Failure, failure

Good news, bad news. The good news is Fedex found my rifle. They said it fell out of the box at the Charlotte, NC hub. Fedex shipped it to me the next day. Sure enough it had been dropped. The rear thumb screw for the carry handle took a hard lick and was scratched pretty good. The charging handle also took a hit and was scratched and slightly bent. Standing on the front porch deciding whether or not to sign for it, I inspected it and saw it was mostly cosmetic damage. I really, really did not want to send it back a third time if it was fixed. Good news is I took it out today, fired it, and it functioned flawlessly. They did however switch the original barrel with a M&P 15 Sport barrel. I now have a franken gun, But I'm happy. Still going to take some convincing to buy S&W again.
 
Wow, what a crazy end to your story. I wouldn't have accepted the gun. PERIOD. I would be requesting for the shipper to pay for a gun that was in like new condition as it was sent out. Not dropped and banged up. Just my thoughts.
 
S&W insured the rifle. Contact them again on Monday about the damage.

Glad you got it back, one way or the other. Having a gun stolen from interstate commerce is a big headache.
 
Good news, bad news. The good news is Fedex found my rifle. They said it fell out of the box at the Charlotte, NC hub. Fedex shipped it to me the next day. Sure enough it had been dropped. The rear thumb screw for the carry handle took a hard lick and was scratched pretty good. The charging handle also took a hit and was scratched and slightly bent. Standing on the front porch deciding whether or not to sign for it, I inspected it and saw it was mostly cosmetic damage. I really, really did not want to send it back a third time if it was fixed. Good news is I took it out today, fired it, and it functioned flawlessly. They did however switch the original barrel with a M&P 15 Sport barrel. I now have a franken gun, But I'm happy. Still going to take some convincing to buy S&W again.

I got one that has ridden in the back of the truck while running farm roads and bounced its' way down some trails in a Rhino chasing hogs. An ugly gun is a loved gun!!!

The barrel thing, I would not worry about in the big scheme of things. 1/8 or 1/9 twist, they shoot pretty much equal. With the melonite coating, it will last a long, long time. One can bet; they spent a good, long minute looking into the chamber of the original barrel, and then decided to get a replacement, and then I bet they spent a good, long minute looking over the chamber of the new barrel.....

Time to finally enjoy the rifle!! And, props to S&W for making it work properly, and uh...... props to Fed Ex for promptly returning your rifle without involving the DOJ!!!!!;)
 
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S&W insured the rifle. Contact them again on Monday about the damage.

Glad you got it back, one way or the other. Having a gun stolen from interstate commerce is a big headache.

I am definitely going to too call them Monday morning. They also sent me a free P-Mag.
 
I would definitely take this up with S&W. You bought a new rifle and not only is it now damaged, but it also has what I'd call an inferior barrel.
 
S&W's 1x9 barrel is anything but "inferior" the average use of a 'Sporter' will not suffer one bit and you now have a rifle to have fun with. Talk with S&W about the shipping incident and then go buy more ammo!
 
It's not the same as the 1:8 5R. I don't mean to imply that the 1:9 is bad. It isn't, but I wouldn't accept a 1:9 replacement barrel. Many of us bought 1:8 barreled S&W's simply because of the barrel and dare say that if you took a poll that most people would call the 1:8 5R superior to the 1:9.
 
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Maine Event, My point was to soften the experience Whacker suffered and comment the "average" shooter using the rifle for sport will find little difference between the various twists using 55 to 62 gr. ammo. I have rifles in 7, 8 and 9 twist (most are 1x7) and consider myself a fair shooter, each of those rifles will kill a Texas hog or bust a dirt clod at 100 yards. Competition shooting is another topic altogether. Come to think of it my .300 blackout is 1x8...Rainier with polygon rifling.
 
Maine Event, My point was to soften the experience Whacker suffered and comment the "average" shooter using the rifle for sport will find little difference between the various twists using 55 to 62 gr. ammo. I have rifles in 7, 8 and 9 twist (most are 1x7) and consider myself a fair shooter, each of those rifles will kill a Texas hog or bust a dirt clod at 100 yards. Competition shooting is another topic altogether. Come to think of it my .300 blackout is 1x8...Rainier with polygon rifling.

I'm with you 100% in that most people are likely to be as good a shooter with just about most any barrel.

For me, the issue lies in that S&W opted to place a different barrel, and a barrel that most of us wouldn't be fine with them doing so if we could have the same barrel, on the OP's AR.

It's like taking a car to the garage for a new part and instead of putting on the same factory part the car came with they put in a different part without telling you.

It's one thing if you're OK with it and opt of it, but quite different if you find out after the fact.
 
Just glad to let everyone know I am very happy with an accurate, quality rifle. S&W sent replacement carry handle and charging handle. Not really concerned about the 1:9 twist. But I would like to know how I can tell if the inside barrel is melonite or chrome. I would also like to thank all of you who replied to my post.
 
If you purchased a current production model(2013) m&p15 product#811000 then your barrel was a 1/9 from the start.your chromed components are as follows- barrel bore,gas key,bolt carrier and firing pin.glad to hear they are taking care of you.
 
Where did you buy the rifle? Was it sold as new?just wondering if someone swapped barrels,could've been the problem from the beginning.
 
Where did you buy the rifle? Was it sold as new?just wondering if someone swapped barrels,could've been the problem from the beginning.

Brand new in the box at an outdoor sporting goods store. Guess I'll never know. The rifle is working well now. So I'm just looking forward to spending time zeroing it in. :)
 
Unfortunately, the rifle's serial number is registered to YOU. TSA warned me once when shipping firearms as luggage that the containers I had weren't really very good. Their concern was stolen items. You could, I'm sure provide clear documentation that the item was lost in transit to clear you should the 'worst' happen, but it still makes a nasty day for you. And demonstrates how futile gun laws are. On the bright side, there is a chance that the lost/stolen rifle still functions poorly, and if so, the joke's on the perp...

There is no registration for firearms in many states. Just a background check. No serial number and your name in a database....unless you live in some liberal place.
 
Thank you Shawn. It is melonite. I just looked down the barrel of my AK-47 - silver chrome. Then looked down the barrel of my M&P15- all dark.
 
Brand new in the box at an outdoor sporting goods store. Guess I'll never know. The rifle is working well now. So I'm just looking forward to spending time zeroing it in. :)

I'm sure you know this but remember to shoot groups before you make adjustments when zeroing. I chased a bullet all over the place the first time I zeroed in a sight.
 
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