model 60 pro QC issues?

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cjmoran

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Hello all, been here reading awhile as a guest, first post

Sold off my bulky ruger gp100 and bought the s&w 60 pro today, hopefully more enjoyable to carry in the backwoods and i really like the trigger

unfortunately, the front sight didn't even have a pin it in, the punch mark was there but it never went all the way through. I realized this after admiring and dry firing for about an hour as the front sight more or less just fell out. I didn't inspect the actual one I receive nearly as much as the display model, my bad on that one.

my local shop (onlinegundeals for the rest of you) swapped it out immediately for another, good service, but it makes me wonder how good the QC is on these. What do you guys think? Did I just get really unlucky or are 'pro' series subject to the same production line issues as the rest of them?

I would be very disappointed if this was an online purchase as it probably would be several weeks before I got it back in functional order, if anything this is a word of caution to all potential buyers.
 
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The difference in QC between the regular guns and the Pro Series is probably negligible. Where the Pro series have nice additional features -- they are still production guns being mass produced. That said, if there are problems S&W makes them good. Some folks don't like being the final QC inspectors, but if S&W had to inspect every aspect of manufacturer right down to checking for loose pins, the guns would cost much more and take a lot longer to make. And as you pointed out -- if we do a good job inspecting the in the store, we save ourselves a lot of potential bother after the fact.

Given that reality, I believe we are getting excellent value for our money.
 
To clarify, it wasn't a loose pin issue it was a no pin issue as the sight never got punch all the way thus was never really installed but I am quite happy with the other new one!

Thanks for your service btw I've got three in the immediate family serving, they don't get paid enough!
 
Another update: local ffl had three 60 pro series all made from Feb 10-13, 2012, 1st had the aforementioned sight issue, 2nd had easily noticeable barrel cant, 3rd had the barrel digging into the frame under the extractor rod enough so there was a visible shaving a few mm in size leading me to believe the barrel threading was off.

I like this gun a lot and have respect for S&W and am confident I'll eventually get one with the quality I believe I deserve for the price, but go over these things with a microscope as I did before as QC, and perhaps production, is obviously in the sh***er going 3 for 3 here.

I want to bump onlinegundeals as they are a family-run local business that have done everything they can to help me out and I appreciate it. I may end up aligning my views with many others on here and only buy old, pre-locked S&W from now on, also have a hard time believing I'd ever buy a gun online without thorough inspection, new or used.
 
CJ: That's a fascinating post. In the past when I bought new guns I gave the outsides a good inspection and worked the action to make sure it was acceptable, but the only way to inspect the interior is to buy the gun. Once home, I take them apart just for a look-see for burrs and shavings on the inside. It was not uncommon to have to file or stone away one or two little burrs per gun. Some shavings I found inside were longer than 3/8ths of an inch. I found a 1/2 burr in a Ruger Speed Six once (on the transfer arm).

They were all good guns so I don't look back and think badly of the manufacturers (mostly S&W). But, that said, if they had turned out to be lousy guns, I would say they were **** from the start.

Thanks again for the post.
 
Welcome to the forum!

I can't comment on the quality on the new ones as I have not been able to afford one yet - all mine are 'pre-owned'... I can say that; if I paid full price for a brand new gun and found a QC problem with it, it would drive me NUTs.
 
The quality of my model 60 Pro Series is good. Maybe excellent. It pleases me every way except the sights. When examing it at the shop, I didn't visualize the sights as being as hard to see, as they are. I was engrossed in checking the crown, that the barrel wasn't canted, screw heads not buggered, how the grips fit, etc.

When I replace the sights, I suspect I'll be 100% satisfied.
 
The barrel-cylinder gap on my 43C is way to large, I can pretty much read a newspaper through it. I measured it at .007! Obviously it is going back to S&W. Otherwise I really like the gun and my 632 Pro is excellent in all respects.
 
Just sent my new 1917 Classic back yesterday. Here's what I found out of the box.
Damaged grips
Burred side plate
Tooling marks on frame, bottom of grip
Tooling marks on frame and crane, both sides, in front of cylinder
Barrel/cylinder gap varies from .009 to .017 inches from one side to the other
 
AKAOV1MAN said:
The barrel-cylinder gap on my 43C is way to large, I can pretty much read a newspaper through it. I measured it at .007! Obviously it is going back to S&W.
Click to expand...
Barrel-cylinder gap of .007 is near optimal and well within spec.
 
Having just bought a 60 Pro and reading this thread i want to know about getting this gun checked out.. I live not far from the S&W headquarters, would bringing the gun to them to check out make sense, or do i need to find a gunsmith? I have only used it once at the range, i am a newbie and i did find myself shooting low and to the left. That may have been just me. Thanks
 
Last edited:
I picked up a new 60 Pro back at the first of the year and have been happy with it so far. The only negative I see is the tritium insert in the front sight is too small to be useful but I can live with it for now. It's more accurate than I am and has gone bang every time I've pulled the trigger.

IMG_0282copy_zps14abfecf.jpg
 
The 60 Pro is near the top of my wish list. I want a 38/357 with a 3 inch barrel. I handled two at a lgs about a month ago along with a 3 inch 686. The size of the 60 is more what I had in mind.
My question for you who have one is how do you like shooting it? I would shoot mostly 38 specials at the range but I like to shoot a fair amount of 357 magnums too. I am reasonably recoil tolerant. Will the extra inch of barrel on the 3 inch 60 Pro make any difference compared to my 2 inch barreled snubbies?
 
seanfidheall said:
Just sent my new 1917 Classic back yesterday. Here's what I found out of the box.
Damaged grips
Burred side plate
Tooling marks on frame, bottom of grip
Tooling marks on frame and crane, both sides, in front of cylinder
Barrel/cylinder gap varies from .009 to .017 inches from one side to the other
Click to expand...

I would love to see pictures of this.
 
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