Parts for Gun, why cannot we get them???

[CEWJ]

I have found out that S&W is extremely restrictive with their parts. If I want a new slide or new barrel, I am unable to purchase the parts from a gun store. I am required to send the gun to S&W so they can install the slide or barrel even though I disassemble the gun and reinstall the parts every time I clean the gun. This drives up the cost significantly and requires me to be without the gun a significant time while S&W installs the parts. I found one slide but the cost was more than the cost of the gun making the gun disposable. Has anyone else experienced this and does anyone know why S&W does this? I contacted S&W and they sidestepped the question and finally said that is their decision. I own 3 S&W guns and this deters me from purchasing any other S&W guns. Thank you for your response.

[Shield9mm]

it is not only s&w most arm manufacturers won't ship some parts directly to the customer, unless you are an armorer. I've found plenty of parts on web sites. I guess they want to make sure your gun operates and function properly and comply with all the standards, specially all the safeties work.

I own three M&P that doesn't discourages me from buying more, even when most of us know how to full strip the gun, you will find that it is not recommended from the manufacturer to do it.

For ex; if you car have a recall even when it is a sensor or a light bulb, you have to take to the dealer to get it fixed.

[MichiganScott]

All gun companies limit the sale of certain guns parts that they deem may need to be fitted or are basic to the functional safety of the gun. Try buying a bolt from Remington or Winchester.

[colt_saa]

Do not limit yourself to only purchasing parts from Smith and Wesson or a local gun store

Most all of the parts that Smith and Wesson will not sell directly to a consumer are available new through the many large on-line companies that are out there.

Last month I ordered in a unthreaded barrel for my M&P SPEC-OPS 9MM pistol from Midway USA.

I had it in 3 days, no big deal.

eBay and other on-line auction companies are a great source for used or pulled parts as well.

I have many Smith and Wesson firearms (including M&Ps) and can not recall having a problem finding parts when I needed them.

[berudd]

FWIW, I bought a shotgun butt stock and magazine end cap from Weatherby. And I don't own a Weatherby but rather the same gun that is also sold by Mossberg. They screwed up and sent me a barrel so I guess they would have sold me that too. So, apparently not all of them have this policy.

[JAREDSHS]

why would you want a new slide?

[michael380]

To answer your question: One day I buy a barrel and slide. One month later I buy the frame. Two months later I buy a recoil spring. Later on I buy a trigger. Do I have to go on?

Parts will eventually lead to a shooting firearm and could end up in the wrong hands.

Serial # is also stamped on what I call the trigger housing which contains the safety, trigger, hammer and so many more related parts. Stuff that your not suppose to mess with but I do. I already put in a new trigger kit and polished parts up. I'm one of the good guys and licensed accordingly but cannot buy parts from S&W and I fully understand.

Your probably a good guy as well and possibly more so than me but S&W got to draw the line somewhere. Lots of bad guys out there wanting to build a gun without a license and not have it registered. Probably could also make a nice bundle of change selling an illegal weapon.

That's my answer to your question.

[Bkreutz]

Originally Posted by JAREDSHS

why would you want a new slide?

This is one possible reason. (and no, S&W wouldn't sell me a slide, they are going to warranty it, but it's been there since May and no idea when I'm going to get the replacement). This is making me reconsider what I use for competition. Other brands have no problems selling parts, Smith feels it's "special". After I get the replacement back, I have to send another one in for the same problem, cracked slide in exactly the same place. Design flaw???

[RobzGuns]

If you don't like the policy, sell 'em and buy something else.
It's part of the Free Enterprise system... Aka... 'Voting with your wallet'.

Oh yeah... perhaps 'parts availability' should be part of the shopping criteria before putting one's cash on the counter.

[Muss Muggins]

I'd answer this question first:

Why do you keep breaking your pistols . . . ?

Originally Posted by CEWJ

I have found out that S&W is extremely restrictive with their parts. If I want a new slide or new barrel, I am unable to purchase the parts from a gun store. I am required to send the gun to S&W so they can install the slide or barrel even though I disassemble the gun and reinstall the parts every time I clean the gun. This drives up the cost significantly and requires me to be without the gun a significant time while S&W installs the parts. I found one slide but the cost was more than the cost of the gun making the gun disposable. Has anyone else experienced this and does anyone know why S&W does this? I contacted S&W and they sidestepped the question and finally said that is their decision. I own 3 S&W guns and this deters me from purchasing any other S&W guns. Thank you for your response.

[rog8732]

We can't get some parts, deemed "gunsmith fit only" cause if certain folk were to install the parts incorrectly, and cause an inadvertent death or three, the "downstream kin / 3rd cousin of those poor lost souls might pick up this innocent firearm, with the mal-fitted parts;... not know it had been monkeyed with, (or didn't care),... reckonize the brand name, see $$$$ signs, and get Johnnie Cochran, or some other well regarded "lawing-man" to sue the "brand-name" company for lots of "ill-gained" moolah.

Now if one of us regular folk, got ahold of some parts, installed them incorrectly and hurt only ourself, but not to death, why, we mostly would slink off quietly,(embarrassed) and only tell the tale years later, while we had one drink too many, and had a big laugh about why we only had 2 fingers on our right hand.

Not everybody who will work on a gun knows just exactly how it should be done. So THOSE GUYS, not US, are the ones the rules have to be for.

[Bkreutz]

Originally Posted by Muss Muggins

I'd answer this question first:

Why do you keep breaking your pistols . . . ?

Probably because he shoots them a lot. They don't break sitting in a safe.

[Arik]

The reason is liability.

S&W is not the only one. Buy them from other vendors and move on.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

[Magload]

The receivers are serialized when you buy one and they have to go to a FFL person. This is what keeps the bad guys and girls from making unmarked guns. If you want to build a pistol then go with a 1911 as Brownells sells every part you need and the tools you are going to need also.

[Magload]

Originally Posted by Bkreutz

This is one possible reason. (and no, S&W wouldn't sell me a slide, they are going to warranty it, but it's been there since May and no idea when I'm going to get the replacement). This is making me reconsider what I use for competition. Other brands have no problems selling parts, Smith feels it's "special". After I get the replacement back, I have to send another one in for the same problem, cracked slide in exactly the same place. Design flaw???

I know you shoot major but those loads are really hot. Would a heaver recoil spring help?

[Ranger17]

i'm sure my thoughts are different than many out there, perhaps as I'm still a relative newbie and my guns are purely for range/fun/defense; but I dont buy a gun with intentions of doing anything to it. If I am not happy with how it feels/works in stock form, then I look elsewhere for a purchase. If I did have needs or intentions to modify or rework something I would look into what brand options out there to easily get parts.
So speaking only for me, not being able to get more parts from SW isn't an issue, something goes wrong the pistol is off to them for repair.

Of course, the above is just based on just 3+ yrs of experience and a bit over 3k rounds in my MP 9's (and 6k rounds in my Buckmark and Compact MP .22's) so I still have a lot to learn. Who knows, my opinion may change someday and I'll be in the market for parts not under a warrranty....

[Bullet Bob]

Based on what I read on many gun forums about how people "build" a gun to fit their needs, if I were a manufacturer, I wouldn't sell parts that I wanted to make sure were fitted correctly.

I'm not saying people shoudn't do so if they want to, just that I wouldn't want to be held liable for problems.

[hoc9sw]

Looking at the photo of that cracked slide, if I were S&W, I would want the part to examine & send to the lab. Best way to get the damaged part back is to exchange during a return.

But I also seem to run into a lack of basic parts even from them just because they are pushing out so much product. There don't seem to be enough spares to sell consistently. I have a .22 Compact that will be going back for something I would consider consumable, but no way to buy the part, as there are none to sell.

[Louchia]

Normal repair parts that ware out, such as springs, firing pins, extractors, etc. seem to be available. I have had no problem getting those.

[Bkreutz]

Originally Posted by Magload

I know you shoot major but those loads are really hot. Would a heaver recoil spring help?

I suppose, but where's the fun in that? , seriously, major PF consumes pistol parts. Replacing a slide every year is pretty much a normal part of shooting 9 major. What I dislike is the difficulty buying a replacement slide. If this was a 2011, I could have a new slide in a couple of days. Apex is talking about making slides, so that may be an option.

[BC38]

Speak like master Yoda why do you?

Just ribbing ya' man - I just thought the wording of the original question was kinda' funny.

[MichiganScott]

Originally Posted by Bkreutz

I suppose, but where's the fun in that? , seriously, major PF consumes pistol parts. Replacing a slide every year is pretty much a normal part of shooting 9 major. What I dislike is the difficulty buying a replacement slide. If this was a 2011, I could have a new slide in a couple of days. Apex is talking about making slides, so that may be an option.

John Browning's best updated for the new century?

[DataPimp]

How do you crack a slide? Drop it?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bkreutz]

Originally Posted by MichiganScott

John Browning's best updated for the new century?

Double stack 1911 (and other changes) http://whichgun.com/img/firearms/pis..****bor_gm/1.jpg

[Bkreutz]

Originally Posted by DataPimp

How do you crack a slide? Drop it?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Watch the slide cycle back and forth when firing, then watch a slide being dropped, which do you think puts more stress on the metal? Then multiply that by 2 (because of the handloads I'm shooting) and then multiply it by 50K (the number of rounds per year). You get the idea?

[HOUSTON RICK]

My logic would applaud the manufacturer for taking care of it, but I have been told that I am from another time.

[Mal Cap]

Johnny Cockrin has bit the lonely trail.

[AlHunt]

Originally Posted by Bkreutz

Watch the slide cycle back and forth when firing, then watch a slide being dropped, which do you think puts more stress on the metal? Then multiply that by 2 (because of the handloads I'm shooting) and then multiply it by 50K (the number of rounds per year). You get the idea?

I know you were willing to buy the part anyway, but they could have declined a warranty claim because of the handloads. So that's something anyway. Saved you a couple hundred bucks, probably.

[shawn mccarver]

Originally Posted by Bkreutz

I have to send another one in for the same problem, cracked slide in exactly the same place. Design flaw???

Are you up to 100,000 rounds yet?

The test M&P9 over at Pistol-Training web site cracked its slide at just a little north of 65,000 rounds, if I recall. That is a shockingly LOW number of rounds for a catastrophic failure such as a cracked slide when there are Glocks out there that have made it substantially north of 250,000 rounds, and perhaps a handful that have made it to half a million rounds.

I hope the Second Generation M&P, if it is ever released, corrects such issues. No light strikes, no magic mag drops, no magic slide drops, no coil springs that vibrate themselves to death without a tampon inside, no on-board tools that can rotate over to interfere with proper magazine operation, no weak points where the slide cracks, etc., etc.

If the Second Generation M&P they keep teasing does not work from the get-go, it will be very bad for S&W, as Glocks are still the one to beat, and they are now made in the USA.

No offense folks. I want S&W to do well, and to make a real comeback both here and abroad, but the company has its work cut out for it as several big agency purchases have gone south almost as quickly as they were announced. And that is too bad for S&W.

And, yes before anyone says it, I am well aware that Glock has had some of its contracts go south, including the mystery over at Indianapolis with the new 17M, but they are still on top in LE sales, despite the few issues they have had.

A friend of mine is fond of saying that any new pistol needs to: (1) be at least a good as a Glock; and, (2) bring a desirable feature to the table that Glock does not have in order to really make inroads into Glock's stranglehold on the market. I tend to agree with that.

[Bkreutz]

Originally Posted by AlHunt

I know you were willing to buy the part anyway, but they could have declined a warranty claim because of the handloads. So that's something anyway. Saved you a couple hundred bucks, probably.

The money wasn't the issue, it's included in my competition budget. What I don't like is the 3+ time frame being without that pistol. I have spares, but they're not as good as my primary. I would have gladly traded being able to buy a slide when it broke to waiting on an uncertain replacement date.

[Bkreutz]

Originally Posted by shawn mccarver

Are you up to 100,000 rounds yet?

The test M&P9 over at Pistol-Training web site cracked its slide at just a little north of 65,000 rounds, if I recall. That is a shockingly LOW number of rounds for a catastrophic failure such as a cracked slide when there are Glocks out there that have made it substantially north of 250,000 rounds, and perhaps a handful that have made it to half a million rounds.

I hope the Second Generation M&P, if it is ever released, corrects such issues. No light strikes, no magic mag drops, no magic slide drops, no coil springs that vibrate themselves to death without a tampon inside, no on-board tools that can rotate over to interfere with proper magazine operation, no weak points where the slide cracks, etc., etc.

If the Second Generation M&P they keep teasing does not work from the get-go, it will be very bad for S&W, as Glocks are still the one to beat, and they are now made in the USA.

No offense folks. I want S&W to do well, and to make a real comeback both here and abroad, but the company has its work cut out for it as several big agency purchases have gone south almost as quickly as they were announced. And that is too bad for S&W.

And, yes before anyone says it, I am well aware that Glock has had some of its contracts go south, including the mystery over at Indianapolis with the new 17M, but they are still on top in LE sales, despite the few issues they have had.

A friend of mine is fond of saying that any new pistol needs to: (1) be at least a good as a Glock; and, (2) bring a desirable feature to the table that Glock does not have in order to really make inroads into Glock's stranglehold on the market. I tend to agree with that.

The one that Smith has now is at around 50 K (major PF loads). The backup gun I'm shooting (that's also cracked) has around 120K of minor loads. I changed the barrel and added a comp to shoot major, but that's only been the last few thousand rounds. I'm hoping it will last until the other one comes back and I have to make decisions at that point what platform I'll for forward with. I like the feel and performance of the M&P (after suitable modifictions ). But the downtime issue is one I'm having trouble accepting.