So I bought a brand new m&p 15x from a local gun store a few months back. I never shot it until recently because of hunting season and schedule. I took it out to sight it in 2 days after the season ended and found that it is tumbling bullets. I used 50, 55, and 62 grain bullets in this 1x9 twist barrel. This barrel twist is capable of accurately shooting anything up to 69gr.
I cleaned the barrel before I started shooting and after evey 10 rounds of sideway hits. After about 60 rounds of bullets slapping the wood and paper sideways I cleaned the gun and brought it inside to put a bore light in the barrel for inspection. At about the 5th groove of riffling I noticed a gouge receding from the rifling almost intersecting into the next spiral. it looks to me that the tooling that cuts the rifling broke in this barrel and was never inspected before another tool was run through it.
I called customer service and explained my issue and was told that I would receive a shipping label via email to send the rifle in for repair, that was on Monday January 27th. I had not received the label as of Friday the 31st, so I called and was told it could 3-5 days. I waited and by February 5th I called again and spoke to Robert and he said they entered my email incorrectly and I would have itby Monday the 10th. Still no email and today called and complained and fed up beyond repair at this point.
I have decided to not return the rifle for repair and will have it repaired myself and sell it after it is functioning correctly. Who knows when I would get it back if it takes over 2 weeks to get a shipping label emailed to me?
Having paid over 1100 for this rifle from one of the major gun manufacturers in the country you would think their product would have never went out in this shape. This rifle was never accuracy fired at the factory. Sure it shoots and send the round down range, but it could never stabilize the round in this condition. I have pictures of the target if anyone would like to see them.
Word to the wise, inspect your "new" rifle and shoot it before your return period is up from your purchasing store.

The m&p15 T is supposed to come with a 5R 1/8twist barrel. Does your barrel say 1 in 9?

Yes my apologies, looked at the model on the box and it's an x not a T. 1x9 twist

That will teach S&W a lesson. Pay to fix then sell at a loss makes sense to me. I don't know too many places that take a firearm back after shooting, you usually have to deal with the factory. Call back and talk to a manager and tell them what has taken place. Most people have good experience with S&W customer service but there are a few that have problems. Sometime it helps to talk to a higher authority.

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Psalm 23:4

Interesting first post....

I would call S&W back. I have read that they have had an issue or two lately because they are switching over to SAP as their management software and there is a learning curve when migrating to new systems. I know this isn't your problem, but helps to understand what has happened.

Give them a call back, ask to speak to a manger. They will get you taken care of.

I know it does not make sense to you the way I decided to do things. However, every time I call I seem to get this same rude lady that cuts me off mid sentence, EVERYTIME because she thinks she knows what I am about to say. After dealing with her I get transferred to another person that tells you what you want to hear just to get off the phone. That is including the "manager" I spoke to last week.

After my call this morning he said he was filling the label out and emailing it now. I did receive the shipping label just now. What happened to the 3-5 days to receive it because of the processing department? I get excuses and stories every time I call there. Will I send it in for repair....that's a big hell no. Win for S&W yes, just treat your customers like they need you and that's good business.

You tell me how much confidence you would have to ship your rifle off and get it returned completely repaired? That is why I would rather spend "more" money to make this go away.

Hoooah for your reply and 2 cents...

Your frustration is understood.Before you proceed any farther inspect your bolt carrier key for gas leakage.The two Allen screws that hold the carrier key to the top of the bolt carrier are supposed to be staked.Check to see if they are,get a proper fitting Allen wrench and check for tightness.A loose key will cause bullets to tip and keyhole.I have seen screws that appeared tight that left a paper thin gap.This causes the exact problem you are experienqcing.Also check and make sure your bolt carrier key is sliding over the gas tube and not dragging on the side .This mis alignment of the tube can also cause problems,while not common when done at the factory assembly it is possible an assembler could be a little too aggressive with the barrel wrench causing the tube to shift.You can check this by removing the bolt from the bolt carrier turning the upper over and gently sliding the carrier forward.If properly aligned it should make little or no contact with the tube and slide over it freely.

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SWCA#2288
SWHF#407

Thanks for your reply and advice. I pulled the bolt out and inspected it, they are staked and tight. You can clearly see in the bore a gouge trailing from the rifling. It sure looks like the rifling cutting head broke in the barrel. It's just under halfway down the barrel so there is no chance the round will destabilize before exiting the 16" barrel.

Looking at the tube it does appear to be favoring a little towards one side of the upper. It does make slight contact on the tube if I favor the slop in the boot to the opposite side.

I compared it to my other ar and its tube is centered and I can't favor one way or the other to get it to make any contact. Could this cause these bullets to tumble or at least contribute to it more.

After firing it that day I did not see excessive gas build up inside or on the bolt. No more than usual.

Sorry you're having problems. However, you make mention of a broken rifling cutter head. I don't work for S&W, but the only folks who still cut rifle are making specialty barrels of some type (muzzle loader or high dollar target barrels). The vast majority of production barrels are either button rifled or hammer forged. I'd expect button rifling to be the predominent method for AR type barrels.

I've no clue what the defect may be. Most manufacturers test fire for function, not accuracy. Since it won't cost you anything, I'd suggest sending the rifle back to S&W with a detailed explanation of the issue and the location of the barrel defect. Once it comes back you have your choice of shooting it or sending it to a new home.

Sorry for your frustration, but I'm pretty confident that once you get past customer service that you'll appreciate what lengths S&W will go to make your rifle right.

For some reason, they're having issues getting out shipping labels. It never used to be this way, but as someone said, they're going through a software upgrade.

It sucks as that's not your fault, but again, don't let a customer service rep deter you from having a S&W gunsmith make things right, and on their dime.

Badnews,

I can understand and sympathize with your frustration. S&W M&P 15 rifles have a good reputation. S&W is a big-name brand with a reputation for quality and excellent service. Even taking into account that:

1. Even if the probability is low, production errors that slip final QA inspection do happen.

2. S&W may or may not be truly going through an enterprise system transition, causing as much frustration for their front-line CS employees as much as the customer.

3. CS employees are still people, some have bad days. An enterprise wide operational change can cause them to have a bad week.

All of these combined to cause S&W's CS not to live up to their normally outstanding service levels. It is not your concern, yet you have to deal with the frustration. Anything manufactured by man holds the probability of error. It's just that you happened to be the unlucky individual to receive a rifle that is a part of S&W's low error rate. Everything just combined to produce the worst experience possible for you.

I can completely understand if you want to just rid yourself of this problem rifle. If I were you, I'd feel the exact same way. Document all your conversations with S&W CS. Ask to speak to a supervisor. Do what you have to do to get S&W to return to you a working rifle. Do not spend any more of your hard earned $$$ on fixing something that is S&W's burden to fix.

When you get your rifle back, give it another go. If it still sucks for you, then by all means sell it.

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-John

I have NEVER had trouble with S&W CS. If you get a bad rep. hang up and call back until you get one that's willing to help. They have ALWAYS been top notch when helping fix problems and making things right.

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THIS WE'LL DEFEND ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

After reading the words of encouragement and talking with Joe Marku (not sure how to spell his last name), I sent the rifle out today.

I have more time than anything these days and little patience. I hope that you all are right about the gunsmith's and I appreciate your advice. I will post when I get it back, aprox 2 weeks per Joe's statement. I know it could be longer and not too worried about it, as long as it comes back fixed.

I own a SA M1 Garand, SA M1A1 national match, and a few other older smiths. I have never had a problem with any of them and the X was my first newer purchase. I will Give her a try when its returned and hopefully it will be as reliable and supreme quality as the rest.

Thanks again for ALL the words of wisdom. I will post results when she returns.

I hope everything works out so we can petition the forum mods to change your screen name to "Goodnewz".

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-John