thank you s&w rover. that is the point i was trying to make, although after rereading my original post i was a little confusing. i am disappointed that they would ship a pistol out with this obvious issue. granted, it will probably shoot just fine forever. but that's not the issue. i paid a lot of money( to me) and spent hrs researching( had plenty of time-off of work until 10lb restriction was lifted) and chose this pistol. i read every sd post on this site if they are letting things like this go through, what else are they overlooking that we(as consumers)are oblivious to? i would love for smith to restamp/replace the slide. i haven't even shot it yet. i will call on monday and see what they say. i will post what transpires here. i was given my first pistol (22cal mod 34) when i was 16yrs old, and literally wore it out. they repaired it no charge. i hope this is repeated.