BigBoku
Member
I'd call them and clear that up, a ride to Richies is always a good day!!!!!!!!
The dreaded frame crack
- Thread starter ladder13
- Start date
BLACKHAWKNJ
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Fudd that I am, that is why I prefer the Feel of Steel.
OP
So there I was, minding my own business, reading through this thread. I have a 20 or so year old 442 with satin finish. It's the one I just go through replacing the rebound and main spring on to lighten the trigger pull. Going to be my pocket gun.
I decided to casually walk down to the gun safe and take a quick peek at mine just be sure I didn't have a frame crack. I don't have 500 rounds through this, so how likely is it? Cant' be, right?
I opened the safe, took out the piece, opened the cylinder and - HOLY GUACAMOLE!
A huge crack, easily twice as wide as the one in the photo.
I'll probably wait until I go out to the factory for a tour in April to bring it in.
Thanks ladder 13 for starting this thread. It would be bad enough if the barrel fell of at the range, imagine if I actually had to use it for self defense.
I decided to casually walk down to the gun safe and take a quick peek at mine just be sure I didn't have a frame crack. I don't have 500 rounds through this, so how likely is it? Cant' be, right?
I opened the safe, took out the piece, opened the cylinder and - HOLY GUACAMOLE!
A huge crack, easily twice as wide as the one in the photo.
I'll probably wait until I go out to the factory for a tour in April to bring it in.
Thanks ladder 13 for starting this thread. It would be bad enough if the barrel fell of at the range, imagine if I actually had to use it for self defense.
OP
jimmyjoe
Member
In living color
That is ugly. I'm going to check mine right now.......
I'm checking all my other Airweights in the morning. Sorry to hear about yours.
Thanks. I'm sure they'll make it right, but I don't know if they even have that finish any longer.
BigBoku
Member
OP
Gary, there's no brushed nickel 442's being made anymore.
I expect that they will. If all they do is take the guts out and put them into a new frame/barrel, that's fine. I'd hate to think that I have to restore mine to as built in order for my springs not to be lost.
photoman
Member
I would love to test a cracked one and see what really happens. My guess is it would not fail catastrophically.
Maximumbob54
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Thanks all, since they're producing no-locks it shouldn't be an issue. Actually being offered ANY no lock J would work, maybe a M&P 340 perhaps?
Louie, I may have to get the new gun shipped to Richie, I don't know if Smith ships directly to the owner.
It depends on your state's requirements. Florida law required mine shipped back to an FFL. Each state has it's own regulations...
OP
I'm getting mine sent back ASAP, before the deluge, they may run out of frames. 
photoman
Member
I'll make you a good deal on this one if you want!
$50 for the gun and I'll even provide the ammo and explosion proof gloves.
$50 for the gun and I'll even provide the ammo and explosion proof gloves.
Oh no, I want $1,000.00 for the gun. After all it's a highly desirable destructive testing version.
And you have to fly me back and forth to Texas.
And buy me BBQ.
OP
Oh no, I want $1,000.00 for the gun. After all it's a highly desirable destructive testing version.
And you have to fly me back and forth to Texas.
And buy me BBQ.
Everyone knows real BBQ is pork.
j/k folks
andyo5
Member
I just checked my 642-2. No canted sight and no crack. I have fired about 100 +P loads plus some spicy handloads in it.
Have you shot yours much?
It would make sense to me that overtightened barrels would correlate with cracked frames, since overtightening pre-stresses the frame in an area where it is thin and will be stressed more every time a round is fired.
Have you shot yours much?
It would make sense to me that overtightened barrels would correlate with cracked frames, since overtightening pre-stresses the frame in an area where it is thin and will be stressed more every time a round is fired.
BUFF
SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
Sad to hear about this, Ladder. I went through the same thing last July with a 642 I bought in 1991. I had shot mine a lot. I had it with me more often than any other gun I own, using it for a back-up at work and warm weather off-duty gun.
Mine cracked while shooting it, I believe. I put a box of 50 through it one day and found the crack when cleaning it the next day. It was functioning just fine. My guess is that it would have shot another five rounds or more without me noticing anything was wrong. I had shot a qualification with it probably a month earlier, and it wasn't cracked when I cleaned it after that range trip.
S&W took care of it in fine fashion. When they called me to ask what I wanted them to do, I asked for another 642 with no lock. They didn't have a standard one in inventory at that moment and so sent me one of the 'Pro' models cut for moonclips. They sent the replacement directly to me; I guess that may vary from state to state.
I was fond of my original gun and hated to lose it, but mechanical things wear and can break, and S&W takes care of their customers better than the makers of anything else I have owned. When the tranny went out on my 20 year old pickup truck, as an example, Ford didn't offer to send me a new one!
Mine cracked while shooting it, I believe. I put a box of 50 through it one day and found the crack when cleaning it the next day. It was functioning just fine. My guess is that it would have shot another five rounds or more without me noticing anything was wrong. I had shot a qualification with it probably a month earlier, and it wasn't cracked when I cleaned it after that range trip.
S&W took care of it in fine fashion. When they called me to ask what I wanted them to do, I asked for another 642 with no lock. They didn't have a standard one in inventory at that moment and so sent me one of the 'Pro' models cut for moonclips. They sent the replacement directly to me; I guess that may vary from state to state.
I was fond of my original gun and hated to lose it, but mechanical things wear and can break, and S&W takes care of their customers better than the makers of anything else I have owned. When the tranny went out on my 20 year old pickup truck, as an example, Ford didn't offer to send me a new one!
Rapidray
Member
Thanks...
Thanks for checking that out for me! As others have already stated Smith will take care of you, as they have always done in the past.
Thanks for checking that out for me! As others have already stated Smith will take care of you, as they have always done in the past.
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