Ever have a S&W you hated?

[steamloco76]

We all have multiples of S&W's we cherish and enjoy. I have, however owned three S&W's over the years that have become objects of my scorn. The worst and by far most expensive offender is detailed below.

The most expensive 'hated' Smith on my short list- A early 1980's era Model 41. I had handled and shot one several years before and just fell in love with the 41's. When I finally had the money I treated myself to a pristine used one for my 30th birthday. The gun had been part of a doctor's collection of S&W and High Standard .22 pistols and appeared unfired. I assembled a few brands of target .22 ammo and headed to the range. On the first outing it wouldn't feed the second round from the magazine. I got really terrible 5 to 6 inch groups at 25 yards using CCI Std., Remington Target, Winchester T-22, Federal Match Pistol and a couple other brands. Shot my 617 that same day and got 2 inch groups with no problem. Several more range outings and 2 new mags later I still couldn't get groups under 4 inches with any ammo I tried. Worked my way up the price scale- RWS Target Pistol, CCI Green Tag, Remington-Ely Club Target, Eley Pactice. Still no decent groups. Finally a match pistol expert shot the gun for me and he couldn't get it to group either. He did try Eley Tennex ($$$$) and got a 2.5 inch group. His gun, also a M-41, was cutting one ragged hole with Tennex that day. I put the gun on consignment sale the next day. Sold it for a loss. The person that bought it traded it back in to the dealer a couple months later. No wonder..

 

[Bell Charter Oak Holsters]

I briefly owned a model 34 a long time ago. It was very cranky, or should I say it made ME very cranky. Extremely hard to extract spent casings, misfired frequently. Traded it for a model 18 adding a little cash, and never looked back.

Cheers;
Lefty

 

[m657]

...great thread idea....

can't report any real issues with any S&Ws I've had though....other than the troubles a buddy had with any of his Smith auto collection, which bled through to me such that I've never owned a Smith auto

 

[PA Reb]

One. I disliked it so much I can't even remember the model number . It was one of those snubby double action .357 magnums without a hammer. Never again - I like "traditional" hammered SA/DA revolvers!

 

[Qball]

Well, hate is a big word.
I had a 629 Mountain gun that i never did like.

Sold it to a friend who liked it alot.
All my other Smith & Wessons i loved.
Though i had to sell most of them,
i have kept a model17 and a 19

 

[brucev]

Saved money and bought a S&W 629 Mountain Gun. It was pretty. It was not accurate. Sent it back to S&W. They returned it... no idea what they did to it. It still would only produce 3.5 inch groups from sandbags at 25 yds., and that was about the best it would do. Occasionally I'd get a odd group below 3 inches, but that was only occasionally. The norm was 3.5 inches. I traded it for a Rem. 700 VS-SF in .308 Winchester. With a nice Leupold 6.5-20 on top, it was one of the most boringly accurate rifles I've ever owned. A little over 5,000 rounds and 12 years later, a church member wanted to buy it from me. Two years later, he paid me what I paid for the rifle. It'd still put 10 shots under 1 inch. Excellent rifle. But... I had lost my interest in it. I still wanted a nice 4" .44 S&W. Found a 24-4... Happy! Happy! Happy! With 200 gr. Gold Dots it makes nice little 2 inch groups at 25 yds.! And at "combat" distances firing from a two hand hold groups are just 1 nice ragged hole. Love it! Now only need to find a Bianchi 10L holster... or maybe a El Paso Austin or Tom Threepersons holster. ;-)

 

[Joni_Lynn]

I had a 27 that I couldn't wait to get rid of.

 

[deadin]

Don't think I've ever had one that I hated, unless it was a M36 that the cylinder release chewed up my thumb knuckle when I fired it. (I replaced it with an earlier flat latch and no more problems..)

However I have had a few that I have been disappointed with. A couple of M41's that were just too finicky with what they wanted to be fed and a M547 that just didn't do anything for me. (Of course, for some reason, I don't care for 9mm Para in the first place. Having it in a revolver was even worse..)

 

[sceva]

I had a Mod 14 with an 8 3/8" barrel. It was long, awkward, and I just did not shoot it well. Sold it and never looked back. To this day I just do not care for barrels longer than 6 - 6 1/2".

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Only S&W I ever that I decided was a mistake was an M59, my first-and last-aluminum frame gun. Sold it after 2 years, a few years later I bought an M659-now THAT I like.

 

[Rule3]

Model 317, 3" kit gun. One of the few I bought brand new. Had to have it.

Most inaccurate, poorly assembled gun ever (for me) from SW. Poor cylinder fit, yoke messed up, scraped the inside of the frame.

Didn't even bother to send it back for repair. Sold it and took a bath.

 

[G.T. Smith]

Nope.
Pray for America,
Gordon

 

[mac2]

don't hate any; my 2nd, a 4506 on paper looked great and had good reviews (1991) from many including Mr Ayoob. Bought it because I couldn't find a Sig 220 - v. rare in the UK at that time - even rarer now they're banned...

They tried to get all ergonomic with the grips which didn't work for me - the contour, instead of fitting my hand, dug into the palm, so not particularly fun to shoot. Traded for a Springfield Mod 90.

 

[Bat Guano]

Had a M63 when they first came out; extraction was very sticky. Unloaded it, got an old I-frame Kit. It shot nice, but was inclined to misfires no matter what I did to fix it. Finally gave it to my daughter for a plinker.

On the other hand my faithful old M18 takes up the slack nicely, and I've been pretty satisfied with S&W's quality and service over the years.

I sure liked reading the old catalogues with model NAMES better, though.

 

[NKJ nut]

Just one; a S&W model 5903. That gun was a menace to everything except what you were shooting at. On the other hand i had another 5903 that was very accurate.

Other than that one I have never had a S&W that I didn't like.

 

[Varangi]

Model 469- 9mm. 1st Gen What a piece of Sh--. It had the Dead Man" magazine safety- weapon was useless during a tactical reload. The trigger had extremely long travel in double action. The over travel in single action was just painful. The hammer was bobbed so you could not cheat into single action. The egos on the frame were good, but those plastic grips sucked. I think I still have the box if anybody wants it.

My apologies to any S&W semi-auto guys. I saw too many 3 digit model guns fail in the beginning. Will not depend on them to save my life. I do not own any 3 digit model S&Ws.

Mike E

 

[DCWilson]

None that I actually hate, but one that causes me concern -- a top break .38 safety hammerless. Feels wrong in the hand, terrible trigger pull, unreliable "single-action" staging, inaccurate at almost any distance.

I think most of these problems could be addressed with a little smithing, some custom grips, and practice. But I wonder if it is worth the effort.

 

[7Iron]

Picked up a used 4006 in great shape. All the ergonomics of a 2x4 and the accuracy of a rock. Sold it within 6 months

 

[perrazi]

a 469 that you couldn't hit a barn from the inside with and a 645 that wouldn't feed a full magazine of anything,and tried 6 different mags. other than the early model 41's and 52's, i gave up on smith autos.

 

[JohnnieB]

I love all my S&Ws, I just love one a lot less than the others...

Actually, the the reason one I love less isn't the 637's fault, it's mine.
Big hands vs small grips vs light weight
I can shoot it or I can conceal it, but not both.

I picked up an unmentionable brand in all steel that's doing the job for me until a suitable S&W follows me home.