Bad Barrel; S&W Customer Service Q

[thedrifter]

just curious what you guys think i should expect with customer service, Attached are photos of the barrel on my 617-6 and i just don't feel this is acceptable.

That said I emailed S&W and have a shipping label, I just need to get a good box together and send her off.

 

[apollo99]

I was wondering ,have you shot it? If you did did it have accuracy issues?

 

[thedrifter]

I was wondering ,have you shot it? If you did did it have accuracy issues?

To properly answer this question I would need to know what the potential max accuracy would be. perhaps comparing side by side a few other 617's if you have some 25 yard groups please share.

I can say that it is joyful to shoot, and my experience with match grade rifles would put it low on the accuracy list but that's comparing apples and oranges. My intent for this pistol is to use it in casual pistol competitions Steel challenge and bullseye shooting 25y & 50y. it is not the most practical to use but it is a fun revolver.

Are you saying a barrel in this condition would not negatively affect accuracy?

 

[lrrifleman]

The accuracy that your revolver delivers should be irrelevant to the damage that I see. If the lands and grooves are sharp, especially in the last inch or two near the muzzle, you should have an accurate revolver. I am more concerned by the scoring of the lands that appear perpendicular to the bore. It looks like someone put a tap and die in the muzzle and tried to cut threads in the rifling.

For me, with my K22, I would want to see a quarter sized ten shot group at 50ft fired one handed single action.

 

[jaymoore]

To properly answer this question I would need to know what the potential max accuracy would be. perhaps comparing side by side a few other 617's if you have some 25 yard groups please share.

I can say that it is joyful to shoot, and my experience with match grade rifles would put it low on the accuracy list but that's comparing apples and oranges. My intent for this pistol is to use it in casual pistol competitions Steel challenge and bullseye shooting 25y & 50y. it is not the most practical to use but it is a fun revolver.

Are you saying a barrel in this condition would not negatively affect accuracy?

Very possibly not much influence on accuracy as long as it doesn't foul out quickly. (For example, Savage rifling traditionally usually looks awful but they often outshoot pricer rifles.)

Neither of my "low milage" 617s shot to their full potential for about a thousand rounds or so. For quite some time the 4" 617 no dash outshot the 8 3/8"er. My newest 4" (10 shooter with lock) looked to have uneven groove depth, but it shoots with the other 4", now that it's "broke in".

If it shoots fairly well now, it'll probably get better as you get rounds downrange for several months.

I reckon you know that finding the best grouping ammo can be something of an adventure as well, but start with usual favorites that your match rifles like.

 

[rwsmith]

Test it out.

If it's not good, let S&W have a crack at it. If they can't/won't do anything about it, I'd try some fire lapping. That is a lousy LOOKING barrel. Whether it shoots or not has yet to be shown.

 

[Ashlander]

Are we talking about the scuffs on the front of the barrel? I see nothing on the grooves and lands that would give me a second thought. As for the scuffs, I would steel wool those out and forget about it. If you send it back to S&W, you'll get it back in a couple weeks (plus or minus a day or two) with a factory finish.

 

[revolver686]

It looks like there is some machining chatter on the rifling, is that what you're talking about? The scuffs on the muzzle would not concern me.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[Autonomous]

What happens to the barrel if S&W decides to install a new one?
Does it get put back on the assembly line?

 

[Dpris]

Take-offs are not recycled.
Denis

 

[bigpappa160]

Hey thedrifter, If I was you I'd take it to a gun smith and let him look at it. I'saying that because I sent my model 60 in to SW to get repaired and they received and signed for it on 18 May, I got on SW live chat yesterday to find out the status of revolver being fixed and the rep came back said it was in the repair shop queue line to be looked at. So I assuming that they are way backed up because the rep said that once it is being fixed it could take 2-4 weeks. Also, if SW sent you a shipping label and they should've emailed you instructions on how and where to ship it from. I took mine to FEDEX and it was free.

 

[thedrifter]

I was more curious to experience with customer service and what to expect.

I don't think any amount fire-lapping would cure the markings that are visible on the lands and grooves. I'm not a fan of fire-lapping either. Plus these marks are all the way through the barrel, the photo only shows what i could focus in on. If S&W decides to try lapping the barrel I would like to see the results.

As for the muzzle its just dirty, I'm not as concerned for that, though I also disagree with sandblasting the crown of the gun.

If it does not get corrected I suppose ill just have to send it to my gunsmith with a blank check but I would prefer to avoid that, he's too skilled for his own good and knows it...

 

[patrickd]

Great example of why I refuse to buy a new Smith... Old ones are fantastic guns. New models?? Also, the reason why I never go to a gunshop without my bore light. If I had a bore scope I'd be packing that too. I do this so I don't pay high dollar for something only to have to send it back AFTER the purchase to make it right.

 

[wood714]

Hey thedrifter, If I was you I'd take it to a gun smith and let him look at it. I'saying that because I sent my model 60 in to SW to get repaired and they received and signed for it on 18 May, I got on SW live chat yesterday to find out the status of revolver being fixed and the rep came back said it was in the repair shop queue line to be looked at. So I assuming that they are way backed up because the rep said that once it is being fixed it could take 2-4 weeks. Also, if SW sent you a shipping label and they should've emailed you instructions on how and where to ship it from. I took mine to FEDEX and it was free.

I sent a 686-1 2.5" to Smith for the M stamp recall on April 17th. I called a couple times and they always said it would be 2 more weeks.

Last time I called and was talking to them I got an email during the conversation from Smith...it was another shipping label. The lady I was talking to said she would look into it, and call me back. The dude that's in charge of their service called me an hour later and said he would hand walk it thru the custom shop and I'd get it in a week to 10 days.

Today was 10 days, called back and was told it was shipping out this Friday with a new set of S&W service grips. I sent it in without grips.

 

[shocker]

Would point out that looking at a surface with reflected light at grazing angle is super-sensitive to imperfections. Your bore is not atypical for what I see in cut rifling in mass production guns.

If the gun groups well and doesn't suffer from unusual fouling I wouldn't return it. If you did, you might get a better looking bore that shoots worse.

 

[MichiganScott]

I question the scuffs on the muzzle. How is this pistol being cleaned? Is the OP the second owner.

I would send it back if it fouled excessively or if accuracy was poor. I would not pay a gunsmith to work on a pistol that is under warranty.

 

[thedrifter]

I question the scuffs on the muzzle. How is this pistol being cleaned? Is the OP the second owner.

I would send it back if it fouled excessively or if accuracy was poor. I would not pay a gunsmith to work on a pistol that is under warranty.

I am the first owner, so far I've used a bore snake on the barrel from the breach end, a nylon brush and plastic pic for the lead buildup on the breach face, and a pistol brush, nylon brush and mix of patches and boresnake on the cylinder.

Top accuracy is where I would like to see it. Shots ok inside 10 yards but 25 to 50 is just not that great.

I'll report back once I have it returned. I'm not afraid to have it worked by another smith.