Thought i'd dig this thread back up and give some closure. I got the gun back the other day. They opted to replace the frame versus replacing the whole gun. Which is fine by me as they reused the perfect replacement barrel from when I originally sent it in for bore/crown problems.

I looked it over VERY thoroughly after I got it, I even removed the sideplate to inspect the internals (and to oil as well, the insides were bone dry). My discerning eye can find no flaws and the gun is now as it should have been from the get-go. After 3 months I should finally be able to shoot this gun at the range this coming weekend. If it functions as it should, I will consider this a success story.

That being said, I think I will remain hesitant to ever buy a new production S&W revolver again after going through this 3 month long ordeal, but then again about the only other S&W revolver I still need for my collection is a 686, which is easy enough to find an older example. I probably would have opted to buy an older pre-lock 10-shot 617 if they weren't so insanely difficult to find.