UNBELIEVABLE: $1200 OF JUNK FROM THE PC

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Well, as a final salute I nicked my finger on the razor sharp metal on the edges of the forcing cone.... it seems, somebody took a hand file to the back of the cone to "set" the barrel cylinder gap and left the wonderful results. The face of the cone is crowned (rounded), with sharp metal edges on the outside and the attractive file/drag marks on the underside of the topstrap. Now, that's craftsmanship.

I'm done. Putting the gun away until I get some repair parts. My blood pressure is high enough for one day.

Yeah, I'm in a hurry to send it back to these fools? That would be like hiring OJ to find the real killer.
 
Turbo,

IMO, a response such as yours would be more typical on Sigforum than here. Have you ever been inside a S&W revolver? In the past 37 years, I have never seen a break like the one Bountyhunter has found in his new revolver. In my experience, that damage would be almost impossible to have been done during disassembly. I doubt he removed the sideplate with a Craftsman screwdriver. Dean
 
+1 41 fan. Why are you (tomcat and turbo) being so tough on bounty? He was just asking for some help and venting a bit. BTW if you read his follow up posts carefully you would have noticed that he looked at the broken part and it was flash chromed over the break so it was probably a defective part installed at the factory as he says.
 
adweisbe said:
Perfectly believable. You are the QA department.
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Yep, **** happens. I bought a new 4" 627 Pro that came with a hammer that looked like it sat in the sun and wilted and drooped. No idea how that got by, didn't have to take the gun apart to see that one. I sent them (S&W) the hammer they sent me a new one. Not good but not an end of the world thing, particularly if you have the parts on hand to fix it.
 
Sorry boys, guess it's ok to RIP SW, but not to question a poster here.. I was simply sharing my ASSumption... same as Bountyhunter.. The measure of a company is in how they handle supporting their product... none do it better than S&W. That my friend is FACT.
Happy Holidays to all,
 
I had to send back a brand new PC 686-LR back to the factory about a year or so ago. It had this glitch in the DA trigger pull, not to mention ridiculously heavy. I could see that the sear was fitted poorly. You could actually see the hammer kind of cam to one side as you slowly pulled the trigger. Since I thought it to be a really cool gun, I bought it even with this defect! This was in a gun store that keeps a large Smith inventory, but only one of these. I know you pay your money and take your chances when you order a gun not in stock. Here's what I did to put a smile on my face:

I called Smith and asked to speak with someone in the Performance Center. I politely stated my concerns and was told a Fed-Ex shipping label would be sent out. Label arrived promptly, and I even received a follow up letter with work order that my gun had been received. The gun was back in my hands within 10 days after it left my house. Trigger pull was nice and smooth, although still over 10 lbs in DA. Performance Center guns apparently do not get that factory "action job" unless you pay for that service. No, problemo........I tuned that gun to my tastes. Now the gun is simply WONDERFUL!

Bounty hunter..........I did take a look at a forged trigger from an older 14-4 to see how that trigger lever is pinned. I don't see see any obvious stake marks, and my pin is in there tight. I'm sure you can punch it out if so inclined. I've asked Smith for certain small parts in the past, sight pins and such. They were sent at no charge. Now, I am kind of curious about the composition of that 686's trigger lever. I do have the proper forged hammer parts with a pinned sear and mainspring stirrup. I really do not care for the way those parts attach to the MIM Safty-Lock hammers, especially that stirrup. Personally, I would send the whole gun back with a list of your concerns. I'm sure they will make it right. I believe a PC gun gets quick attention. That was my experience. Incidentally, a gunsmith in Iowa named Heffron has a blog, and he was just criticising S&W for slipshod quality. If you google his name, you can see what he has to say.
 
tomcatt51 said:
You're right, he's an "experienced gunsmith'' who had to post here to get S&W's phone #.
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Thanks for reminding me why I quit posting here a while back. I don't need smart mouth jerks pot shotting my posts, especially ones who don't know what they are talking about. For the record, here's what I said:

"I am a gunsmith, albeit not a licensed one since I am in california."

Why would I have smith wesson's number memorized? I have it written down somewhere, I asked for it to save time.

I don't make a living doing gun work, I do it for free for my range friends. And, I have never taken a broad file to a forcing cone and butchered a gun.


I don't know what your problem is, and I don't really care.

I'm done with this thread.
 
turbo38gn said:
Hmmmm, Looks like a clean, new break.... did you break it taking it apart with your Craftsman screwdriver... I'd be pissed too if I broke my new gun...
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Sure, I broke it with my craftsman screwdriver then sent the part out to be re-chromed so the broken piece would be shiny like the rest of the part to fool everybody.

I didn't realize SW reps posted here.
 
<That's not a bright side. I am a gunsmith, albeit not a licensed one since I am in california. My trigger jobs are smoother than anything the PC has ever put out because I am not in a hurry and I take my time. There is no advantage to me having them fix this, it's just a giant waste of my time.>

I'm not so sure about your trigger jobs. Even the PC puts overtravel stops on their triggers. Seems like I read recently that you keep a bag of rebound slide stop rods hanging in your closet........heheheheh!

Just a little teasing from another amateur "gunsmith"........I just couldn't help myself. All kidding aside, take the advice on my previous post. You will be raving about that gun in no time. Perhaps the only thing original will be the frame.........Oh sorry........that file to the topstrap issue.
 
tdan said:
Performance Center guns apparently do not get that factory "action job" unless you pay for that service.
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They don't get any kind of action job. The insides of the frame on mine are very rough, all the internals are "as made" with rough finish. If you want smooth, you have to do it yourself. I don't have a problem with that, although for the price you would think they would do a little better. My DA pull was also about 10#. The gun came with a Wolff ribbed mainspring but not sure if it is full power or reduced power. Doubt it's reduced power with a DA pull that high.

tdan said:
I politely stated my concerns and was told a Fed-Ex shipping label would be sent out. Label arrived promptly, and I even received a follow up letter with work order that my gun had been received. The gun was back in my hands within 10 days after it left my house. Trigger pull was nice and smooth, although still over 10 lbs in DA.
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Glad yours turned out well.

tdan said:
I did take a look at a forged trigger from an older 14-4 to see how that trigger lever is pinned. I don't see see any obvious stake marks, and my pin is in there tight. I'm sure you can punch it out if so inclined.
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The pins in mine show the heads slightly flattened on one side, I assume they were pushed in from that side.

tdan said:
Personally, I would send the whole gun back with a list of your concerns. I'm sure they will make it right.
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If it was a serious problem that I could not do, I would. Sending guns in is not without risk. I have spoken to both FedEx and UPS people about this and they say the reason they require "overnight" shipping or second day air is to REDUCE the chances of it being stolen. If I have to ship guns, I do. But, I avoid it where possible.
 
tdan said:
<That's not a bright side. I am a gunsmith, albeit not a licensed one since I am in california. My trigger jobs are smoother than anything the PC has ever put out because I am not in a hurry and I take my time. There is no advantage to me having them fix this, it's just a giant waste of my time.>

I'm not so sure about your trigger jobs.
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Lucky for me that I don't give a flying crap about your opinion, so I won't be losing any sleep over this.

And yes, I think the stop rods are basically useless. If you think they are great, ask yourself why SW puts them in the 4" barrel version of the 66 and leaves them out of the 6" version. At least, that's how mine came new. If they actually did something useful, don't you think they would put one in each gun?
 
41 fan said:
Have you ever been inside a S&W revolver?
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Nope, never. Wait, except for those maybe two dozen I have blueprinted and worked up for league shooting. And the maybe dozen I have fixed for carry up, end shake, and various age related conditions. Other than that, never.

41 fan said:
I doubt he removed the sideplate with a Craftsman screwdriver. Dean
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Actually, that is exactly what the screwdriver is for. It has been ground to be a perfect fit for sideplate screws. I don't use it to pry with, but I do use the plastic handle to tap the frame to raise the sideplate for removal.
 
turbo38gn said:
Sorry boys, guess it's ok to RIP SW, but not to question a poster here.. I was simply sharing my ASSumption... same as Bountyhunter.. The measure of a company is in how they handle supporting their product... none do it better than S&W. That my friend is FACT.
Happy Holidays to all,
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No offense, but that's a giant crock. The measure of quality is what they deliver. If you ordered a new Lexus and it showed up with body damage, and internal engine problems and the guy said:

"Don't worry...... the body shop will fix that and we'll tear the engine down and see if we can fix it..."

Are you going to be singing their praises? Hell, no. It amazes me that people want to nominate SW for sainthood if they fix a gun that should have never shipped that way in the first place. This isn't a HIDDEN defect, it's an obvious defect anybody who is not legally blind would have seen.

I worked in industry for 33 years, and this crap is the result of "ship it or else" mentality and also a result of laying off the smart people who care and replacing them with bozos who work cheap. Why should we tolerate such shoddy workmanship in guns when we would not tolerate in any other product?
 
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