S&W Ruined My Gun!!!!

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Blain said:
"Also, as stated earlier, the strain screw is NOT a pull weight adjustment."

When did I say it was?

Reread what I posted. If you are as familar with revolvers as you claim, than you should know that thay screw loosens up over time and periodically needs to be re-tightened...
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Wrong about that strain screw Kemosabe. Tightened properly, it will not come loose. I've built and worked on literally hundreds of S&W revolvers both for S&W as an LE field rep and as a custom gunsmith. Some of my PPC guns had thousands of rounds down range and never had a strain screw come loose. I think I know just a little about S&W wheelguns.
 
GnarlsR2 said:
"From the left (cylinder release side) it is gauging around ~ .0035 to .004. From the right side it is gauging between .045 and .006 (depending on what chamber it is for each). Larger but not a huge difference,"

So the variance of ~ 0.025” between the left side and the right side is considered an “acceptable” tolerance?
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Just be clear did the O.P. measure the B/C gap on each individual chamber?

My second question has the O.P. has a gunsmith check the back of barrel to make sure it is cut evenly?

My third question is has the O.P. measured the face of the cylinder to ensure it is absolutely level all the way around?

Back in Bullseye and PPC revolver competition days custom gunsmiths would put the cylinder on a lathe and mill the front of cylinder to eliminate any high spots or unevenness.

Like other posters I don’t understand why the .003” b/c is important. It is too tight for use of lead bullets as the buildup of lead on the front of the cylinder will cause to to rub against the back of the barrel. However my shooting is geared towards self-defense so reliability without the gun being cleaned after every use is more important to me than bullseye type
shooting. It boils down to how far down the rabbit hole the O.P. wants to go for the tightest tolerances.
 
Taj is correct. Out of 200 plus duty Smith M19's and probably more of the 66's (we added more agents) and 30K to 35K from my PPC Smith, never had the strain screw back out if tightened properly. Only time mine was removed was for 2 rebuilds and our duty guns only if they had to be repaired. I was an instructor as well as a pest in both our training and firearms section, so I was pretty well up on our gun problems. I have seen a few guys Loc Tite the screw in for their match guns after they got the trigger where they wanted it. Just for info, most of the guys and gals in PPC competition had the single action notch cut off so we shot DA only from 7 to 50 yds. Several of our LE people (including me) even shot qual DA back in the day.
 
bigggbbruce said:
As I mentioned in one of the lost posts in this thread.
You get much further with sugar when dealing with manufacturers.

My experience with S&W has always been stellar, but I am always polite and never demanded anything.

My latest warranty work was on a 625-8 bought used and I told S&W that when requesting service. They did exactly what was requested and in a very reasonable time-frame. No charge. No complaints.
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I cried once to get my Post war 38/44 reblued. It worked. They usually don't take in older guns. 🤣🤣🤣
 
There’s a lot of responses in this thread I don’t understand. Maybe I misread something. Isn’t the issue UNAUTHORIZED work? Maybe I missed something above, but it doesn’t seem the service rep explained all this other crap would happen. Better communication would have very likely changed the OPs decision to send them his gun. I see that as the problem. Maybe the gun does come back fine, but it would sure set me off that they took liberties with my property. Of course they don’t see it that way and said nothing to that effect when they accepted a front sight replacement job.
 
bigggbbruce said:
Calm down trigger. As the son of a machinest and my uncle was a watchmaker. The .001 difference is miniscule. .003 to .004 could be accomplished with a little effort. Just a matter of how you approach it. And all you said was they F'd up the gap but were not specific on the actual gap when returned.

And when dealing with manufacturers sugar goes a long ways.
Blain said:
Based on what I was told, do you think it's more or less likely that;

1.) My cylinder gap is now larger than .003?

2.) My trigger pull weight is now heavier than 8lbs double action?
fatcat3 said:
I got a sneaking suspicion that ain't going to happen no matter what, then I've been wrong before.
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GnarlsR2 said:
"From the left (cylinder release side) it is gauging around ~ .0035 to .004. From the right side it is gauging between .045 and .006 (depending on what chamber it is for each). Larger but not a huge difference,"

So the variance of ~ 0.025” between the left side and the right side is considered an “acceptable” tolerance?
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I assume that’s a typo and that he meant .0045” to .006”

Hopefully it shoots well, indictions seem to be that we’re headed to a positive outcome in spite of early concerns.
 
Well glad the OP got his pistol back from the Mothership and it seems to be in working order. There is a lesson to be learned in all of this and it is never send a modified firearm back to a manufacturer with modified or customized parts in it. This includes grips, sights, etc. The same rule applies to almost anything made today. No manufacturer of any worth is going to condone using after market or customized parts in their products. If they do "look the other way" on matters like this they probably won't be in business for very long. And always in your printed instructions indicate you want any and all old parts returned to you that have been replaced. You have a right to get those parts back but many times you have to specifically ask for them.

Rick H.
 
Sorry to hear about your experience brother. Long ago & far away I had a similar issue with an original K-comp back when the PC first produced them. It had the most amazing trigger I’d ever had on ANY gun. Then it started shaving lead, so back to the basestar it went. They fixed the shaving, but also “fixed” the trigger back to what would be considered a spec weight at that time. Still smooth, but a lot heavier. This was around the time the life saving Hillary hole first appeared, so I chalked it up to a CYA by the factory to make the pull heavier in the name of “safety” 🙄
 
Wow, apparantly all it took was a couple posts critical of the OP, for the floodgates to open, and the dog pile to ensue. Many posts weren't remotely helpful, (or as clever as they thought they were) they merely restated points already made, after the dog pile began.
But, I actually sympathize with both perspectives. Yeah, ok, sure, the OP probably should've known better. But on the other hand, if he asked for some relatively simple and limited work to be done, then S&W should have at least contacted him, and explained the situation, before doing far more than they were instructed to.
It's no different than if someone took their car to a mechanic, asking for a basic oil change, only to find out they did numerous other things that weren't asked for, because they deemed them improvements, in the name of safety, efficiency, etc. It wouldn't even matter if they were correct or not, the fact is the customer would have every right to expect to be consulted, beforehand.
Heck, IIRC, even at the Glock HQ, they come out after the initial inspection, and let you know what they found, and what's going on, beforehand.
 
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series guy said:
Some folks need to remember that S&W is in business to manufacture a product to sell at a profit. They back their product with a warranty but they are not a custom shop. They realized in the 30s with the Registered Magnum that it would be a sure path to financial ruin. I would imagine that most here paid many times over the price of a new S&W for their car. Anybody measure the door gaps with a feeler gauge and return the car if the front door gap is .0025 larger than the rear? Realistic expectations will help prevent disappointment.
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Excellent response. We have erred in treating manufacturers as if they are local gunsmiths. They make guns, not clean them for you. You don't send your Ford back to the factory to have windshield wipers installed.
 
Toxophilus said:
@OP,

Hold my beer...

S&W returned my BG-38 in the condition below (it was pristine when I sent it in), it got sent back again to refinish it after their Samsonite department got a hold of it. The cylinder was also dinged up as well as the other side of the revolver.

IMG-0515.jpg


Soon after I traded it towards an LCRx since the trigger kept locking up on me previously, I only wanted it to be reliable as I'd do the breaking in ;)
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I see nothing special but l would never buy a revolver that has plastic grip frame. It should only for semiautomatic strikers.
 
GnarlsR2 said:
If I ever have to deal with a firearm manufacturer's Customer Service department, I will ask them to sign a "Memorandum of Understanding".:giggle:
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Only if you made any sense of it when you do so. 🙄
I see too many special needs for some. 😀
 
The answer to this subject is very simple! Liability laws and who is responsible! Factory specs have been determined to make a gun safe for all use by the public. When they receive a gun for repairs, no matter how simple, the gun will be returned to factory specs in all matters of function. This action lays any claims of an alteration to the gun after it left the factory on the customer! This means that when you return any gun, that has been possibly alter by anybody, it will be returned to factory specs!
 
SLT223 said:
There’s a lot of responses in this thread I don’t understand. Maybe I misread something. Isn’t the issue UNAUTHORIZED work? Maybe I missed something above, but it doesn’t seem the service rep explained all this other crap would happen. Better communication would have very likely changed the OPs decision to send them his gun. I see that as the problem. Maybe the gun does come back fine, but it would sure set me off that they took liberties with my property. Of course they don’t see it that way and said nothing to that effect when they accepted a front sight replacement job.
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That's just it. They didn't even read the note I supplied, or disregarded it. Why put a taller rear sight instead of the shorter front sight I requested?

Also, can anyone here please answer the following questions objectively?

1.) Why did they "Adjust barrel alignment"?

2.) Why did they repair the yoke?

3.) What is the relation of repair 2 to repair 1? What did they do to the barrel that caused them to need to repair the yoke? What exactly did they do to the barrel? Unscrew it a half turn, etc? What would that entail them to need to do to the yoke?

Is the "barrel adjustment" they did what made the barrel uneven now (gauging ~.0015 wider on one side of the barrel than the other)? I did not notice such a discrepency prior to sending it in.

IF I send this into S&W performance center, what realistically can they do to repair the barrel while maintaining a tight barrel cylinder gap?

Thank you!20260715_145914(2).webp
 

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I was always told that if you do anything to the weapon outside of simple cleaning and maintenance you risk voiding the warranty. I have a SW 342 M&P .38spl that I took the side plate off and dremmeled off the lug in the internal lock mechanism. Some time later I was unhappy about the external lettering, because it was double stamped and looked blurry. I sent it back to be repaired under warranty, and the did a great job on the lettering, AND they replaced the IL mechanism and sent me two new IL keys, without me even asking for that. Wasn't that nice of them...



....
 
I'm curious. Did S&W perform these repairs because it was covered under warranty? I ask because I sent them a 28-2 due to the cylinder binding and they sent me a letter stating they would need to replace the cylinder, ejector, etc. and provided an estimated cost. I said no thanks, send me my gun back, no problem. (got it fixed locally, BTW)
 
seasoldier85 said:
I'm curious. Did S&W perform these repairs because it was covered under warranty? I ask because I sent them a 28-2 due to the cylinder binding and they sent me a letter stating they would need to replace the cylinder, ejector, etc. and provided an estimated cost. I said no thanks, send me my gun back, no problem. (got it fixed locally, BTW)
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Yes. It has to do with age of the gun, I sent an older revolver in for something unrelated and was hit with an invoice.
 
Blain said:
That's just it. They didn't even read the note I supplied, or disregarded it. Why put a taller rear sight instead of the shorter front sight I requested?

Also, can anyone here please answer the following questions objectively?

1.) Why did they "Adjust barrel alignment"?

2.) Why did they repair the yoke?

3.) What is the relation of repair 2 to repair 1? What did they do to the barrel that caused them to need to repair the yoke? What exactly did they do to the barrel? Unscrew it a half turn, etc? What would that entail them to need to do to the yoke?

Is the "barrel adjustment" they did what made the barrel uneven now (gauging ~.0015 wider on one side of the barrel than the other)? I did not notice such a discrepency prior to sending it in.

IF I send this into S&W performance center, what realistically can they do to repair the barrel while maintaining a tight barrel cylinder gap?

Thank you!View attachment 896323
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I don't work at S&W, so I can't answer with certainty.

But I have return paperwork that makes no sense to the actual repair.

I wouldn't doubt the tech spent all day with your gun and had to explain it to management somehow.

Don't send it back we can't take another 6 pages.🙏
 
I’ll tell you my most recent experience. I sent in a brand new 396 Nightguard that had a pretty serious blemish on the barrel shroud. I will be honest and say that I had removed the flag that is now in the no lock guns. Honestly, I sent it in before I remembered that I had not reinstalled it. I was worried they would void my warranty. Anyways, less than two weeks later it was headed back to me.
They replaced the barrel shroud, reinstalled the flag for the drop safety or whatever it’s called now that there is no actual key lock and….. redrilled my strain screw hole in the frame to make the screw seat deeper and increase the DA poundage. I had fired it about 100 times and no light strikes. Not sure why they thought they needed to do that.

…..
Probably just to punish me for removing the flag/ hammer block whatever you call it in the new no lock guns!!🤣🤣🤣
 
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