Bad cylinder on the new 500 S&W Magnum.

fiodorpugach · #1 02-18-2011, 04:20 PM

I’ve just purchased the brand new 500 S&W MAGNUM with 4" barrel. It is my first revolver, and my first S&W. I'm really impressed with my purchase, it's a nice gun! I did not shoot it yet, but did some inspection. Unfortunately I found that the cylinder external notches are not symmetrically aligned against the chambers. I do not mean the small timing notches; I mean the big indents facing the barrel. That is the picture:

Is it common for S&W revolvers? Honestly I surprised that this cylinder passed the quality control. It probably does not really affect the shooting performance, but it looks really ugly for the gun with $1319 MSRP. The cylinder looks ‘shifted’ against the frame from the top. Should I ask S&W for cylinder replacement, or it’s quite common and normal thing for revolvers? Also the barrel-to-cylinder gap is about 0.009’-0.010”. I know it is still within the specification range, but would it be better having it between 0.004” and 0.006”, if I will not shoot this gun much between cleanings? The main mission will be a bear defense during my hiking and backpacking trips. And I don’t think I will target-shoot more than 10 rounds in a session. For target-shooting I have a nice Kimber Super Carry Custom 45ACP.