*Update at Post 38

I recently sent in a 29-2 to address some functional issues. I am sure S&W will address my problem however I am curious about the evaluation/repair process. Does anyone know what steps are performed when a firearm is returned for service?

1. They receive it.
2. They repair it.
3. They fix for free or charge you depending on the gun.
4. They send it back.

They won't keep you in the loop unless they need to replace something that they'll be charging you for. Had you sent in a new gun, they would have repaired it under warranty. They will most likely be charging you on on an older gun like a 29-2.

As I have read here...... some get their guns back in a week or 10 days while others have to wait for what seems like an eternity. It all depends on their work load, vacation schedule, parts availability, and the competency of the people available to do such a repair. Their number of QUALIFIED repair people has dropped while their repair jobs have increased - not a good situation to be in.

Unfortunately, most of their employees are now "glorified parts assemblers" who can do minor fitting. The days of the old time Gunsmiths populating the shop are pretty much a thing of the past.

S&W (at least from what I read) has still not "gotten it"! They would be much much better served if they substantially raised the quality control bar BEFORE guns are shipped then having a constant back log of guns being returned and repaired.The prices on new guns might be less as well since their cost of repairs, shipping, paper work to do so is all factored into the price of new guns. Think about that when they tell you "free lifetime warranty"! It's NOT free - you are paying for it upfront!

My past dealings with S&W customer service have been positive. I agree that better QC would alleviate a number of complaints - such are the times however. I am curious if vintage firearms are handled by a different group of armorers? Also, is there a standard check sheet of items (recalls, recommended upgrades, etc...) that are addressed prior to a firearm being released for return?

I followed up with S&W today in regards to my repair - thirty days since receipt. As expected, there has been no movement. The nice lady I spoke with said warranty repairs are taking 3-4 weeks, with service repair approval requests taking up to three months to be mailed. Nothing earth-shattering however my experience may be of some interest to those contemplating having S&W service a vintage revolver in the near future.

I will update this thread as the service progresses and will also provide a review of the repair and invoice once completed.

You might get lucky but don’t be surprised if your 29-2 needs a part they do not have and you end up paying shipping to and from with nothing repaired. They rarely discuss repairs with any detailed information.

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S&W factory revolver armorer

I shipped a 351C back on Friday for repair of misfiring. When I was on the phone with the CS rep, he told me 4-5 weeks for them to get a look at it.

Last year when I sent another 351C back for repair, they ended up replacing it with this one. That took a few months to complete as they don't make every gun all the time so I had to wait for a batch to be produced.

I have no complaint at all with the process as this is definitely not an EDC gun.

I also wonder if Law Enforcement firearms get priority.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

Good luck on your 351C - I hope they get it squared away!

I wish I had more insight on the service process however it seems to be an enigma. My personal experiences with warranty work were handled fairly quickly and I had no complaints - other than the apparent lack of R&D and QC that necessitated the returns. This is my first service request with S&W however so I am curious to see what transpires.

Thanks. After posting about my problems here, a couple of members suggested that it might be an issue with the firing pin itself. Or maybe the firing pin spring. Either way, I expect it will be fixed.

You might be pleasantly surprised and S&W will fix it at no cost.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

Sent my M29-2 back on April 27, 2018.
Estimate came in the mail on Friday the 13th. 7/13/18.

Called S&W this morning.Jul 26, 2018. They got my credit card info.

Told about summer shutdown for the 2 weeks. This year it's 20 July to 6 August.


Delivered by FedEx today, Aug 15, 2018. Took 3 months and 17 day. S&W was on vacation for 2 weeks, during.

Fired 20 rounds slow and 6 double action.

I was surprised to see a new trigger included with the rest of the old parts. Total cost $148, shipping and all.

I bougnt the gun new. Still had the warrenty card.

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Thanks for sharing your experience 243 - your timeline is in line with the information I received as well. Did you request PC work or was your return for the forcing cone repair?

The cylinder was rotating backwards after firing. S&W suggested the other work. Great job by the gunsmith @ Smith & Wesson.
My 8 3/8" barrel is Mag-Na-Ported. Could be why it was set back, instead of being replaced?

Follow-up #2 - sixty days since receipt. The customer service representative I spoke with told me my revolver was in the performance center for repairs and that I would receive a letter containing further instructions once it had been evaluated. No estimate of timeline was requested or given. I will provide an update at ninety days or when I receive further communication.

I sent a revolver to S&W in March, I called them 2 weeks ago and was told it was in P/C for repairs and it would take about 3-4 weeks in there. I sent a rifle to Ruger last month for repair got it back in 2 weeks.

I sent a 29-2 back many years ago for the same issue of the cylinder rotating backwards upon firing. They replaced the hammer and trigger. This "repair" did not last long, before the same issue reoccured. I learned that replacing the cylinder stop spring with a Wolff extra power spring, resolves this issue, at least for an undeterminate period. A cheap workaround fix. A weakened spring allows the cylinder stop to drop down , from inertia of the recoil, and the torque of the gun, rotates the cylinder slightly. S&W, finally had enough of this issue, and created the endurance package upgrade around 1990.

Update #3 - ninety days since receipt. The representative I spoke with informed me the Performance Center had evaluated my revolver and would mail a quote at some point. I will update this thread at 120 days or when further communication is received.

Update #4 - 120 days since receipt. The representative informed me that the repair quote had just been generated and I should receive it in the mail within 5-7 days.

I received my repaired revolver back just short of five months after sending it in. The package arrived intact however the front sight had punched through the inner box as well as the outer FedEx packaging - no damage is apparent thankfully. The revolver was returned wearing a new set of S&W branded Hogue grips at no charge - I had sent it in with the factory stocks removed so that was a nice surprise. The total cost of my repair was $103 - the Sales Quotation listed the services as replaced hand, adjusted yoke, adjusted cylinder stop and range test. S&W also replaced a damaged yoke screw at no charge. The repair appears to be successful as the lock up/timing are now perfect. The action is also very impressive with the best trigger I have felt on a S&W revolver - I can only assume an action job was performed or maybe I just got lucky.

I am extremely pleased with this repair and the service the Performance Center provided - minus the wait I could not have asked for a better outcome at what I consider a very nominal fee.

Well done on the repairs Smith & Wesson.

After you enjoy your revolver a while you'll forget about the wait. A quality repair today, for anything mechanical requiring work by a good tech, can take a goodly piece of time. If it's a memorably short period to time for the same quality of work we count our lucky stars.

The firearms industry and related custom shops seem to be the only field of interest to my knowledge that customers are required to wait months if not years on getting work done.
Ill bet you could get a custom set of golf clubs, or custom fly fishing rod, or even a fully customized race car built faster than you could get a revolver barrel replaced or custom muzzleloader built.
Why is that?

I have had great Customer Service from Ruger and Glock.

Range report - I put 57 rounds downrange today with no issues. After zeroing, I was easily able to hit my 50 yard plate double-action so all is good. After cleaning, I performed a function check and found the cylinder wIll not consistently rotate in double action (the reason I sent it in initially). I am unable to find a way to duplicate this however it does occur every ten trigger pulls or so. I have never experienced this with a S&W revolver. That it functions perfectly during live fire leads me to believe I should ignore it however these things tend to keep me up at night. Has anyone ever experienced a similar issue? Side note - I do use snap caps when performing function checks on revolvers.

Have you tried it without snap caps? Maybe on one or more the rims are dragging somewhere.
It will not hurt your revolver to try that. If it works better you have your answer. 😎

Thanks - I could try that however I don’t think that would cause the “skip” issue I am experiencing. I have many other Smith revolvers and have never had an issue with or without snap caps. I do believe the caps better duplicate firing conditions but I could be wrong - once again, I experienced no issues during live fire so I am perplexed.

Are you indicating that the hand is not picking up the cylinder at all and thus not causing it to rotate properly, or is the cylinder not fully carrying up?

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Ret. LE, FA Instr, S&W Armorer

That is correct armorer951 - the hand is not exiting the window at all when this occurs. It is intermittent and I cannot replicate it consistently. Timing and lock-up is otherwise perfect.

Broke spring . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

I would guess that the hand is binding in the hand window. If tolerances between the width of the hand and the window width are very tight, the forward motion of the hand at the start of the trigger pull can be impeded.

In some cases, because of the gauge or space in the window, or the hand being slightly bent, (or "twisted" slightly) this can happen due to finger position on the trigger. Have you tried to replicate the malfunction using your left (or weak) hand?

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Ret. LE, FA Instr, S&W Armorer

That’s gotta be frustrating.Hope you get it nailed down. I sent in a 66 last October took exactly 6 months to return to my doorstep. Warranty work however was approximately one month for a new 48 that went back twice right outta the gate.

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Take it easy. Chris

You may be on to something armorer. 50 right-hand pulls resulted in nine failures. 50 left-hand pulls resulted in zero failures. What would this indicate?

Thank you,

The hand is most likely binding in the frame slot. The intermittence of the failure can be caused by the pressure load differences exerted by the finger on the front of the trigger. Changing from one shooting hand to the other changes these dynamics.

Slightly different pull angles can "trap" or interfere with the free motion that is necessary for the design of the hand/trigger assembly to work properly. If the hand is bent slightly off of 90° to the hand pin....bent "inward" or "outward" so to speak.....or it the hand is "twinsted to the right of left on the hand pin, this can sometimes cause intermittent binding and stoppages, which appears to be what you are experiencing.

If you are familiar with the action and disassembly of the revolver, there are things you can try that do not require alteration of the parts.

The other alternative, of course, is to return it to the factory for repair.

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Ret. LE, FA Instr, S&W Armorer

Look at the trigger stud. The difference in left hand and right hand pulls tells me that the trigger itself is "wobbling"It cants to the right, an almost immeasurable amount when you pull right handed, which causes the hand to rub against the window. There is almost no side-to-side clearance in the hand window, so if the trigger cants to the right, the hand will bind and not pick up the ratchet. Likewise, a left hand pull cants the trigger more to the center line and there is no rub. Eiother the trigger stud is loose, or the trigger hole istoo large and allows the triger to wobble.

Then again, I could be full of it. I'm not a gunsmith, just a retired engineer.

John

Thank you for the input - these explanations seem both logical and depressing as I am basically where I was five months ago. I will disassemble it tomorrow to see if I can determine what is causing the interference and go from there.

Once again, thank you for sharing your knowledge.

At the start of your diagnosis, check for "shiny" spots or drag marks (rub marks) on the top side or underside of the hand, where it could be experiencing interference contact with the sides of the hand window slot in the frame.

Also, see if the hand "sings". This is the term S&W uses to describe the noise the hand makes when it moves in and out against the ratchets as the cylinder is turned.
You'll have to pull the hammer back slightly to drop the cylinder stop out of the way and then turn the free cylinder to see if you hear a click, click, click sound as the cylinder is turned. This repeated clicking is a good thing, and is an indication that the hand is moving back and forward (in and out) as the hand bounces repeatedly over the ratchets.

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Ret. LE, FA Instr, S&W Armorer

The hand definitely sings - very consistent and positive clicks.

I discussed my issue with a customer service representative this morning and elected to send the revolver back to S&W to see if they can correct the problem. The representative was keen to assure me the repair would be expedited and also stated the armorer that worked on my revolver was very experienced and was surprised that I was still having issues. I do appreciate those who provided troubleshooting tips and will update this thread as the saga progresses.

I received my return tracking number and should receive my 29 early next week. This fairly quick turn-around did not come without a bit of prodding however and this experience was fairly frustrating overall as the action and follow-up I was told to expect never occurred. I have no insight into what was done to facilitate the repair however additional payment was not requested so that is good. Hopefully all is well now and I can now finally enjoy this revolver.

My 29-2 is finally back in hand. There were no details provided as to what repairs were completed this time however the functional issue seems to have been resolved and it appears the revolver was well cared for both during transit and while at Springfield. I will range test it this weekend to confirm function then start dialing in loads for our upcoming deer season.

My cylinder is unlocking again, rotating backwards.

I sincerely hate to hear that - are you sending it back again? Call me jaded but to this point I have had to request service and/or have continuing issues on four S&W products - a new 686 (sight fell off during the first range session), a new Bodyguard 380 (repeated dropped mags and light strikes - never resolved after returning for service), a new TC Compass II (light strikes) and now this vintage 29. At least their quality remains consistent.

I do know that real stout 44 magnum loads can / will cause the cylinder to rotate backwards in the earlier 29's . The factory resolved that issue introducing the " endurance pkg " in later models . Brian Pierce in an article in Hand Loader magazine wrote an extensive article . If you go on line , do some research you can probably find it .
I don't know what you are shooting but it sounds like full magnum loads is the problem . Back off a couple of grains of powder ( if you are hand loading ) , that should solve the problem . Regards Paul

Going to shoot lighter Unique loads, and avoid 296 powder.

Check out this thread for some additional info.....

Endurance Package Installed on 29-2 "UPDATE"

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Ret. LE, FA Instr, S&W Armorer