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Old 02-09-2016, 10:07 PM
officenvironments officenvironments is offline
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Recently picked up a M&P Sport II. In the light of my workbench, it appears the receiver isn't well finished. It's, well, for lack of a better description, very light. Not dark black at all. I contacted S&W and they suggested I send it back to them to look at, even offered to pay for me to send it back. Anyone else had a similar issue. I hate to send it back if this is just the way it is, but the ones in the store looked much darker and better finished. Thoughts?
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Old 02-09-2016, 10:55 PM
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Without a picture it's hard to tell. If S&W is footing the bill, send it back.
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Old 02-09-2016, 11:07 PM
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I don't mean to sound rude, but how much experience do you have with the AR? If I understand you, you are saying that in the store, under their lighting conditions, the guns looked darker, yet when you come home and put it under a bright light on a work bench, it doesn't look as dark?

Do you see bare aluminum, or does it have an even color? What do you mean by "better finished"? I have 3 rifles sitting in my safe, and all 3 are a different shade.

If the coloring is even and you do not see bare aluminum, my bet is that you have nothing to worry about. Rub a little CLP on the dull part and it becomes dark black and shiny... until the CLP dries up anyway.
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Old 02-09-2016, 11:22 PM
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[QUOTE=cyphertext;138942038]I don't mean to sound rude, but how much experience do you have with the AR? If I understand you, you are saying that in the store, under their lighting conditions, the guns looked darker, yet when you come home and put it under a bright light on a work bench, it doesn't look as dark?

Do you see bare aluminum, or does it have an even color? What do you mean by "better finished"? I have 3 rifles sitting in my safe, and all 3 are a different shade.

If the coloring is even and you do not see bare aluminum, my bet is that you have nothing to worry about. Rub a little CLP on the dull part and it becomes dark black and shiny... until the CLP dries up anyway.[/QUOT

I've owned AR's in the past, but that was almost 20 years ago. Colts and Bushmasters back then. I sold off almost everything, spent a decade living in the People's Republic of Maryland, now, back in God's country, don't want to go crazy but thought it would be nice to have an AR in the safe, so, some experience, but not much with these new price point AR's.

I'd say the finish is uneven. It's light in color, compared to the upper, and it's streaky, especially around the imprint, which also seems poorly done. Hard to describe. See pic and let me know if this looks normal to you. Thanks!
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Old 02-10-2016, 12:24 AM
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When I got my Sport, many moons ago, it had that same greyish streaked areas on it. Those cleaned up. However, I can't tell if the S&W logo is clean cut and just has that greyish off color to it, or if it is kinda ragged based on the pic.
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Old 02-10-2016, 01:37 AM
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Kind of hard to tell from the picture, but the finish itself looks ok to me. IME, ARs tend to be more gray than black. And, as mentioned, wiping it with some oil will darken it up to black. Not sure about the stamping, again tough to tell from the picture, but it does look a little off...?

I've had several ARs, and my new Sport II is very well finished, real nice. I've included a picture, hope it helps.
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Old 02-10-2016, 01:41 AM
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Here's another pic. It may help show the upper and lower a little clearer for a comparison...
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Old 02-10-2016, 01:44 AM
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I'd give it a good cleaning and then take it from there.. If it cleans up, you're good to go, if not, I'd send it back. I'd figure after you clean it though, it should be good
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Old 02-10-2016, 08:31 AM
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I vote for the good cleaning first,I have had a some what similar experience and the cleaning made a big difference.
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Old 02-10-2016, 09:54 PM
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I know it's rough to be without the weapon for a couple of weeks but if S&W has offered to look at under their warranty I'd take it. They'll do a lot more than fix any blemish. The rifle will be disassembled and each part inspected and any defects, or potential defects, will be addressed.
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Old 02-10-2016, 10:54 PM
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I know it's rough to be without the weapon for a couple of weeks but if S&W has offered to look at under their warranty I'd take it. They'll do a lot more than fix any blemish. The rifle will be disassembled and each part inspected and any defects, or potential defects, will be addressed.
What do you base this on? If you send it in due to worries about the finish, I doubt they are going to strip it down... they will look at the finish... I wouldn't expect anything more.
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Old 02-10-2016, 11:15 PM
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What do you base this on? If you send it in due to worries about the finish, I doubt they are going to strip it down... they will look at the finish... I wouldn't expect anything more.
I feel like they'd give it a full inspection before it leaves
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Old 02-10-2016, 11:58 PM
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Unless you plan on making it a safe queen I wouldn't worry too much about it. With normal wear, use, in and out of a range bag, bumping around in a case/bag back and forth to the range it will eventually loose the "new look" anyway.
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Old 02-11-2016, 12:26 AM
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I am with cyphertext, rub it down with some CLP, Rem Oil, or Mobil 1 for that matter and see if it looks better.
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Old 02-11-2016, 12:59 AM
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.... I'd say the finish is uneven. It's light in color, compared to the upper, and it's streaky, especially around the imprint, which also seems poorly done. Hard to describe. See pic and let me know if this looks normal to you. Thanks!
Sometimes the anodizing does not match even on pieces of aluminum from the same batch. There will often be some slight variation from one piece to another.
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Old 02-11-2016, 01:33 AM
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Anodized finishes can "dry out" and look gray over time. As suggested above, a light application of CLP and a wipe down with a rag - black, if you don't want to see lint everywhere afterwards - then see what you think.

Tbat and Maddmax pretty well called it, imho. You might have a poor anodizing job, but if I were in your shoes I would only send it back if you see pitting or other defects, or have a function problem. AR's and Blocks are really tools more than fine firearms, and they are meant for hard use. In using, they will get dirty, banged up, etc. All to be expected, and to some, the more worn-in, the better they look!
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Old 02-11-2016, 07:25 AM
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Quote:
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What do you base this on? If you send it in due to worries about the finish, I doubt they are going to strip it down... they will look at the finish... I wouldn't expect anything more.
I base this on experience. I just got back my 1911 from S&W that I sent to replace a plunger tube that broke off and received a check list of parts inspected/repaired.
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Old 02-11-2016, 10:45 AM
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I base this on experience. I just got back my 1911 from S&W that I sent to replace a plunger tube that broke off and received a check list of parts inspected/repaired.
That is a little different than a finish issue. They had to strip your pistol down to do that repair, so if they noticed anything else amiss while they were in there, they fixed it. Since the plunger tube is necessary for the slide stop and safety to function properly, I'm sure they tested the firearm to insure proper function. Very different from a finish issue...

I just know that for most businesses, if you take an item in for repair, they look at what you asked them to look at. If you take your car in because the windshield wipers quit working, they aren't going to look at your CV joints.
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Old 02-11-2016, 03:28 PM
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Just FWIW (and a shout-out to some fine customer service on the part of S&W)...

I just recently purchased an M&P Sport, and a couple of days later, I noticed two tiny nicks on the barrel, down to the underlying, bare metal -- and hadn't even fired it yet. It's POSSIBLE that I did the damage, while doing the initial field strip/cleaning, but I don't think I did; I'm guessing it was there when I bought it, and just didn't notice.

In any case, I contacted S&W by email, telling them about the nicks, and being not sure when/how they got there, but I was concerned about potential for rusting, and so I asked if that was something that could be "touched up" by a gunsmith. Their response to me was a pre-paid shipping label -- which I was pleasantly surprised by.

I boxed up the gun, and took it to the FedEx store Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 2. I received the gun back today, Feb. 11, at lunch time. Notes say they re-finished the barrel; it looks great, and a nine-day turnaround time, including shipping both ways, is awfully impressive IMO.

Point being, if you do send it in, they seem to have a quick turnaround time, and will do you right -- at least based on my experience.

KUDOS, S&W customer service!

Steve
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Old 03-01-2016, 05:12 PM
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So after debating with myself for a few weeks, the AR in question went out today. S&W Customer Service has been outstanding to deal with so far. I'll update this thread when I hear back from them.
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Old 03-01-2016, 05:39 PM
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That pic looked fine to me. Certain finishes don't look even. And definitely not something I'd bother with since it serves no real functional purpose
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Old 03-01-2016, 06:02 PM
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I have various AR's that are lighter and some that are darker. But I would want the upper to match the lower with no permanent streaks. It's hard to tell from the picture but in addition to the streaking, the roll mark (logo) looked a bit ragged. I'm hoping this was chemical and the streaking was just junk that needed to be cleaned off.

Since the surfaces of these AR's are flat and rough, chemicals will affect the looks more. When the insides of mine need a good enema, I hit the inside really good with GunScrubber or brake cleaner and then a blasting with OneShot. Any of either chemical that gets on the outside will streak and it doesn't rub off dry. The outside then needs to be evened out with a good oil rub-down - I use BreakFree, Mobile1, Ballistol... whatever I feel like smelling for a while.

Good luck with yours (I saw where you sent it in).

Last edited by tcon; 03-01-2016 at 06:03 PM.
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Old 03-02-2016, 09:44 AM
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Mine looked a bit ragged in spots straight out of the box but when I did a complete strip and clean with G96 it solved the issue.
Gun looks immaculate now.....
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Old 04-21-2016, 05:17 PM
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UPDATE: S&W sent an email acknowledging receipt of the rifle on March 9. Today, April 21, I finally heard back. They've replaced the lower with a new one so new serial number, has to ship to a FFL, new paperwork, etc. All they really said was that the one I had did not pass inspection upon return. S&W customer service has been great to deal with other than it taking 7+ weeks to let me know what they were going to do. It's supposed to arrive early next week at the FFL dealer so I'll update again then.
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Old 04-28-2016, 04:15 PM
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Starting to get frustrated. Per my previous post, on April 21 I was told by S&W customer service that the rifle was ready to ship back to me and that I should receive an email with tracking information that day or the next day. On April 25, having received no email, I called back. I was told they were behind and I should get the tracking number that day or the next. On April 27, still having received no email, I called again. Now I'm being told that there's a "batch" of shipping that has not gotten done and the customer service person said that her supervisor had been alerted and I would receive email tracking information as soon as she had it. So here we are, late on the 28th. No tracking information. Tomorrow will be 8 weeks since they received the rifle. This is starting to get REALLY old.
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Old 04-28-2016, 05:38 PM
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I bought a M&P-15 back in early November of 2008. If you remember there wasn't an AR to be found anyplace by the middle of December. The one I ordered from my dealer came in withe the actual upper metal badly wrinkled from not filling out the die during forging.

Not wanting to get mixed up with what had to be craziness at S&W, I didn't send it back in and considered the wrinkles "character" because the gun shot and worked just fine.

I eventually decided that the wrinkles might effect resale value so I contacted S&W in late October of 2009. Th service rep chided me for waiting until the last minute to contact them, but sent me a call tag. I actually got the rifle back before I got the email saying they received it. The barrel, bolt carrier, and bolt (which is also badly wrinkled) were from the original gun. I now have character marks on the front sight tower and taper pins from them changing out the upper.

I can live with it. I spend more time shooting it than I do fondling it, so a few marks and blemishes mean little to me, regardless of from their origin.

I sincerely hope the OP gets his back soon.
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Old 05-05-2016, 11:13 AM
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I picked up my M&P-15 with the replaced lower yesterday from my local FFL. New serial number (which is why they couldn't ship it directly back to me). Night and day difference between this one and the one I sent back. This one looks great. A lot of folks have posted that it's a tool and who cares what it looks like, but for me, I just couldn't be OK with the way it looked. It took exactly 63 days from the day I dropped it off at FedEx till I picked it up at the FFL (which was the same day they received it). The process took longer than I would have preferred but I am very happy with the results. S&W customer service was pretty good to deal with up to the last few weeks. The person that I guess was assigned to my repair was not very good at communicating. She couldn't seem to get my email address right and I never did receive a tracking number from her. I finally called in to just general customer service and gave them my RMA number and they were able to look up the tracking number. So, given that one individual and the turnaround time, I'm still pretty pleased.
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Old 05-05-2016, 11:23 AM
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Default Here she is.

Re-accessorized. New riser on it's way but this is the current setup. IMG_1529.JPG
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