2 PIECE BARREL CAME APART

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buckyjames1

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Fellas,
-Model 620, received pistol back from P/C.
They did an action job, bead blast finish, and had to "file" a rough edge at begining of barrel. I went to the range and after 5rds the pistol didnt feel right 129grain hydra-shok Federals. I took out my GLOCK and finished my range time. Came home and tore down the revolver, took out the cylinder and THE BARREL/SHROUD/"END LUG WASHER" literally came apart in my hands! I looking at a 3 piece separated barrel assembly of a model 620! Only pictures can truly show this thing. Wife has the digital camera but I will be posting pics as soon as i figure out how. This is not just unsatisfactory but a down right DANGEROUS product. I am so glad I stopped shooting when it didnt feel right. I am very interested to see what S/W will have to say about this and how they will handle it.
I cannot belive the barrel/shroud/end pieces cam apart from 5 rds.
My only concern is that i polished the hammer and trigger not an action job but a surface polish to contrast the bead blast finish. Do you think they'll use this as a warranty void excuse? If so I now have a handy dandy paper weight.
...Update...heres the Pics of the "2 Piece" barrel in the 3 piece format!
Picture013.jpg

And heres the end of the barrels/shroud
Picture011.jpg

Picture009.jpg

I am still pissed at the moment but S/W had best make ammends. Master action tune, Factory Bead Blast, reseting rear sight because it was loose, Filing of rough edges on barrel= $240 and $100 Shipping and I got 5 freakin rds before this happened.
 
Fellas,
-Model 620, received pistol back from P/C.
They did an action job, bead blast finish, and had to "file" a rough edge at begining of barrel. I went to the range and after 5rds the pistol didnt feel right 129grain hydra-shok Federals. I took out my GLOCK and finished my range time. Came home and tore down the revolver, took out the cylinder and THE BARREL/SHROUD/"END LUG WASHER" literally came apart in my hands! I looking at a 3 piece separated barrel assembly of a model 620! Only pictures can truly show this thing. Wife has the digital camera but I will be posting pics as soon as i figure out how. This is not just unsatisfactory but a down right DANGEROUS product. I am so glad I stopped shooting when it didnt feel right. I am very interested to see what S/W will have to say about this and how they will handle it.
I cannot belive the barrel/shroud/end pieces cam apart from 5 rds.
My only concern is that i polished the hammer and trigger not an action job but a surface polish to contrast the bead blast finish. Do you think they'll use this as a warranty void excuse? If so I now have a handy dandy paper weight.
...Update...heres the Pics of the "2 Piece" barrel in the 3 piece format!
Picture013.jpg

And heres the end of the barrels/shroud
Picture011.jpg

Picture009.jpg

I am still pissed at the moment but S/W had best make ammends. Master action tune, Factory Bead Blast, reseting rear sight because it was loose, Filing of rough edges on barrel= $240 and $100 Shipping and I got 5 freakin rds before this happened.
 
Welcome to the forum.

I'm sure they'll fix it quickly and at no cost to you. I would expect more out of the PC and look forward to the pics.
 
Copied from a FTC website explaining how the Magnuson-Moss act works. Polishing your hammer had nothing to do with the barrel falling off, so they are prohibited by federal law from voiding your warranty. (If they found marks on the barrel where you chucked the barrel up in a vise when you polished the hammer, that would be different, then they could say that your actions contributed to the failure. Same thing, if you worked on the hammer and trigger and returned the gun for push off. . .)

"For example, provisions such as, ‘‘This warranty is void if service is performed by anyone other than an authorized ‘ABC’ dealer and all replacement parts must be genuine ‘ABC’ parts,’’ and the like, are prohibited where the service or parts are not covered by the warranty. These provisions violate the Act in two ways. First, they violate the section 102 (c) ban against tying arrangements. Second, such provisions are deceptive under section 110 of the Act, because a warrantor cannot, as a matter of law, avoid liability under a written warranty where a defect is unrelated to the use by a consumer of ‘‘unauthorized’’ articles or service."

Besides, despite the lock, S&W as a company is a pretty class act, so the issue should not even come up.
 
Slightly off topic, but my front sight on my new nickled model 21 has shot "loose" It wiggles in the slot, as the hole for the role pin must have enlarged after about 400 rounds fired. All this new stuff from S&W isn't necessarily better than the "old" stuff.....
 
Update on the SAGA,
So I was digging through the original invoice dated 9/24/08. Mind you that this pistol had less than 100rds through it and was a night stand weapon.
description of services:
-Master revolver action
-Glass bead finish
- Tighten rear site blade
-Deburr BBL at cylinder, Smooth forcing cone <--
and yes 2hawk, I am thankful I was not injured.
This one should be a working post and we'll see how S/W deals with it.
Im still fuming at the moment.
 
I only own one Smith with a 2 piece barrel, a 296. Am I seeing that right, the flat part is part of the barrel, it looks like a washer, its supposed to be part of the barrel??? It snapped off? Good Lord. That hardly qualifies as a high stress part.
 
I've notice that the earlier 620's didn't have that round "cap" on the outside of the shroud. It appears on those guns that the shroud itself held the barrel which was set back quite a bit. It would be interesting to know if anyone with one of those guns has had a barrel/shroud/cap come apart.
 
THAT is not a good grain structure to see. Send it back to S&W, my bet would be a faulty heat treatment. If it is the heat treatment, all of the barrels in that specific heat treat lot would be suspect.
 
if it becomes a handy dandy paperweight, i would introduce them to my handy dandy lawyer! be safe, buy older smiths.
 
WOW that sucks!!
I'm sure that the usual suspects will be along shortly, to tell you that the two piece barrel is really an improvement and not a cost cutting measure
icon_rolleyes.gif


Yea, send it back to S&W and they will make it right......even though they evidently didn't make it right the first time
icon_wink.gif


Regards 18DAI.
 
Quite the photo! At least the shroud didn’t hit the floor. Take a deep breath and phone S&W. Stay calm and don’t rant, just tell them what happened. Their customer service is excellent and I‘m sure they‘ll take care of it without a problem. They’ll send you a prepaid shipping label, install a new barrel and have it back at your door quickly at no cost to you.

I believe they install those two piece barrels with a tool that fits down the barrel and keys off the rifling. The end flange that broke off clamps the shroud in place and tensions everything together. Either it was a bad barrel or they over-torqued it. I wouldn’t be happy either, but I‘m sure they have more barrels.
 
GEEZZZ....I can see why it won't hold. Just a bad design. Too much stress concentrated in a small area. Just a poor mechanical design. Fire the engineer.
icon_rolleyes.gif


Compare that to the method that Dan Wesson used with the screw in collar.
icon_cool.gif


Note to self...don't buy one of these boat anchors.

41
 
As I recall, wasn't there one of the southern Department of Corrections that were having the same problem with their fixed sight guns??

One really has to wonder about the leadership at S&W..between this crap and the ILs I would never buy a new S&W. It is too bad as although I love my 50s-80s vintage Smiths the guns made in the late 1990s are some of the best I have ever shot... I have three Mountain Guns in .41, .44 and .45 ACP that out of the box had smoother DA pulls than anything made in the 70s and 80s...

Bob
 
On a past thread I said I would never buy a 2 piece barrel smith. A few people here assured me they were the cats axx and were better.
Reminds me of my uncle years ago claiming when those copper siver clad quarters came out that he knew a feller who dropped one on the floor and it split apart.
 
Regarding the mechanics and the cause, I presume when the gun begins its recoil impulse, the tendency of the shroud is to remain at rest - that is, the gun recoils to the rear, the shroud stays put & exerts pressure on that ring at the front of the barrel tube. If the ring is not sufficiently strong, it separates - correct?

Also, the angle where the shroud nut (inside back) meets the barrel is square, I'd presume. Aren't square (180 degree) angles more prone to fracturing under stress? I'm thinking of those square windowed Btitish planes that fell out of the sky on occasion in the 50s.

Anyway, it seems like one of those systems which over time is just destined to fail eventually.
 
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