Had some trouble with S&W, but they took care of it

[PALADIN85020]

When it comes to S&W revolvers the new production guns have better metallurgy, are better engineered, are built to tighter tolerances, and are a decent value. The finishes are certainly more spartan and the stocks are not what they were...but that means little to me.

I've seen plenty of vintage and new guns inside and out...and I disagree. Wax poetic about the old times all you like...if your interest is function over finish the new guns have it.

I have personally given away and sold off all of my vintage Smiths. YMMV.

My mileage does vary. See this beautifully made Model of 1905, 4th variation M&P? Notice the perfect fit and finish. The barrel is also perfect inside. It shoots quite accurately.

It was made in 1923.

John

(Click to enlarge)

 

[andyo5]

I tend to agree with the Chuck Hawks article that I referenced earlier. I bought used, and later sold, a 1970s era N frame that was accurate in SA off a bench rest but it had a terrible DA trigger. Every DA shot felt different and it broke the shots at different points. The ratchets were really bad, much like the 686-8 that I just returned to the factory. Nowadays, I won't buy a gun sight unseen. I need to inspect it personally before I buy it. Yes, that means no internet purchasing and also means paying more at a local gun shop.

 

[Mistered]

I've never heard of a manufacturer refunding a consumer.

Henry Repeating Arms (HRA) has refunded customers.

 

[muddocktor]

I tend to agree with the Chuck Hawks article that I referenced earlier. ................

And I think that Chuck Hawks has a particular axe to grind with S&W myself. Like maybe a high up employee of the company had an affair with his wife or something. On other subjects I find he is quite knowledgeable, but he has blind hate for S&W. I think that S&W is much like any other USA manufacturer nowadays. Some have good success with their products and some get duds. It seems that with most companies nowadays, lower production costs and more product come before quality assurance. I've also read of Rugers having problems as well as Colts nowadays and Taurus is another that has had a spotty reputation for quality for quite a while.

@OP, I am glad to hear that you are getting a replacement gun. Hopefully this one will not be a Monday or Friday gun and be a real nice shooter.

 

[murphydog]

UPDATE: Yesterday I got a call from a S&W rep informing me they are sending me a replacement model.

This is relieving! I am going to look it over and test fire it before I relax and consider this ordeal over, but I am happy S&W is doing the right thing. I should be able to pick up the gun next weekend. I'll let everyone know if it turns out to be a good one.

Just a friendly, unofficial suggestion - perhaps edit the title of your thread to "S & W made things right!", or words to that effect.

 

[DirtyHairy]

Just a friendly, unofficial suggestion - perhaps edit the title of your thread to "S & W made things right!", or words to that effect.

I'm not sure if I am able to edit the title of threads (haven't tried) but I was planning to make an update in the original post saying they did eventually make everything right, IF the replacement gun they are sending me is as immaculate as the first one should have been.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[muddocktor]

DirtyHairy, go to your first post, hit edit and then go advanced. When it opens up, you will see that you now have a chance to edit the thread title. Easy peasy.

 

[Lou_the_welder]

DirtyHairy, go to your first post, hit edit and then go advanced. When it opens up, you will see that you now have a chance to edit the thread title. Easy peasy.

Muddocktor, it looks like he's a tapatalk user. We have limited controls. He would have to use a PC and use the PC version of this forum to "edit".
Tapatalk is a great app , but it's too simple sometimes.

 

[sigp220.45]

If you change the title, I suggest "After multiple tries, S&W may have sent me the revolver I should have had all along." Or words to that effect.

 

[glenwolde]

I don't get why its so hard to make a quality gun. Seems like they have been doing this a long time, what an easy technology. Look what the Germans were making in WW1 still nicer quality than what their producing nowdays. How much was a Pre-64 Winchester 75-100 bucks brand new. How much was Model 27 when they came out 65 bucks? These were beautiful guns. What Happened To American Quality and Craftsmanship. Just sad. Be nice send pics. hopefully they stand behind the S&W name this time around

First your price history needs to be taken with a giant dose of inflation. $100 in 1960 is equivalent to $865.35 today. In addition highly skilled labor used to be inexpensive. That's no longer the case. Not to mention that the old production methods could not possibly meet today's demands.

 

[jaymoore]

The rifling in Post #2 looks just like what I've seen in a bunch of Savage rifles. Hideous looking, but they seemed to shoot. Never actually owned one, so no idea how one controls the jacket fouling to any degree.

 

[jaymoore]

YouTube


Harry. Your barrel is NOT made by Smith&Wesson. lts made by

Lothar Walther in Cumming GA. Give them a call. They can likely

help answer your questions.. The video posted above has a pix

EXACTLY like the one you posted.. Obviously they forgot to pull

the button thru that smoothes the spiral grooves out.

The evil tool marks are most likely left over from a bad reamer used to bring the barrel ID to the proper pre-rifling size. Sometimes lapping doesn't remove all of the tooling marks. The other sort of similar mark is made when a rifling button doesn't move smoothly though the barrel, but they're usually spaced further apart. Woody Woodall has been the head of the US Lothar Walther barrel plant since they opened up shop in Cumming quite some time ago! Late '90s, early, 2000s. He used to hang out on occasion at a friend's collectible oriented gun shop in downtown Cumming. Quite the character.

 

[bigfatty]

This thread has made it clear to me that the "Performance Center" means nothing. If I want a good gun, I buy one at the best price possible and then send it off to a competent gunsmith to get the stuff done right. I was thinking about a PC 442 after seeing the recent Mrgunsngear video, but even in his video it sounded like there wasn't much to write home about. Now I know there isn't.

I LOVE my 442 PC! The new L-Comp I received and sent back today for a canted barrel is another story. I never dreamed when I ordered a $1,000 + gun that I wouldn't actually get to carry it until the fall. Assuming they fix it properly, that is...

 

[bigfatty]

UPDATE: Yesterday I got a call from a S&W rep informing me they are sending me a replacement model.

This is relieving! I am going to look it over and test fire it before I relax and consider this ordeal over, but I am happy S&W is doing the right thing. I should be able to pick up the gun next weekend. I'll let everyone know if it turns out to be a good one.

Thank God!! I went through a similar ordeal with a Sig Sauer 1911 about 5 years ago. In the end, customer service told me to look at their catalog and select any single handgun there for all my trouble. I didn't go nuts taking advantage of it, but did select a model that MSRP'd at about $400 more than the model I had sent back repeatedly and gotten back in worse condition.

Sometimes, customer service managers do recognize that someone has been through enough and make things right. I hope your replacement is perfect, as the original should have been to begin with.

 

[slabside2]

Smith Wesson could take a lesson from Ruger's customer service. I sent back my LCR for an issue had it back 7 days door to door and it was FIXED. All my send backs to S+W's for repairs turned out to be a nightmare. I bought a new 442-1 yesterday I'm taking it to the range today fingers crossed. Oh yeah the trigger sucks but I can live with that as long as it goes bang 5 times I'll report back.

 

[gwpercle]

Looking for update , I hope things get better for OP .

 

[Izzydog]

I'm willing to bet, that it shoots just fine. I does look kinda weird though.

 

[wellthought1]

What was wrong with the others?

The 686-6 4" - Stamping on right side of the frame with "Marcus Registradas Smith & Wesson" etc. was illegible. They restamped it and it looks great now.

The 629-6 5" - Difficult to open cylinder. They fixed it and now it's as smooth as can be.

The 686-4 4" - Hammer not able to be fully cocked on loaded chambers. They still have that one and charged me $99.01 (including return shipping) to fix it. Not sure what the cause was.

 

[Erich]

I've never heard of a manufacturer refunding a consumer. If they did we'd hear about it all the time because everybody and their brother would demand their money back for a gun that "didn't work" for some reason or another instead of getting something fixed like a broken sight or something stupid like that that could be easily fixed by a local gunsmith. Not saying that's the case here, but rationally speaking i doubt that'll happen, but who knows. I say keep sending it back until they get to know you by name and phone number.

I've gotten a full refund (and they paid for the custom leather gear I had built for the gun) from a boutique manufacturer that's now out of business - after the second time I sent the boutique gun back for slide cracks. I'm a lawyer and I realize how unusual this was. I was nothing but polite and I also realize how unusual that was.



So glad to hear they're making it right for the OP.

 

[Jeppo]

I've gotten a full refund (and they paid for the custom leather gear I had built for the gun) from a boutique manufacturer that's now out of business - after the second time I sent the boutique gun back for slide cracks. I'm a lawyer and I realize how unusual this was. I was nothing but polite and I also realize how unusual that was.

That musta been some expensive leather gear if it put 'em outta business.