I had hoped it wouldn't have taken this long to update the forum members on the status of my 625JM. I was having cylinder problems which resulted in not being able to utilize full moon clips after firing 36 rounds.
The weapon was received by Smith & Wesson on July 7th and since then has bounced back and forth from the Performance Center to Warranty back to performance. In that time frame, I've been told a series of tales about shutdown, only one tech doing revolvers, misreading a descriptive letter requested by Smith and Wesson and lastly, tonight, not being able to walk from Performance to Warranty. In this entire time frame, the weapon has not yet even been evaluated. I have no idea when even the initial evaluation will take place.
This is rank incompetence and the fact that's it's taking place over an allegedly top of the line weapon is mind boggling.
If it comes back repaired ( whenever that may be ) I'm taking it and trading it in on a Ruger Redhawk .45ACP/Long Colt. ( Anyone on the Forum interested? )
This is not the Smith & Wesson company I expected .

I would hope they get thier stuff together quickly for you. I also hope when you get it back the joy of getting it and shooting it will change you're mind about trading it off. But that being said I sure do Love my Ruger RedHawk in 44 Mag. I can hit a 3" plate at 25 yards with that RedHawk with no support standing..

Thanks for the update, and sorry S&W has not helped you.
I know they were shut down for 2 weeks, and am hoping for your sake they are just really busy right now.
It's a shame, that S&W does not have an answer for you yet. That's a mighty expensive firearm, and they should get on it pronto.

Good luck, and keep us informed. I really want to see what S&W does with this particular problem.

Thanks to the superb personal involvement of Ashley in Customer Service, The weapon is back and has been repaired. The cylinder was replaced , every internal part was checked and a longer firing pin was installed. The new cylinder also had its charge holes chamfered. It was sent back overnight and I'm back from the range with a good report. There was some initial hang-up with the trigger returning after the first three full moon clips fired double action. It smoothed out afterward. The most satisfying part was that I fired 54 rounds of Lawman 230 Gr. FMJ as fast as I could reload and there were NO cylinder problems.
It took a while but with Ashley's help it is now working to my great satisfaction.
If anyone on the Forum needs a truly professional representative ask for her. I hate to add to her work load but she's the best.
If anybody on the forum has any specific questions I'll be glad to try to answer them.
Thanks to all those posters who contributed many constructive thoughts and good advise.

Good to hear!
So they replaced the cylinder, any idea as to what the problem was?
Was the cylinder out of spec, or something along those lines?

They did not specify. The repair paperwork only says replace cylinder. If I had to hazard a guess it would be heat treatment of charge holes out of spec, but again , only a guess.

I'm glad to hear S&W restored your confidence in your 625 JM. Mine would be one of the last revolvers that I would sell.

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For real. Glad you're back to a running gun. I literally have fired 400 rounds straight without pause and no issues. Now you can try it too!

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This≠DodgeCity&You≠BillHickok

I'm very happy too. All Wolff springs are back in, cleaned and lubed. Now all I have to do is take out a second mortgage to buy enough .45 ACP ammo to feed it.

bigmiket;
What you really need to consider is reloading and after you get that going well, to start casting your own bullets. I started casting my own bullets and reloading when I was about 14 years of age (my father was a true "gunny").

During my five years in IPSC, I shot 75,000 rounds of .45 ACP with my home cast bullets (and my two young sons together shot about half as many during the same period). There is NO way we could have afforded that amount of ammo with my modest income.

I am now a genuine "Old Fart" but am still shooting and shooting well, simply because I could afford the shoot enough to get good. I have taken a number of fine whitetail deer (back when I hunted) and LOTS of edible small game - all with my own cast bullets.

Just a thought or two...

Dale53

Hi Dale53,
I've toyed with hand loading for many years and since I primarily used what was then fairly cheap military calibers I just kept passing. Now that I'm retired it's certainly a consideration. The initial cost for equipment ,etc. is somewhat off putting.
Maybe the best solution is for me to buy some of your obviously quality reloads.
Best regards,
bigmiket

bigmike,the first 2-3000 rounds you load will pay for the machine.