If you bought a new S&W recently and love it... tell us!

My son introduced me to handgun shooting earlier this Spring, taking me to the range in Florida with his Sigs. While I am of an age and generation where I don't necessarily relate to a modern semi auto, I really loved shooting and decided it was something I wanted to pursue. On my next trip down to visit we picked up a 6 inch Model 617 as a range toy. We've experienced no problems with that tack driver what so ever other than a little lead build up after running 4 or 5 boxes of Federal Whitebox bulk .22lr and few hundred rounds of Aguila thru (I don't think it was the Aguila, that ran thru first, I really think it was the Federal). Last trip to the range we ran 500 hundred rounds of CCI Standard Velocity LRN thru and the gun was noticeably cleaner. Right now we have a 1000 rounds of Armscor .22lr CPHP waiting to run thru and we'll see if the copper plate helps reduce the lead build up. Quality of ammo seems to be the only concern, and those concerns are mostly routine maintenance and not performance related, the 617 accurately and reliably ate everything we fed it. In what must be slightly over 2000 rounds thru the gun, by 3 different manufacturers, in 3 different levels of quality, only 2 rounds failed to fire. I'll continue to explore different .22lr ammo and see what the 617 likes best, right now it's clearly the CCI, but what we shoot also depends on what's available.

On the next trip down we picked up a 6 inch Model 686 to add to the collection of range toys. We've only put a few hundred rounds of .38 special and about 100 rounds of .357 thru it so far. Again this gun has performed flawlessly. The quality of centerfire ammo run thru the gun seems much cleaner than the usual .22lr rimfire run thru it's little cousin. So far all I have noticed is the .357 mag groups are much tighter than the .38 sp groups. Perhaps it's ammo related. I can't remember what manufacturers of .38 we were using, Aguila and something else (maybe Winchester?). The .357 was all Fiocchi. More range time is going to be required to figure it all out. :)

So, both the 617 and the 686 seem to be working flawlessly and the only variable seems to be in the choice of whatever ammo we have available to run thru them. All in all, I'm very happy...
 
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Well, I see that a couple of the fellows have resurrected this old thread. It is timely that they do, given the fair amount of S&W-bashing that seems to keep occurring. Complaints seem to include:

1. People hate the lock on the revolvers.

2. Issues of canted barrels or other QC issues with revolvers.

3. A certain amount of negativity about "old versus new" in general, with the notion that the old hand-fitted guns were better than guns made with modern digital machinery which require less (or usually zero) hand fitting.

Well, I will put my $.02 in. Firstly, as far as the lock goes, I just don't care. If I had my druthers it would not be there, but I totally ignore the danged things and that's the end of it. And having shot thousands of rounds through my 6 S&W revolvers (all of recent make) I can say with assurance that the lock does not present any problems.

Our family owns 3 686s, a 617, a 625JM and a 627PC. All of these guns were perfect out of the box. Zero issues -- period. Very nice triggers, sights right on the money right out of the box at ten yards. Zero malfunctions of any kind excepting that the extractor on the 617 needed to be tightened up after about 100 rounds. This was easily done by me and it has not loosened since.

The triggers on all of these revolvers are excellent. The 617 in particular smoothed out amazingly after about 500 rounds or so. I can shoot this little sucker as accurately as I shoot my Ruger Mark IIIs, which is high praise indeed.

I also own a S&W Shield 9mm. This gun is an accurate shooter, is easy to maintain, and it is reliable as heck. Just this Friday night I took a required CCW refresher class in which I was required to do various drills with the gun. It shot accurately and 100% reliably. For a gun that costs only about $425 here in California, you can hardly ask for more. There is really nothing I do not like about the Shield. I want the manual safety (mine has it) and I am fine with the LCI, which is required in Democrat-occupied California.

So anyhow, my own experiences with S&W's latest products have all been positive. I know that some guns are shipped with QC issues -- I am happy not to have experienced this.
 
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I had a M500 in 4 inch, the only issue I had was that I underestimated the power of the 500 in a short barrel. The gun functioned flawlessly, and the fit and finish were excellent.After awhile the novelty kind of worn off, I might have kept it if it were 8 3/8". I had and still have a FA 454, that's a handful as well, but not quite as much as the 500.
Now I'm ready to buy a 627UDR, as soon as I can find one locally.
Admittedly I don't care for the placement of the IL, if they hid it under the grips it would be fine with me, and the MIM parts are moot. I have other guns with MIM and the triggers are sweet.

Edit: I forgot, duh! Bought 2 M442's, 2 M642'S, 1 M38-3, 1 M37-2 , the only one with an issue was a 642 where the frame cracked. S&W replaced it under warranty, in less than 10 days, even though I was not the original owner. The gun was about 12 yo.


howdy mike,been awhile....I purchase the new 627udr 2-3 years ago and love it!Let me know what you think
 
Two to the family

I added two new ones last month, a 686-6 and a 627 PC. Both were accurate out of the box and have excellent DA/SA action...smooth and crisp. The 627 has a slightly lighter pull (10lbs/4lbs vs 11lbs/4lbs) but I enjoy them both equally...in fact I enjoy all of my revolvers and will likely add more in the future.
 
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Love my 442 but trigger broke. Right now I am without because it is at the factory. Stuff happens, I hope it comes home soon!

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My model 13
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Found this on line because another forum member mentioned it. I did hear from Roy and his guess is these were parts found in the factory and finished. The model 431PD was discontinued in 2006. I had wondered where it had been for 10 years. Roy did advise it shipped in April this year.



I am a fan of the 32 H&R Mag, and this one in particular. I have put several hundred rounds through it so far, and it has performed well.
 
In the last 2-2 1/2 years, I've bought 2 new S&W revolvers. The first is a Model 60 3" barrel for my wife for self defense at the house. She's a small woman with small hands, so my N frames were way too big for her to handle competently. There were no problems with canted barrels or any other big defects with it and the lock hasn't given any problem (like I figured). My wife is very happy with that revolver and I keep it loaded with some +P 38 Special rounds so recoil is manageable for her.

The last new revolver I bought was in April and was a 627 Pro (4" barrel). Again, no bad QC problems with it and the only thing I really had against it's looks were the rubber grips it came with. That has since been rectified with a nice set of Ahrends conv tacticals in Cocobolo.

Both guns have had lighter rebound slide springs installed, and were thoroughly cleaned on the inside after I got them. And both have very nice triggers in both single and double action. I have no qualms about buying another new S&W revolver if it suits my needs (or wants).
 
If you bought a new S&W recently and love it... tell us!

That's it - tell us about your good new purchases. Sadly, we hear about the less than satisfactory QC examples... how about the good ones?
How about you folks?

I'd be proud to tell you of mine.

Purchased just over two weeks ago for my 60th birthday and actually picked it on my birthday, seriously. Just work out that way.
Anyway just got home from my second outing with it and I'm letting it soak before I put to spiff to it.

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BIG Hoss we call it, the Governor coming out of the factory in July 2016.
It's everything I thought it might be and then some.

Today put 2 blisters on my trigger finger, nothing horrible but when I did my round count I was shocked at how much I ran today as it was not my intent but somehow I went hog wild.

Learn some things today as my first outing with a variety of ammo today was another variety and I'm here to tell ya all the .410 bore I put through it today as compared to the first time was kicking like mule. At one point the gun darn near flew out of my hand.

The .45 LC today had some umf and was finally able to fire of some A.C.P. as all I had the first time out was G.A.P.from my Glock days. It ran good, light as feather.

Well that's about all I got to say, I'm gonna order me a box of Scholfied a.k.a. S&W .45 and just shoot a box just to say I shot everything this beast can shoot. I'm not a great fan of cowboy loads/unjacketed lead. Plus at $30 + a box it's not cost reasonable as I'm not re-loader.

So, just over two weeks in with my new CCW, yes you heard right and it's exactly what I bought it for. Got rid of the auto-loaders and came back to my humble beginnings and never leaving it again. Anyway so far a happy camper. :D
 
Mdl 686-8 Plus with 3" barrel a few weeks ago.

Well made, excellent trigger. Replaced the pinned front sight with a Trijicon .280 white outlined night sight. This is a wonderful revolver.
 
I bought a 625PC a few weeks ago and have been very happy with the gun's performance. The trigger is smooth and breaks crisply in DA and SA is just sweet. Shooting 45acp with moon clips is a simple way to reload. I popped in a FO sight, replaced the grips and removed/plugged the lock.

This is the first "new" S&W revolver I've bought, the other self-ejectors have been older prelock models.

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I have bought a 29-10 and a 686 Talo square butt 3 inch barrel. I love the 686 she is a very accurate revolver but the 29 is a different matter as the barrel is clocked (canted) to the right and will be going back to S&W.But I love the way the 29 shoots.
 
My new R8 is a beautiful gun that puts eight 357 rounds in tight groups, with a nice trigger and grip, that is fun to shoot; but sadly it does not cook breakfast, mow the lawn, nor does it even clean itself, and it has designed gaps between the cylinder and frame, and the rounds only go where I aim, not always exactly where I want them to. Should I send it back to S&W?

 
I have bought a new 396 and love it. I bought an almost new model 69 about a year ago and it has also been a fine gun. Only other fairly new gun I have is a low mileage 500 S&W and it has not had any problems.

I did have problems once with a brand new S&W. An 1980 model 18 that had a poor action and the barrel came lose. I fixed it and it has been fine since.
 
I will play.... I bought 2 Smiths in the last 2 1/2 years.. the first a 642-1 NL NIB


and a 66-3 snub...



Love the 66, that's next on my list, but will probably be a 2" due to the cost of the 3". I had a 4" back in the day but traded it off.

I bought a no dash 60 and 6906 this past June and a 629 on the 15th of this month.

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Bought a M&P .40 ex cop gun with case and 3 mags for $309 shipped in near new condition. Excellent gun, great feel, nice handling and with a decent trigger pull, I could clear the plate rack pretty fast with that gun but I like steel and walnut better so I sold it.
 
Great new aquisition

I put the curse on by telling my cousin "my collection is done". Then I found "the perfect CCW revolver" a S&W 360J j frame revolver. 5 shooter Scandium aluminum frame +P38spl. Broke my piggy bank for $329+. Just the power I wanted, concealable and controlable for the 5 rounds rapid fire
 
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