350 Legend "timing issues" any more info?

[RenoHuskerDu]

IF S&W simply added a good guallitty check before they wend out the door even if just 1/2 the production guns passed that, another 1/3 needed some fine adjustments and the rest needed some parts replaced and more effort. It probably would not add 25% to the over all cost especially if you factored in the amount of money in shipping and repair that it is costing them now.

When I was doubling the cost I was saying the gun was totally assembled by high quality craftsmen, [polished and old time type of finish

We are in unusual times. But in usual times, a dissatisfied customer relates his frustration to about 12 other people, on average. A satisfied customer passes on his story about half as often.

In this firearms market, beset by gubbmint, deluged by new and inexperienced customers, staggered by supply chain issues, and now experiencing discounting as if we were in the 2017 Trump Slump again ... well, all bets are off. Mere mortals cannot make accurate predictions. A fellow with an X-Frame that had to go back to Smith for several months before it works right just might still be as happy as the proverbial clam, and gripe to nobody about it.

But over the long term and in the aggregate, these types of quality issues can only hurt Smith's image, brand, and reputation. It's an inexorable law of Marketing.

Will the market continue to be so distorted that nobody notices? Will most other gun makers suffer comparable quality slumps? Will competitors step up their game and steal market share from Smith?

Well, you could ask GM about how they did competing Toyota and Datsun by resting on past achievements. Or consider Taurus, once the butt of jokes, now generally considered to be of good quality. Even High Point has never had a safety recall, and is gaining traction with its newer products. I bought their 10mm carbine for my son and he's entirely happy with it, no issues at all. I would not have considered High Point 10 years ago.

It's a crazy market. I don't know why Smith allows their name to be sullied by high visibility product fails such as this one, and the high-cap 12g that was promptly recalled as soon as it hit the shelves.