Update:

Just picked it up last night from being sent back to Smith & Wesson. Haven't had a chance to shoot it yet but it appears someone has run it through its paces, outside of barrel and gas tube under handguard looks like it got pretty warm and BCG is coated in black residue.... I was actually glad to see this as it seemed to indicate to me at least someone got her to run. Broke it down and cleaned it after I got home to see if I could see evidence of something different as S&W sent no information as to what was done, if anything. The lube on the recoil spring smelled different and the bolt was much smoother in the carrier and of course the black residue were all I could find.

Today I received an e-mail from the store that sent it in for me and was told, "We did in fact send in your gun for repair because of the feed ramp and chamber not aligning. When Smith and Wesson send repaired firearms back to us, they just send and invoice with the Serial Number listed and say that the gun has been repaired to Smith and Wesson’s specifications and if there are any questions to call and inquire."

I plan to shoot it this weekend, hope it works.

Thanks for the informative thread, been a pleasure.
Doc