Quote:
Originally Posted by medic15al
Both revolvers purchased new, in the store range witnessed by on site armorer and range staff. Never been in the guns, opened up while there with the armorer and nothing was out of place as shown by video, armorer's manuals, or by myself looking at it. Parts removed and smooth operation afterwards. I wore these afterwards as a PT officer and as armed security as well. Both have had master revolver action jobs done by the PC prior to shipping to me as a custom order.
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Interesting.
So, you're saying that both guns had been worked on by the PC before you got them NIB?
Then, after the problems were experienced, the armorer at the shop removed both the hammers & bolts and found the locking arms secured, meaning the bottom leg was tucked within the recess in the upper surface of the bolt's channel (and would normally be prevented from shifting out of the recess by the presence of the bolt)? The bottom leg of the spring is itty bitty, though, and it might be easy to miss seeing something amiss until the parts were actually being removed by someone knowing what to look for.
When you consider the number of new model revolvers made with the ILS which have
not had ILS-connected problems over the years since the design's been incorporated, the chances of 2 disparate models being bought by a single owner, and both having a "lock" problem, becomes mind-boggling.
Looking at it another way, when a single buyer ends up with 2 such "problem" guns, instead of looking at the guns, it's often better to look at any other common factors that have "touched" both guns. Not saying you did it (since you never removed the sideplates), but what else might've caused 2 randomly purchased NIB guns to suddenly exhibit "lock problems"? Were the springs defective in both guns NIB?
For example, did a single person produce both guns in the production cell (but then the guns both received tuning packages at the PC, which means parts were removed from the guns).
Dunno, but if the design were
that defective and prone to failure, there would be many thousands and thousands of the guns being returned for the problem.
S&W's corporate legal team would have long since started losing their minds with all of the complaints, especially since many of the J-frames
with externally accessible hammers have been, and continue to be, in-service with LE users.
From what we were told, it's the guns that have hammers which can be externally manipulated and thumb-cocked into SA that will always have the ILS system incorporated. You'll notice how it's some of the Centennial style models, which can't be thumb-cocked in SA because of the internal/shrouded DAO hammers, that have been offered sans the ILS.
Dunno what to say about your dismaying experience, but I wish I'd been present and able to examine them, at the bench, when the "locks" apparently unintentionally engaged.
Best regards.
