Got my 627PC back from S&W

[Dr. Marneaus]

This is a follow up to this thread:

Made the mistake of ordering a brand new Performance Center 627

Spark Notes:

Bought a brand new 627 PC. checked timing and lock up and barrel cant at shop, took it home. Realised hammer was sharp, grips fit like poo, machining marks in frame, crown was awful. Sent it back to S&W within 24 hours of purchase. 4 weeks later, got it back.



Soooooooo. I got it back. The moment of truth:
Untitled by Andrew M, on Flickr

Okay. Grips are about 95% better.

Untitled by Andrew M, on Flickr

They fixed the divots and machining marks in the frame.
Untitled by Andrew M, on Flickr

They definitely fixed the crown. Its clearly chamfered and the rifling no longer protrudes past the crown as a lip.
Untitled by Andrew M, on Flickr

Thats where the "good" ends.

They say they "fixed the barrel cant" but to me, the front sight STILL appears to be leaning right. This is a super minor qualm, but still, i can see it with the naked eye. If it shoots straight, whatever, its fine, I dont care, but SOMETHING still isn't aligned here.
Untitled by Andrew M, on Flickr


They didnt so much as TOUCH the hammer. Its still literally razor sharp. I'll go at it with a file and suck up the fact that im going to have to remove some of the chroming on the MIM hammer. Oh well.
Untitled by Andrew M, on Flickr

Here's one that scares me. The barrel is HEAVILY leaded for only having a few shots fired to test it. its hard to see in the pic, but the first inch of the barrel is leaded, that thing protruding into the bore is a sliver of the lead hanging out. I didn't even do that, that's just the way it came back to me. This does not bode well for me if i intend to shoot my cast reloads through it, or even factory cast loads. I'm HOPING that this is just based on the ammo they used, not indicative of how any cast loads would fire.
Untitled by Andrew M, on Flickr

So. My overall impressions are "meh". This is pretty disappointing. I'll admit, given the fact that I got a *** from the factory, it probably would have had to come back an 11/10 for me to give it credit. But, apparently after buying a brand new $1000 revolver, then sending it BACK to the factory, what you end up with is an 8/10 firearm. So, I guess thats still a passing grade, but its like a B-.

I dunno, whatever. it is what it is. If it shoots straight and doesnt fill up with lead instantly I GUESS its okay. but again, to reiterate...apparently in this day and age, $1000 gets you something thats "okay"

Sigh.

 

[tattooo]

I agree and would feel the same....you are paying a premium price for a sub par quality controlled product.

 

[BLUEDOT37]

I can't imagine the factory test firing ammo with a lead bullet in it. I wonder if what you're seeing in the end of the barrel was a by-product of them chamfering the muzzle? I've chamfered my revolvers & you use a brass pilot in the bore to align the cutter, & then lap/polish it, but I don't know if they do something different?

Every PC revolver I've bought has had a rough/sharp hammer too. A light filing fixed mine & left no obvious signs. I just dislike the tear-drop shape in general though. A regular hammer is fine for me.

I've had front sights that looked straight require rear sight windage adjustment & those that looked off not require any. You should shoot it before you pass judgement.

.

 

[muddocktor]

BLUEDOT37 brings up some good points about the stuff in the barrel. It might be metal from chamfering the crown. I would give it a good cleaning and see if the shavings look like lead or steel. And if it's lead, maybe you should run 500 or so of jacketed bullets through it first before trying cast lead bullets. That might smooth things a bit in the barrel and maybe keep it from leading with cast bullets. Zero bullets sells some good shooting, reasonably priced jacketed bullets (a little over 10 cents/bullet) for reloading. Look at Roze Distributing for them. And if traditionally lubed lead bullets give leading problems, you might try some Hi Tek coated cast bullets and see if that helps. My 627-5 Pro just eats up the Hi Tek coated stuff up with no leading problems at all.

 

[Spokes]

That front sight would drive me nuts, or should I say nuttier..

 

[Mr.Lee]

Do you think the entire front sight leans or just the colored part?

For example, my 617 rear sight is even\square but the white outline paint is uneven.

 

[zogger]

Call SW again. Tell them and send them the pixs. If you are not happy (and I agree you shouldn't be), let them fix it again or give you other options.

 

[diggler1833]

Yep that stinks. I bought my last new S&W a few months back, a 637. When I took the side plate off there was a ton of metal shavings from machine work still attached (barely) to the frame.

That is two out of three for me, the other being a 686 with a canted barrel. Both of these revolvers shoot well, but if I am going to be laying out hundreds of dollars of my hard-earned money I want a gun where I am not the final quality control inspection. Never again will I spend my money on a new S&W product.

For what it's worth, I recently went to the Ruger forum and eight of the posts on the first page of their revolver section were about new guns with problems too.

 

[CelticSire]

The front sight is not canted nearly as bad as it appears. The base of the rear sight sets at an angle to the frame which makes it appear that the front sight is canted. The front sight seems to align pretty well with the top of the rear sight blades.

 

[BillyMagg]

Do you think the entire front sight leans or
just the colored part?

For example, my 617 rear sight is even\square but the white outline paint is uneven.[/QUOTE

I think you're spot on here Mr. Lee, it does appear that the orange paint is off center, and sight base appears to be straight??

but it does beg the question? doesn't it? Be nice to have some new/old owner at Smith and Wesson kill that dang gum hidey hole, and go back to building high quality revolvers the right way!

 

[CelticSire]

This is what I'm referring too...

 

[sdb321]

Dr. Marneaus, I am very sorry about the problems you've had with your new 627 PC. It is a "crying shame" you spend your hard earned money and get a poor quality. PC MY ***. I also want to thank you for taking us on your journey to the "mother-ship and back. If that would have happened to me, they would have taken all the "joy" out of buying a "new revolver"!!! Hope you have better luck next time(if there is a next time).

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

Thanks all. I know it's all minor stuff at this point but it's the principle of the thing.

Anyway. Ima shoot the hell out of it and carry the hell out of it assuming it's a straight shooter. Least I won't be worried about beating it up

 

[Tom S.]

Part of the problem with the front sight is your gun isn't straight in the picture. Take look at the distance between the lines drawn down from the sight to the lines on the sides of the frame to see what I am talking about.

Here's what happens when I rotate the gun 2 degrees to the left (ccw):

It's still not perfect, but pretty close.

 

[Kiwi cop]

Do you think the entire front sight leans or just the colored part?

For example, my 617 rear sight is even\square but the white outline paint is uneven.

To my aged and tired eyes it looks a bit like the insert is sloping bottom left to top right.

I had a set of new sights installed on my a Springfield 1911. It came back with the top of the front sight angled the same way , and it proved problematic. Sometimes I'd have the top right corner even with the top of the rear sight, sometimes the midpoint and sometimes the low left side. It all depended on the angle of sunlight off the front sight. If the sun was coming from the right I'd instinctively zero in on that bottom left corner which I could see clearer. As you can imagine it raised havoc with verticle stringing.

Eventually I took a file to the front sight and levelled it off but that's not really an option here.

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

nevermind. i'm NOT gonna shoot it. may i direct your attention here:

Oh my goodness. Look at the forcing cone on my 627 PC

 

[cal50]

The barrel residue is likely from non-jacketed bullets.
Years back S&W had "Nyclad" nylon jackets ammo and there are powder coated bullets available today.

My guess is the residue is from something along those lines.

(They should have replaced your hammer IMHO)

 

[HamHands]

Doc, that front sight would drive me crazy. I'm an iron sights freak and they have to be strait as humanly possible. I've installed many Trijicon night sights, Novaks, Ameriglo's, etc. on 1911's, CZ's, M&Ps... all semi-auto's. Sights on a revolver are a lot trickier due to the sight being milled into and part of the barrel; and the barrel being screwed into and fitted into the frame. Therefore I've never touched any of my revolver's front sights. Send that back to Smith & Wesson along with these pics and even a link to this thread! When I pay 1K+ for a pistol it better have strait sights and an un-canted barrel.

As to the forcing cone pics in the other thread. It appears unjacketed lead bullets have been sent down it for test firing. I shoot a lot of lead soft and hard cast bullets in my M-36's and 625 and if I don't finish up with a couple cylinders of copper jacketed pills then my forcing cone and rifling looks exactly the same before I send bore snakes down the pipe; especially after shooting soft lead SWCHP's. YMMV...

 

[Mr.Lee]

Have you had the chance to test the 627 and see if she shoots true?

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

this is the same info i posted in my other thread, the handgun is again going back to S&W next week. I'm in contact with a customer service supervisor over there.

The other thread shows the forcing cone and rifling issues, but heres pics of the front sight issues. No, its not scientific, but it gets the point across.



The lower level is on the barrel, the upper level is on the front sight.
Untitled by Andrew M, on Flickr

Untitled by Andrew M, on Flickr

here it is demonstrated with a straight edge and the one level laying down as a straight edge.
Untitled by Andrew M, on Flickr

clearly the sight is leaning right in relation to the barrel.

The GOOD news is that the other day my N frame VZ grips came in, and the second i put them on it to test fit, and then picked it up, i was INSTANTLY reminded why I want this gun and that it is going to be AWESOME once its fit and finished correctly.

I have the same round butt grips on my 65, and thats my favorite handgun to shoot. I perform very well with it. The moment I picked up this 627 with the RB VZ grips, i was "re-sold" so to speak. It fits my hand like a glove, and feels like an old friend. I dont feel that way about alot of guns, but i'm confident I've picked the right platform, just need to get it sorted out before its ready for me to use.