MANY TIMES AS YOU NEED TO, UNTIL ITS FINALLY FIXED RIGHT---STILL AT NO COST TO YOU ! ! !

SO WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM ? ? ?

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'Nam 1968-69.DAV,VFW,NRA Inst.

I only retire shot out firearms that cannot be repaired. I had a aluminum alloy framed revolver that needs a new barrel. However, Colt won't touch it because they are worried the frame might crack during the barrel swap. So, I don't shoot it too much but it's semi-retired for the reason above.

I've had zero problems with Smith and Wesson warranty work. They are great and only rivaled by Springfield Armory for repair work! If sent out today you'd have it back 2 Friday's from now...

No , I guess we are lucky. Here in Baton Rouge there are four gunsmith's . In the New Orleans area ( 90 minutes away) are another four or five.
Within driving distance is the legendary Clark's Custom Guns.
Finding a gunsmith around here has never been a problem.

There is no reason to be fearful of shipping the gun back to the factory or to a smith for work . The gun's not working right....insure it for the value of a replacement....if it gets stolen, you get money. If it gets to the factory (usually that is what happens) they will repair and return insured. I don't see where you can loose !
Sometimes you gotta just do it. I've returned a few and every one got there and came back.
Gary

It's your decision, and if you chose to retire it -- well, it's a free country! No one here would tell you that you cannot do it that way!

But sending it back to the factory is easy, and will result in a gun that you can sell to recover your investment. I've returned several to the factory for warranty work over the years and have had great experiences. They email the mailing label, you follow the instructions and take it to a FEDEX store, and off it goes. (An adult has to sign for it when it comes back to your home address, but if that is a problem during the day, you can have it held for you at a FEDEX location until you can pick it up in person).

As for selling it, after it is fixed up, this is the gun that somebody really wants. You can list it on a local gun sales web page, or one of the major internet sales pages, or put it in the consignment cabinet of a local gun store. It will sell eventually.

Good luck with it. My only recommendation is - life is short, don't put off resolving this issue to your satisfaction!

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S&W Rover

I have a few guns fired once, and retired with no problems. If you have something that Smith will fix for free, send it back. What is so wrong with it?

In my past, I ****canned a few revolvers by selling them. I probably did the right thing, everything considered. However, it would have been smarter and cheaper to deal with S&W, and let them do the fix. This is what I recommend to you. I hope I am right.

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Formerly Model520Fan

I would definitely call S&W for a return ticket.

I have more than one unfired in my safe.
Maybe I am a collector. IDK
Still watch for good deals on things I don't need.
Next purchase... Liberty Safe

I own one unfired handgun and I seriously doubt that I will ever shoot it.

I am expecting to end up with a few more. Hopefully not a lot of them. Just the ones that I like.

I'm trying to exercise as much self control as possible.

The only problem that I'm having is the only thing I have never been able to resist is temptation.

The problem is if you wait 10 years to send the gun back for warranty there most likely will not be parts available. As others have said now is the time to send it back to the factory.

TRADED/SOLD, YES. Keep it & call it, project temporarily on hold. Replacing it later, hasn't worked out too well for me.

Thanks fellas! I plan on calling Smith and Wesson Customer Service today, and see about sending her back for work.

THAT'S A WISE DECISION, Izzydog. GOOD LUCK.....

ONE WORD OF CAUTION--IN CASE IT APPLIES. IF YOUR M61O HAD AN IL, AND YOU REMOVED IT---MAKE SURE THAT YOU REINSTALL IT, BEFORE YOU SEND IT BACK, OTHERWISE, YOU WILL HAVE VOIDED YOUR WARRANTY. AS A RESULT, YOU WILL BE CHARGED WITH SHIPPING BOTH WAYS, THE COST OF A NEW LOCK AND ITS INSTALLATION, AS WELL AS THE COST OF PARTS AND LABOR REQUIRED, TO CORRECT YOUR PROBLEM......

I LEARNED THIS THE HARD WAY, WITH A M617 THAT I SENT IN, BECAUSE IT WAS SPITTING LEAD......

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'Nam 1968-69.DAV,VFW,NRA Inst.

I have a few that I fire less frequently and with standard loads instead of +P's, but none are what I'd consider retired. I get real joy out of shooting very old or heirloom guns

The only one I have "retired" is an all original 1942 vintage S&W Victory, all matching, looks unfired. Only one I have lettered. Probably worth twice what I paid but will probably sell it when I turn 70 years old, no reason to leave it behind after I am gone for the wife to dump at pawn shop for pennies on the dollar.

I have retired some 1911a1’s that we’re tuned by me and proven dependable, reliable and accurate. Some new and some used. I don’t shoot 1911’s much. I have revolvers in the safe retired too. I have many still new, unfired.

I’m 67yo and almost at the cross roads of weeding them out.

I called S&W yesterday and got a shipping label. The fellow that I spoke with said that several things could cause the issue, and none are serious, or expensive. Also the work should be 100% covered under warranty. So, now my only issue is finding an appropriate sized box to ship it in.

To be honest I have several revolvers that I have never shot, and a couple that I've shot very little. The "no shoot" revolvers are NIB 28-2 6", and 520. I have a 58 that I've never shot, a 48 4" that I've shot once "and disliked", and two 4" model 19's. Some others I just don't shoot, because I tend to gravitate towards certain models.

I did that with my Glock 19X. Something tells me that the 19X is not going to be around forever. I also shoot my beloved Colt Delta Elite sparingly because they don’t make the original style Delta anymore and if I could only have one...that would be the one. Yeah, I have two plastic pistols (also have an HK VP9) but that’s just ‘cos. Revolvers are for *real.*

S&W means REVOLVER to me; I only get S&W revolvers til Colt reintroduces the Python or I break down and get a Cobra. I bought the S&W M27 and M586 Classics because they aren’t collectible and are for shooting, and they’re nice shooters. And my 2 1/2” M19-3 has no box and is beat up but mechanically perfect so its collector value is limited...making it great for EDC.

The 610 is on it's way. Hopefully the shop can accurately diagnose its problem. I had a fit getting it shipped off. The local Fed Ex that I went to is in a Walgreen's. When I declared the firearm, like the instructions said to do, the clerks melted down. They had such a negative reaction, that I thought they might call the police. I called Fed Ex customer service and arranged to have the package picked up at the Sheriff's Office. We'll see if S&W repair is as good as it was in the 90's.

Retire a handgun because it needs fixing.

In 1990 I purchased a SA 1911a1 in 45acp. She’s a series 90 with larger sights, tighter frame to slide fit. Plus in black park. Right out of the box she stove piped one round per 8 rd mag. It sat in the safe for a decade I had other guns to shoot. I built my norinco 1911 myself. I have every dvd on how to build, rework on 1911’s. I purchased every 1911 tool from brownells. After test firing my norinco I remembered I had the SA in the safe that’s still new not even a box of ammo was fired out of it. Upon inspection I found the extractor loss it’s tention. I fixed it in 20 minutes.

I don’t like anyone working on my guns. I’d rather learn how to fix it myself if I can.

You learned one thing - you can't ship a firearm at anything but a FedEx / UPS hub. A dropoff in a retail store doesn't happen. They've always been able to pick up a package if I couldn't get to the hub.

But even then the employees are often clueless.

Glad its on its way! Let us know how the repair works out, and ultimately if you can get it to a new home.

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S&W Rover

Can’t say that I’ve retired any, but I’ve “un-retired” several...

Sounds like you've seriously overloaded your backside. Shed debt where ever possible, kid can go to a public school. Don

Yes it's easy but you don't even have to take the gun to the FEDEX shop, FEDEX will pick it up at your home or at least they have for me. I've even had them narrow down the pickup time so that you don't have to wait all day for them.

I've taken guns to a FEDEX facility with a factory return label and had some ignorant jerk at the customer counter say they don't ship guns. Had to tell the fool to get his supervisor who tells him he's wrong. Don

I'm not surprised Walgreen's had a cow. You can't go to any FEDEX location, only shipping hubs and as I said a few minutes ago, they will pick up the gun at your house unless maybe you live in the deep sticks somewhere. Don

One thing that I haven't seen mentioned either here or in your previous thread describing your problem is that a likely cause could be as simple as a Bent Moon Clip. Yeah, I do have a bit of experience with what can happen if a moon clip gets bent having experienced what happens with my 610-3 and 625-8. What I would suggest is that you take a simple 1 dollar electric engraver and number every on of your moon clips. That was if you problem ever re-occurs you can note that the moon clip that was in used may be bent. BTW with a good flat surface it can be somewhat easy to spot the "leg" that is bent and then straighten in with some pliers.

Did his eyes light up as if you were mailing a pipe bomb?
Yep. Take a kid to shooting day wouldnt work with that guy

Next time say youre mailing a broken tool. Thats truth

Yes but only one. That was a 4 inch model 547. I ran 50 rounds through it to check it out and then retired it for an investment. Now I have my doubts if I will let go of it. That is considering how scarce they are.

21-4. As received it had the B/C hap .020 on one side. Front sight flopping around. Butt was 1/2 unfinished raw forging.

Back to S&W. New barrel and front sight.
Sight so low it took the lightest bullet fastest load I'd ever made to get it close to POA.

Traded this dog straight across for a 4" 29-3 and never looked back.

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-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

67? Your still a child! I'll turn 75 in July and have just gotten into revolvers. My brother gave me my fathers Model 19 4" (1980) vintage that I shot some hot 357's through 1 1/2 years ago and I have the barrel split. Took 4 months to locate a nice use one and have it installed. No more 357's through it, only 38's. In the past couple of months I got a 686-6 6" and a 686-6+ 6". The Plus has not been shot yet but the no plus has and is sweet. Proves your never too old.

Hmmm, a m19.....