I sent in a brand new S&W 648-2, 22 mag revolver Tuesday, 4/27 for warranty repair. What's the usual turnaround time?

The revolver wouldn't fire at all. When I tried to eject the rounds, the ejector star slipped right past the cartridge rims. It never attempted to lift them. It never picked one of them up. When I looked at the ejector, there wasn't any part of it that was under the cartridge rims. All it did was surround them. Clearly, this put the rounds too far forward for the hammer to strike them with sufficient force to set them off.

I dropped out the rounds, reloaded with a different brand. The same thing happened. I ran the cylinder around 2 more times, nothing. When I went to eject them, they all stayed in place. Upon close examination, they all had 3 very light firing pin strikes.

I tried CCI maxi Mag and Armscor. Looks like I got a bad extractor star. It had no step at all on it. At least I'm assuming this was its only problem. The funny part is that the gun looked like it had been fired. It was dirty. There was no way this gun was test-fired. It didn't work.

Anyway, does anyone have experience with the current warranty turnaround times?

I have actually had them returned in a week several times.From what I hear these days it takes months now.f

I haven't sent anything to S&W for repairs in years, but never waited more than two or three weeks for anything to be returned.

The last one I sent back to the mother ship for a repair took about 3 weeks or so. That was back in 2012.

I called them today and shockingly got through immediately. When I initially called I was on hold for 1/2 an hour. They said it would be 3 to 6 weeks. I hope not.

I was thinking more about the issue. I think the cylinder has to be screwed as well. If the extractor star is recessed into the cylinder so it sits flush, and it is. That means the entire thing is too far forward. The cartridge should fire even if you removed the extractor star. Even if half of the rim is unsupported by the extractor being missing, and it doesn't fire. Yeah, I think the entire cylinder/extractor unit is just whacked.

Numrich has replacements for $71,00 so if I get it back and it's still broken I guess I can eat it and buy it myself. I've never had to send anything back to S&W but I've had the very bad experience of sending a new firearm back to a company I shall not name, and it went back and forth 3 times till finally, I told my dealer he needed to make it right.

Numrich has replacements for $71,00 or $71.00 dollars, Big Difference.
Turn around time for me was 4 Weeks not 4 Months.
Refinish by S&W.....

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I sent a new M63 in for cylinder/barrel gap and lead spitting on warranty...1/8/21 and got it back March 1st. Seven weeks. I also sent a M66-2 in for bolt/hand work, (not warranty); received an estimate for repair on March 29th and still have not received it. Good luck...Rod

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Vote the bums out!

Might depend on the gun and nature of repair. My plain Jane 60-14, which just required a replacement part, was just over three weeks. My 640 Pro, which at the time was in high demand and required a complete gun replacement, was about 3.5 months.

Never sent one off, but from reading here the last 20 something years the time can vary widely.

With the Covid situation, it's anybody's guess at this time. We were all set to have some new Quartz counter tops installed today, but got a call yesterday there was a Covid exposure in the shop and they all had to sit out 3 days and be tested. We had to cancel a Plumber, and a Cabinet Co who were going to disconnect things ahead of time, and reschedule for Mon.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

I sent a 627PC in back in January. They kept it a month and returned it without fixing the issue. The second call and subsequent trip to HQ they kept for another month and finally repaired it replacing the trigger return spring and sear. Each time I sent detailed instructions on how to reproduce the issue along with a video. It was only until I asked for a replacement firearm in my second letter that they repaired it.

I need to send in a new model 66 with barrel crown issues and dread the hassle.

Good luck! I hope you get it back on first try with it repaired.

Regards,

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Thanks,

Patrick

Sent a 617 in jan 8 got it back this tuesday

This is the kind of thing I'm worried about. As I said, I've had the run around with another manufacture. That gun went back and forth multiple times They replaced everything but the grip screw, at least that's what they said, and never fixed it.

If S&W fails to fix it, I'm prepared to eat the cost and buy the part myself. Thank goodness it's available. I hope it's still available if and when I need it.

What really has me befuddled is that the gun was dirty when I got it. It had been fired. How it was fired is absolutely beyond me. It was just about fireproof. I put 8 rounds in it and I had to run the cylinder around 3 times before I had one shot go off and it was very hard to extract. I had to drive it out with a cleaning rod with more force than I wanted to.

I'm wondering if the cylinder/extractor unit was replaced afterward. It sounds crazy but that's the only thing I can think of. Also, the cylinder and extractor are sold as a unit. You can't buy them separately. At least that's the way they're listed.

When I called 4/30/2021, they said it would be 3 to 7 weeks. They didn't say which 3 to 7 weeks.

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Kenny
Endeavor to persevere.

So is this a “we are short staff” issue or a large quality control issue on production that is causing these long wait times?

Big Smith + Wesson fan here but I must say Ruger has the best customer service in the gun Industry.

I sent in my 629-1 back to S&W for a complete extractor rod replacement back on Dec. 6th. This was NOT a warranty repair but a somewhat involved repair none the less. Anyway, total time until I received the gun back was just over 4 months. I called them periodically to check on its status, and always got thru quickly.
They repaired & tested the gun and returned in like new condition . Have patience , as they were then, and probably still, are swamped .

Last year was 3 mounts turn around time,that was on replacing a mag release.

I know this is going to take a while and can't do anything about it except whine. I guess the more I think about it the more I just can't get over how this thing escaped the factory. I mean it didn't work! It wasn't a gun, It was a freakin' paperweight.

I am so disappointed with my purchase of the Shield Plus, straight out of the box parts falling out of it. This was a Friday and of course had to wait until Monday to talk with CS. She made it out like it was my fault. Had not even loaded the gun ever. So pretty much a week now has passed to get it shipped and logged into S&W. Now CS tell me another 6-8 weeks for a warranty repair. So why if S&W such a great gun/company why such a backlog of warranty repair. When I get the weapon back if I ever see it again and if it should work I will sell it at a loss because I can never trust it to be an EDC. Further I never want to deal with S&W ever again. I WANT TO SAY THIS TO ALL, I AM CERTAINLY NOT AN EXPERT BUT MY OTHER GUN IS A CZ P10s and it is far superior in quality, fit and finish. Also it works. It was a little bit more money but it works. I guess with S&W I don’t have to worry for anterior abdominal carry like shooting myself because the gun doesn’t work. Choose wisely if you feel it’s important to have a quality weapon and prompt warrant support. One last thing my first gun was a Taurus, have had two Rutgers and I have three CZs, never a problem with any.

I believe the OP said the revolver needing repair was a 648. My guess is that the repair department is awaiting another production run of that model as only then will there be some extra cylinders, extractor stars, and related parts available to do this repair. I could be wrong, but with CNC machines, or MIM injection molding machines, I don’t think they keep the same inventory of spare parts as in the past. I would be surprised if they run 648s more than once a year. Just a guess.

Well, in S&Ws defense, the COVID lockdowns and mandates has put everyone behind. Many companies, especially in the liberal north east were shut down for months until they were allowed to go back to work, that puts them way behind on production and repairs. Then even when allowed to return, they have COVID protocols that slow production. Not only that, seems like just about every company you deal with these days have items on back order, raw materials etc are all hard to come by, again most driven by COVID lockdowns and mandates world wide. I know it may seem like the excuse/reason is getting old, but facts are facts. Now with the executive vaccine mandates for companies over 100 employees, some employees have refused to take the vaccine and have quit, so there are staffing shortages on top of that.

Be patient and give them some time to make it right.

Rosewood

I'd be interested if the OP ever received his gun back and the quality of the repair!

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Richard Gillespie
FBINA 102

A couple weeks ago my 500 mag was returned after they re-barreled it, put on a new cylinder, adjusted the yoke and test fired it, all under warranty. Total time, two months almost to the day. No charge for anything, including shipping both ways. I couldn't ask for better service.

I too am awaiting a return from S&W. It is a problem somewhat unique to them. In the past year I have had to return two firearms for warranty work and a recall. One went to CZ the other to Henry. The longest one was gone was to Henry. I had it back in my hands fixed in 2 weeks. The CZ was only 10 days. Both of these companies kept me informed via email every step of the process. CZ even had the repair tech contacy me stating what he did and why.
S&W has had my revolver going on 6 weeks with no word at all. I called and was told no information was available.
S&W would do well to take a few lessons from CZ and Henry on customer service. IMO the best customer service in the business is CZ hands down with Henry a very close second. These two are better than Ruger.

I'm looking at another 4 to 6 weeks for the repairs on my 317, is this normal?

I would say that is normal. Is it the right thing? To that I would say NO.
In my case the revolver was received October 6th and signed for. It was not logged in for repair until the 19th. So it sat at S&W for almost 2 weeks before even being logged in. When I called about 10 days ago all they could tell me was the date it was logged in. Then the standard reply of it will take 6-8 weeks for repair. I figure if I see it by early next year it will be surprising.
My previous experiences with warranty repair was much better but then that was almost 15 years ago.
I no longer believe all the covid etc. excuses. There has been plenty of time to figure better ways to do things as long as that mess has been going on.
Don't make excuses work on solutions and that applies to all customer service folks not just S&W. Rant over