329 Night Guard - 1sr range trip - FTF

[Spinblastr]

I just bought a 329 and had the same problem. Most of the rounds didn't shoot. I had to send it back to S&W for a longer pin. Is this a big problem with this model?

 

[44 special Dave]

Most of the problems discussed on the Night Guard serirs have been FTFs

How S&W could go all the way thru product development and tresting and not realize there was a FTF problem, is beyong understanding.

The number of times I've heard a NG have an FTF is way past it being related to just one specimen.

And for a defensive revolver, that's especially inexcusable (any gun really).

Dave

 

[Jaws1]

Hi all,

I purchased a 329NG one year ago. Immediately took it on the range (located where I made the purchase) I was getting several misfires as well. As many as 15 out of 50. I felt exactly as you did, lot of money for woods self defense gun that isn't very reliable. Talked to the gunsmith on site, he asked if I could leave it with him. Called me a few days later, said he installed .030 longer pin in it, fired a box through it with no problems. I picked up the gun and have now ran over 500 rounds through it with NO problems. My confidence in this gun is back.

Jeff

 

[Bear Country 88]

Follow up: I finally got the 329 Night Guard back from S&W (over 7 weeks) and fired a box of 50 through it with no problems. I didn't have the action job done, just the warranty work for the FTF issue. I'm still kind of sour on the whole ordeal so the gun is just sitting in the safe. It's not a self-defense weapon anymore - it's a gun to take to the range once and a while. Too bad S&W quality wasn't up to snuff when they released the Night Guard series. It may be better now...

 

[310nightguard]

Night guard issues

I just bought my second gun from night guard series of revolvers. I bought the 310 in 10mm/.40

My first trip to the range with factory fresh .40 UMC rounds resulted in 5 failure to fires out of a box of 50. Went home, cleaned it again very thoroughly, noticed the finish missing (bright shiny metal) on the frame just below the barrel where the cylinder meets the frame.

Took it back to the range today with a different brand of factory fresh ammo; 7 failure to fires out of a box of 50.

It is now on its way back for repairs... unbelievable; brand new $900 gun with issues straight from the factory.

I mentioned this was my second night guard because I had the same issue with a 386 that I bought last year, sent it back and it was returned with longer firing pin. I thought that was a fluke, but now have learned of these issues with the night guard series. Unacceptable in my eyes... a premium priced product used in defense of life with known, recurring issues.

Great concept in a gun (awesome sights, great ergonomics, perfect mix of size, weight, concealability and controllability), with what seems to be very poor manufacturing and quality control.

Smith and wesson knows of the problem; why not just put the longer firing pin in the guns to start with?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

 

[ewayte]

The firing pin issue isn't just with the Night Guards, but with most of the large Scandium framed revolvers. I purchased a 325 Thunder Ranch last year and it had to go back to S&W to have the firing pin replaced after numerous ignition failures.

There's nothing like buying a $1400 revolver only to discover that it has to go back to the factory to make it work as it should.

 

[6pack]

So glad I read through this thread....I'll be staying way away from the Night Guard series.

 

[eotrampman]

were there any 329s that do not have the FTF? have they started fixing the issue before releasing the guns to the public. I am wondering if my 44 was made after they found the problem.

i havent shot my nightguard yet so i dont know.

 

[ColColt]

This is unsettling from such a renown company to allow all this to manifest problems like this after passing through QC. It destroys ones confidence in the weapon and in the company. Moreover, it certainly doesn't sound like an isolated case or two but rather the norm.

The cost of firearms today there shouldn't be this amount of failures...period. I had a SA 1911 years ago and it would always fail to feed, extract and sometimes not go into battery one or two rounds out of 100. No amount of tweaking the extractor tension or replacing it with another solved the problem. Magazine brand changes didn't solve the problem. A famous brand recoil spring and weight change didn't solve the problem. It had a wide enough throat to feed a snuff can and still wasn't reliable. It totally soured me on 1911's.There's just too finicky and I've had my share of them. Many love them and I love the feel of them but not at the price of being 80-90% reliable.

I've never heard of so many problems with a new pistol. I've had several different S&W revolvers over the years in different calibers and never had any-zero, problems from any of them...especially FTF.

 

[tamu94]

I put an APEX pin in mine (329NG) as soon as I got it and I have not had a single issue. Flawless and very accurate. A joy to shoot with my 240 laser cast bullets at about 820fps and the Gold Dot 200g SB load at around 1020fps.

I agree its not acceptable to have the problems mentioned here but clearly SW has chosen to pass the California drop tests at the expense of reliability on the new guns.

Since APEX and several others are offering the longer pins there clearly is a market and thus a problem with the S&W.

 

[4MUL8R]

I'm not confused by the fix. What I am curious about is the reason the longer pin works. If the hammer falls with the same force, with the same stroke, why does the short firing pin not protrude and mash the primer? Is there a physical stop that prevents the hammer from mashing the pin but so far?

 

[bbgun]

WE HEAR A LOT ABOUT HOW GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE IS,JUST CALL THEM THEY SEND YOU A SHIPPING LABEL & THEY SEND IT BACK FIXED & FREE.WONDER WHY GUN PRICES ARE GOING UP,TO OFFSET THE SO CALLED FREE FIX.

 

[eotrampman]

i bought some blazer 240gr and FTF to many times to count. I also noticed the unspent shells would creep past there crimp. Is this only because its an aluminum casing? I wish i didnt go out and do this impulse buy without reading up.

 

[tamu94]

I'm not confused by the fix. What I am curious about is the reason the longer pin works. If the hammer falls with the same force, with the same stroke, why does the short firing pin not protrude and mash the primer? Is there a physical stop that prevents the hammer from mashing the pin but so far?

The pins retention notch is cut to allow longer travel.

 

[Bullseye Smith]

The aluminum casing will sometimes let the primer bad off seat and that will cause a FTF. The firing pin has a spec. distance to travel, if the travel specs. and pin are the same then you will have FTF. Some of the longer pins will stick out on the face a little. I alway put a longer firing pin in revolvers. I agree the NG guns have had a bad run on firing pins, but remember they only fire 2 to 3 rounds before it leaves, so how may do they catch that we don't know about???? It would be easier if they just install the longer one when they built them, but some state on the west coast keeps screwing up the system with new test, etc..

 

[Old Navy]

My 29-6 pictured earlier leaves a very deep dent in the fired rounds, but my 610-3 leaves a dent about half the depth as the 29-6 does, and the 610-3 has never failed to pop a primer.