CSX Barrel Issue? UPDATE 9-6-23

[mckenney99]

I just picked up a CSX this afternoon and looked it over at the shop before I accepted it. Everything looked good, the machining and finishing were all excellent. However, I couldn't see much in the barrel because the barrel was fairly dirty from what I assume was test firing. When I got home I stripped the gun, sprayed everything down with G96 (my normal routine for all new guns) and started to clean the barrel. I immediately noticed that it was unusually difficult to push a Hoppes soaked patch through the bore. I actually only just got the patch past the chamber before I backed the patch out and switched over to a brush and made a couple passes with a Hoppes saturated brush and I still felt a strange resistance. I did finally get the bore scrubbed and wiped out. When I looked down the bore I found that all 5 lands have striations/chatter marks that run across the tops of the lands, at regular intervals, running perpendicular to the bore.
I've never seen this in a pistol barrel. I did have the same issue in a Remington 700 BDL Sendero barrel in .270 Win which shot OK but it jacket fouled horribly and took days of soaking and scrubbing to get clean. Remington, by the way, refused to do anything or even look at it under warranty.
I plan on going ahead and wringing the CSX out at the range to see if the accuracy is affected and to see if there are any other issues that crop up before I decide to contact S&W. If it shoots acceptably and doesn't jacket foul unreasonably, then I won't worry about it and just live with it.
Has anyone else encountered this with their CSX or other recent pistol barrels?
I tried to get a photo of the chatter marks without dragging my Lyman Borescope out, so the photo isn't the best. Hopefully you can see enough to understand what I'm asking about.

 

[SnidelyWhiplash]

I haven’t seen that with my CSX but regardless of how it shoots…I don’t think it should have passed the inspection process. Then again…when I was a LEO and our agency received a shipment of new Model 64 revolvers another instructor and discovered upon test firing one was a smoothbore…no rifling at all. I called S&W and they wanted that revolver back pronto. I was told it had to have passed through at least a dozen hands and inspections and wasn’t caught.

I would encourage you to contact S&W about it. If they want it sent back under warranty do so. If they don’t…then that tells you something about them, their customer service and quality control.

 

[oink]

I wouldn't shoot it. I'd just send it back to Smith. Or maybe they can just ship you a barrel.

 

[Chromedhearts]

To me; that would be unacceptable. I’ve been carrying a CSX for just over a year now. It’s a great little pistol. My bore looked about like you would expect. Nice and shiny with good lands and groves. I think the Company needs to make yours right


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[minconrevo]

Once upon a time I worked at facility that made quality pistol barrels. A barrel such as that would have immediately gone into the scrap pile and would not have been final finished nor put into a pistol. It is not repairable.

My suggestion would be to not fire it. Contact S&W quickly, sending them images of the inside of the barrel from both the muzzle and chamber ends. S&W will be quickly sending you pre-paid return ship label.

 

[mckenney99]

Well I worried over this pistol overnight and got up this morning and looked at the barrel again. Took another photo from the chamber end and decided not to take the risk of firing this pistol with this compromised barrel. The barrel is so bad, it looks like it is threaded inside. I hate to think what pressures might have been generated when the test rounds were fired.
This barrel's quality control was non-existent throughout the, barrel manufacturing, pistol assembly and final "inspection" stations.
I called S&W customer service and spoke with "Steve" who apologized for the issue and immediately e-mailed me a return label. So a brand new gun, without a single round being fired by me, is on its way back to the mothership, just in time to get caught up in their summer shutdown. Judging by the volume of guns I read about on the different forums having to be returned to S&W, I hope I get it back before fall gets here.
SAD.

 

[mckenney99]

Update: Received the CSX back from S&W Warranty repair this afternoon, 8 weeks from the date they received it. The included work order shows they replaced the barrel and sights (?), then test fired the pistol. Also enclosed was a test fire target that showed 5 shots fired on 8-24-23 at 10yds but no info on the ammo used. I can confirm that it was dirty when I got it back (not a complaint) and I immediately stripped it down to clean it up and re-lube everything. I will try and get to the range tomorrow to FINALLY get my first shots fired from this pistol.

The good. S&W paid the shipping both ways and they did replace the obviously defective barrel.
The bad. First, this pistol should NEVER have left the factory with the barrel that was in it. S&W needs to quit using their customer as a substitute for their quality control department. Does anyone else remember the poor quality Bangor Punta days?
Second, 8 weeks to turn around a defective brand new pistol is unacceptable in my opinion.

 

[LVSteve]

Never seen an internally threaded barrel before. Eight weeks for a replacement? Summer shutdown?

 

[mckenney99]

Never seen an internally threaded barrel before. Eight weeks for a replacement? Summer shutdown?

Summer shutdown? Yep.

 

[Erich]

That's a ridiculous amount of time you had to wait - and on a completely obvious and easy fix, too. Wow. So sorry - that hasn't in any way been my experience with Smith & Wesson's customer service, but evidently things have changed.
Congratulations on getting it resolved - use the CSX in good health. (I liked mine so well that I bought a second one! )

 

[mckenney99]

That's a ridiculous amount of time you had to wait - and on a completely obvious and easy fix, too. Wow. So sorry - that hasn't in any way been my experience with Smith & Wesson's customer service, but evidently things have changed.
Congratulations on getting it resolved - use the CSX in good health. (I liked mine so well that I bought a second one! )

I hate to admit this but I really wanted to have the CSX wrung out for my LEOSA Quals this month. Not really knowing when S&W was going to get my original CSX back to me and being the impatient type, when I found another one in a little local shop that hadn't moved in a while I bought it about 1 month ago. I've got about 400 rounds through the second one, 124gr & 147gr FMJ and 100rds of 124gr & 147gr Federal HST's without a single ammo issue. Based on POA/POI I'm going to load it up with 124gr HST's. It has been a fairly easy transition shooting the CSX after carrying and shooting a 1911 for about 30+ years, just had to change finger placement on the trigger face of the CSX a little bit.

I did have one interesting bobble early on in my shooting of the second CSX where the trigger stuck to the rear after firing. A simple nudge forward on the trigger got it back into reset. The trigger also seemed to have a very slight catch in it just before the hammer release. Examination of the trigger revealed a little bitty pin on the bottom of the trigger was protruding from the side of the trigger just ever so slightly and was catching on the inside of the trigger channel of the frame. When I got home I pressed the protruding pin into the trigger so it was fully seated and centered and it hasn't moved again (photo attached of the pin in question). The catch in the trigger pull just before the hammer release is now gone also. When my original CSX was returned, I checked the pin on that trigger and guess what? It also was sticking out and contacting the trigger channel in the frame. For those of you with CSX's it might be worth looking at your triggers to make sure all the pins are properly seated and not protruding out either side.

 

[Erich]

I hate to admit this but I really wanted to have the CSX wrung out for my LEOSA Quals this month. Not really knowing when S&W was going to get my original CSX back to me and being the impatient type, when I found another one in a little local shop that hadn't moved in a while I bought it about 1 month ago. I've got about 400 rounds through the second one, 124gr & 147gr FMJ and 100rds of 124gr & 147gr Federal HST's without a single ammo issue. Based on POA/POI I'm going to load it up with 124gr HST's. It has been a fairly easy transition shooting the CSX after carrying and shooting a 1911 for about 30+ years, just had to change finger placement on the trigger face of the CSX a little bit.

I did have one interesting bobble early on in my shooting of the second CSX where the trigger stuck to the rear after firing. A simple nudge forward on the trigger got it back into reset. The trigger also seemed to have a very slight catch in it just before the hammer release. Examination of the trigger revealed a little bitty pin on the bottom of the trigger was protruding from the side of the trigger just ever so slightly and was catching on the inside of the trigger channel of the frame. When I got home I pressed the protruding pin into the trigger so it was fully seated and centered and it hasn't moved again (photo attached of the pin in question). The catch in the trigger pull just before the hammer release is now gone also. When my original CSX was returned, I checked the pin on that trigger and guess what? It also was sticking out and contacting the trigger channel in the frame. For those of you with CSX's it might be worth looking at your triggers to make sure all the pins are properly seated and not protruding out either side.

Mine are both groovy, but good looking-out to pass that info on to the rest of us. I'll alert CSX owners I know to pay attention.

 

[Indynick]

Thanks for the info. I will check both of mine when I get home.

 

[justicetyme]

I know this is an old thread but as I also have a CSX that has a barrel that never should have left the factory I wanted to share my experience with S&W CS.
I contacted S&W and sent these pictures of my CSX barrel.
After a number of communications back and forth I was told these were, "standard machining marks".

I'm hoping S&W will soon offer a gold ported barrel for the 3.6" CSX like they do for other pistols.

Cheers
James