My S&W 357PD has "The Crack" (Update 5-12-21, post 46)

scout II

scout II

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I bought this model 357PD almost three years ago about the same time I bought a 357 Night Guard. I did shoot the Night Guard and it was a brute, so I never did fire the 357PD. So I decided to sell it because I never fired it, although it has been fired from the previous owner. Well I was going to the range one day and decided to bring it along before I sell just to say I have fired it. I put exactly 6 factory rounds of ammo through it, and it is a brute also. When I got it home to clean it, I found "The Crack". I am very saddened and disappointed to say the least. I called S&W customer service and described the crack and the very nice lady sent me a shipping label right then while I was still talking to her on the phone. I dropped it off Tuesday at FedEx. The S&W lady said 3 to 5 weeks before I hear back from them. So now I am wondering what they will do. I read the thread from mdme3006 about his broken gun and hoping they will offer me something to replace it with. Here are a few pictures.

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The theory behind the frame crack with a new gun is an overtorqued barrel at assembly putting extra strain on the thinnest part of the frame, although this has also happened with using the gun as well. So the type of ammo used may or may not make a difference.
 
I had my 340PD crack in the same place. Just like you, S & W had me send it to them. They then provided me with a new 340PD a few weeks later.

JPJ
 
Very unfortunate and hope it works out for you...

I bought both the 357 PD and NG as soon as they came out...hated both of them from the very first shot even after putting the Hogue 500 Magnum grips on the PD...both went down the road...

People look down their noses at Taurus revolvers but I have a 4" Titanium Tracker that shoots rings around the 357PD...I still have it and is my favorite woods walking gun...28 oz. loaded. Makes the perfect .41 Special...

I no longer will buy S&W alloy frame guns of any kind. Of the four Airweight snubbies I have had two cracked...no thanks...no more.

Don't know if it is true or not but read that when S&W came out with the Airweights back in the 1950s the expected service life was 300 rounds...

Bob
 
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Seen way too many of these and other durability issues on the S&W scandium and aluminum revolvers, both to my own revolvers and and to those of others. I've got a scandium j frame back with the mothership now, and I think if they replace it it's getting sold and replaced with a steel smith, or more likely a ruger.
 
You just have the start of a crack. These usually go all the way through

All Smith & Wesson alloy framed revolvers have been cracking at this same location for 6 or 7 or more decades now. . . . This is nothing new

I have had two cracked frames during the last 40+ years of shooting. The Factory took care of it

What has changed is the use of alloy frames for firearms that use Magnum ammunition

The rifling twist of the barrel tightens itself every shot from the torque of the bullet that is fired.

In the olden days, when these were just 22s, 32, 38s, etc, If the frame did not crack at the Factory, these cartridges did not generate enough torque for it to happen very often

Now that we are shooting Magnums there is MUCH More torque each time the gun is fired. Use a Titanium cylinder to lower the mass of the gun and torque increases more.

This is why it is nice to be the original owner of the firearm, you have the Lifetime Warranty. While the Lifetime Warranty does not pass on to the subsequent owners, Smith & Wesson usually overlooks that fact and fixes it anyway.

We all know alloy guns will not last as long as steel. This is the tradeoff for the light weight

The Scandium N-frame revolvers are still being produced as 327s and 329s. The factory will take your parts and put them on a new frame. You might have to wat for the next batch of Scandium frames to be produced so that it can be correctly marked as a Model 357 or you might get lucky and they will have an unmarked frame on hand for replacement purposes
 
I was looking to purchase a 325 thunder ranch.
As 45acp is lower pressure and slower moving than magnum rounda, Does this have the same chance of cracking?
Anyone have/ had a low pressure round that cracked the frame?
 
What wold actually happen if the OP just continued to fire the gun with this hairline crack?
Just wondering....

Randy
 
I've experienced cracked frames twice; once with a Model 49 and another time with a Colt Agent. I was using factory equivalent handloads with 160 grain cast SWCs on both occasions.

I doubt any of these guns were intended to be fired very much, and for years, that's what happened. Chambering in .357 Magnum and actually using magnum ammo along with the the fact that some people shoot these revolvers more nowadays has considerably aggravated the situation.

Whether there is anything to the over-torqueing or not remains as nothing more than speculation and no one knows how many rounds of ammo these guns can endure before failure. If your going to shoot much get an all steel gun. The few ounces saved by getting a lightweight is hardly worth dealing with a prematurely ruined gun.

I still have an old Colt Cobra and an S&W 638 that have held up well to shooting, but I probably won't buy another alloy-framed revolver.
 
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