First gun purchase ever. Did I go wrong?

[Old cop]

FWIW I had to return new guns to Springfield, Ruger & Smith & Wesson due to faulty QC. I can remember back to when my agency ordered a batch of new stainless revolvers to replace our aging Model 15s. Some came through with problems so severe that range staff could not fix them and they had to be returned too, so nothing new here. I also purchased my last two new S&Ws from Gander and found them to be both knowledgeable and helpful so I don't want to bash them unnecessarily. I learned, the hard way, to carefully inspect any new gun I purchase.

 

[Rustynail70]

I had recently bought a .22 compact myself 0n 04/12/2016 upon cleaning it before shooting noticed a line in the bore after some investigating turned out to be tool marks, a little more research turns out there are a least a hand full of these guns with this issue you might have them check it out while its already there.

Mine and at least one other gun owner's is there right now for this issue mine for two weeks his for three. I sent mine back 04/13/2016 they did send me a prepaid label for 2nd day shipping.

I own a M&P shield 9mm and a Smith and Wesson 15-22 both have been excellent firearms.

 

[Arik]

I can't speak for a S&W semi, but my Colt, Beretta & Ruger semi auto pistols sure don't. Likewise with my M4

Ok fine they don't. Whatever

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[Papa_D]

Now I am not an expert in firearm terms so please don't mind my improper use or terminology in my post.


My wife and I purchased our first firearms ever within the last month and we decided to go with Smith and Wesson as we didn't mind spending a little more to get an American made product with a good reputation. She was so very excited to have her first gun. We made our purchase from Gander Mountain. We decided to get the service plan they offer as it sounded like a good deal but maybe wasn't. Anyways, both of our pistols we had to bring to Gander Mountain on the weekend due to problems. My SD9 VE has a defective slide lock that will not properly lock the slide. Basically, if I manually lock the slide all I have to do is tap the gun and it returns to battery. If I load a mag in it will instantly unlock itself as soon as it is inserted. While not a terrible problem it still was quite annoying. My MP 22 Compact came in the box and was missing the piece on the rear sight that has the 2 dots on it and the screw that would have attached it as well. This was partially my fault for not checking the gun before taking it home but my wife picked it up as it was her gun to use and she was too excited to wait. We took it to the range to fire and I noticed my wife having a hard time and saw that the rear sights had no actual sight to use.

So both guns now within a month of ownership are now not working. I take these to Gander Mountain for their service and they told me both have to be sent out to S&W for repairs. I was told specifically by multiple Gander Employees it would take at least 3 weeks for S&W to repair it and possibly up to 8 weeks due to shipping times.

So that is 2 months that we have no more home protection as this was the whole point of buying these firearms. 2 months of range fees I have already paid for that I now have no firearm to use.

Being as this is our first firearm purchase or experience we are both very disappointed in this entire situation. I really hope this is just bad luck on our part as S&W has such a great reputation as a company.

Sorry for such a rant.


Anyways, I contacted customer service about this problem and told them exactly what I said above and I basically got a generic response two days later stating sorry for your trouble. We don't have the guns yet (thanks to slow Gander Mountain). We will get to it when we can. It usually takes about 3 weeks. That was it.


So my question and purpose for even being here is I wanted to get some feedback from people who have experience with S&W and tell me is this normal to have these kind of Quality Control issues with new firearms and such a cookie cutter customer service response?


I feel like part of the problem is also mine in allowing Gander Mountain to be the middle man rather than contacting the company directly but I will know better next time.

You hit the nail square on the head about allowing Gander Mountain to be a middle man. In my minimal experience with S&W customer service, none of the contacts were for repairs though, they were fast, professional and delivered products and answers to questions quicker than expected.

On to QC; I just brought my SD9VE home. I don't notice any issues with quality yet. I have only field stripped a few times, cleaned once and dry fired a bit though.

 

[rsrocket1]

Sorry to hear about your problems with your S&W guns. I'm more sorry to hear about you being swindled by Gander Mountain and them taking advantage of new gun owners. They know full well about the S&W warranty policy and should have informed you that you were wasting money on purchasing an extended warranty on something that was fully covered already.

As for S&W warranty's, for the first 15,000 rounds on my M&P40 I was using the slide lock as a slide release and the tab broke off while I was shooting it. S&W sent me a prepaid authorization number where I was able to take the gun and over-nighted to them for free. 3 weeks later it arrived with the replacement slide stop. In retrospect I could have done it myself in about 10 minutes but I was OK with the shipping.

The gun was 2 years old.

 

[scooter123]

The slide going forward on mag insertion is not uncommon and happens to just about every single auto ever made

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This is NOT true at all. However it has been a consistent and common complaint about the S&W M&P lineup and the SD Semi's. The cause for this could either be a design deficit or an Ergonomic issue because it could potentially be caused by having a stray thumb on the slide lock and inadvertently releasing the slide when inserting a loaded magazine.

BTW, most manufacturers recommend AGAINST inserting a magazine with force into a pistol with the slide locked back, you are supposed to simply push the magazine in until it clicks. In the owners manual for my Sig Sauers they state that doing this could bend the feed lips on the magazine. Not sure how true this is but I see no need to slam a slide in place when the slide is locked back so I don't do it.

I have Sig Sauer, Springfield Armory, and Ruger Semi Autos and not one single one "Auto forwards" when a loaded magazine is inserted. The biggest issue I have is "thumbing" the slide lock on my Sig Sauers and my XDM. When I do that during live fire the slide won't lock back, a bit of a DUH moment. As for the 3 Rugers, they are all SR1911's and the slide lock is out of reach for my recalcitrant thumb.

 

[Arik]

I'm sure soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan gently insert their mags until they click. If a gun or mag can't handle a mag insertion under stress they belong in the trash.

If they are trying to sell their products to military and police and require a gentle touch at the same time they are in the wrong market

It all comes down to how you shot. If you stay at a static range just trying to hit the X the gun most likely will never auto forward.

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[ladder13]

I saw Gander ruin a M&P 22 barrel owned by a range member. He brought it back for feed issues and apparently someone took a file to the feed ramp.
He then sent it to Smith and they replaced the barrel no charge, and never said anything about the GM butcher.
I wouldn't trust GM with any sort of mechanical work, at least the one he bought from.

 

[kurtscnp]

Call S&W 1-800-331-0852. They will email you a FedEx label any you can send the weapon directly to them at no charge. S&W will then send the repaired firearm directly to your residence. All at no charge. Turn-around usually is about 3 weeks. The rear sight issue just call the 800 number and explain it is missing and they normally would just mail you a replacement if you ask. All S&W products come with a lifetime warranty against manufacture defects. Sights, magazines, springs, etc are normal wear and tear items, much like brakes on a car, and are covered by the one year warranty.

 

[Muss Muggins]

This is NOT true at all. However it has been a consistent and common complaint about the S&W M&P lineup and the SD Semi's. The cause for this could either be a design deficit or an Ergonomic issue because it could potentially be caused by having a stray thumb on the slide lock and inadvertently releasing the slide when inserting a loaded magazine.

It is true. Because physics . . .

 

[Rick_A]

As someone who can get a little exuberant performing mag changes, ALL of our autos have released the slide from lock upon magazine insertion in my hands.

Who inserts a magazine without intending to make ready, anyway?

On the rear sight problem...stuff happens.

 

[32flyingk9]

My Gen 3 Glocks will release the slide when the mag is slammed home. I actually like it. It makes for a much faster reload. I had to retrain myself when I switched over to the Gen 4.

 

[Gunsnwater]

The slide lock has a spring pulling it down. The follower pushes up on it. If you slap a heavy magazine into the gun you giggle the slide enough to release the slide lock. The chances are greatest with polymer guns. They are lighter and flexible. If its happening when you put a magazine in without much force you might want to investigate that.

Shipping a gun yourself to the manufacturer has the benefit of them shipping it directly back to you. Saves time.

 

[iamthesavage]

I didn't read everything, but I had a sd40, problem pistol from day one, sent it back to smith, returned three weeks later, still had half the issues. Instead of sending it off again I traded it for a sccy cpx2, ran that one yesterday, it had one issue, trigger wouldonly reset with no pressure on the trigger making a "double tap" near impossible, I will take that small issue over the many issues with the sd, now the only s&w product I own is a 1898 break top 38s&w, at least 120 years ago it seems like they cared, that revolver has no issues other than pitting and no finish left, I had enough issues that I will never purchase another auto anything with a Smith name, won't shoot what I can't trust.