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I have been intending to visit the factory as it is only a couple hours drive
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Well worth the trip...I have taken the tour three times, one time as a VIP...they had me confused with someone making purchasing decisions for a large PD...I didn't set the record straight, and spent the rest of the day on their range, shooting their guns, using their ammo...
I did blue-collar factory work during college 30 years ago, and it amazed me to see how much (and so little) has changed in factories since then. The technology is totally different (I operated a Monarch Hydroslide lathe, "programmable" with metal templates...now the machines are computer numerically controlled). But the factory "culture" seemed to be what I remembered...
S&W factory tours last a couple of hours, with lots of walking. Very tight security, expect to get scanned going in and going out. You need to make prior arrangements for a tour as they like to assemble groups, unless you get the VIP treatment, of course.
Also, ask to be allowed to "dine" in the factory cafeteria, an experience in itself...like a time-machine journey to 1957.