I've seen quite a few loose ones over the years (usually on tables at gun shows where someone hopes to lure the uneducated) but as far as everyone making the statement when they try to sell a revolver, that's one of the first questions a lot of prospective buyers ask, even when I suspect they really don't what it means or how to check for it - they've just read enough here to know it must be bad and they should ask about it . . . .

I'd say 98% or better of S&W's I've seen that were made after 1950 have been pretty tight guns. YMMV