Made the mistake of ordering a brand new Performance Center 627

[ACORN]

FWIW I bought a River Redhawk .45 Colt/ ACP that I was unhappy with the grip fit and trigger pull. I emailed the CEO on a Sat. Monday morning I got a call from River apologizing and asked me if I'd be willing to return it. A few minutes later a lady called from CS again apologizing, and emailed a return label. When I got it back they sent me a free hat and free set of FO sights along with the revolvers issues fixed. It made me feel that they DID care.

 

[apollo99]

New or used anything, I bring my wife's reading glasses, look it over annoyingly well, then make my decision. If the gun isn't right you have a short time frame to completely get out of the deal and that would be right there at the counter. Just say no, don't fill out the 4473 and move on. I know the excitement of getting a new pistol or revolver is overwhelming, but stories like this just solidify my resolve. The only guns I bought sight unseen were 3 Springfield Professionals last month. All were in 100% condition,

 

[BigBill]

Unacceptable. Poor quality control and manufacturing procedures should be the exception and not the rule. While inspecting your gun before purchasing is fine, the customer should reasonably expect there to not be problems, especially on a high dollar Performance Center revolver.

Since the 80's most companies have no quality control. Theres no final inspection too. It's up to the machine operator to machine it correctly.

The front sight being canted the barrel wasn't installed the the fixture correctly.

When I was assembling the 155mm howitzers for the US Army each operation was inspected by a inspector before we went to the next assembly operation. I was told that it takes 11 soldiers to operate this gun theirs lives depend on me doing my job correctly.

 

[BigBill]

Seriously, how does this keep happening?

Here was mind back in Jan:

Completely unacceptable.

No crown, not even a bevel or chamfer. There's a reason my I have the crowning tools inhouse.

 

[BigBill]

Ruger is not what they once were either.. witness what the new model GP100's in .44 Special are being shipped out with, and this is not an isolated example.

I recently looked at one at my LGS and its front sight is the same way.

I'm going to be honest here. I remember when the us company I worked for tried to switch to metric. The engineers and designers had problems doing tolerances in metric. I wonder if this could be the same problem?

 

[JHB51]

I'm going to be honest here. I remember when the us company I worked for tried to switch to metric. The engineers and designers had problems doing tolerances in metric. I wonder if this could be the same problem?

From inch to metric multiply the dimension by 25.4. From metric to inch divide by 25.4. I only have a trade school diploma and learned this over 40+ years ago. It looks like your engineers and designers wasted a lot of money or spent to much time partying in college. This comes down to only one thing corporate greed.

 

[HamHands]

I would be more than disappointed OP! I ordered a 1K pistol from Springfield 6 years ago... A "Loaded" 1911; quite an upgrade from my Mil-Spec Springer 1911. I get it home and it won't chamber the first round with any 1911 magazine I have out of 10. The barrel feed ramp was cut at a canted slant at 8 O'clock but had no cut/relief at all on the other side of the barrel chamber where it should be symmetric at say 5 and 4 O'clock. It's breech face wasn't milled strait and worse yet it's frame feed ramp was skewed so hard to the left that NO ball ammo would chamber. Every manufacturer puts out a dud now and then. Springfield made it right by replacing it with the most unstoppable replacement 1911 I've known to date. Contact S&W and they will issue an RMA. Give them a chance to make it right. Or, return that *** to the dealer you bought it from, demand a full refund and let them deal with returning it. I'd be upset too as that should have never left the bench. Just don't let it ruin your weekend because it will be fixed. S&W is a stand up company...

 

[one eye joe]

What I love about new Smith revolvers is they make you feel like you are part of the manufacturing teem! Don't you love working in quality control. They dont have anyone there doing it!

I HAVE POSTED THIS EXACT SENTIMENT TO OUR FORUM, SEVERAL TIMES. INCREASINGLY, QUALITY CONTROL HAS BECOME THE TASK OF THE END USER, OF A S&W FIREARM.......

HORROR STORIES LIKE YOURS HAVE BECOME COMMONPLACE, AND THE "PC" DESIGNATION SEEMS TO ENSURE NO GREATER DEGREE IN CARE, OR ATTENTION TO DETAIL IN THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS, THAN A PRODUCT FROM THE STANDARD LINE........

 

[BLUEDOT37]

No crown, not even a bevel or chamfer. There's a reason my I have the crowning tools inhouse.

I agree, it's a shame they can't take just a minute or two to do it right while it's in their hands.

I choose to fix things myself, when I can, rather than send it back too.

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627-5 PC, barrel crown, before

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627-5 PC, barrel crown, after chamfering, before polishing

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625-8 PC, barrel crown, before

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625-8 PC, barrel crown, after chamfering, before polishing

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686-6 TALO, barrel crown, before

686-6 Talo, barrel crown, after chamfering, before polishing

.

 

[patrickd]

Just another reason why I refuse to buy any new Smiths. I absolutely love the older ones and will buy a 20 yr old gun in a second, but as of late it seems like the quality on any gun put together on an assy line, regardless of brand is lacking. A 1K revolver should be flawless at that price.

 

[Walkingwolf]

This is sad to see that the OP got a poorly inspected gun. But I believe all companies have some guns slip by. Ruger is not immune. I got lucky with my 625 PC, it is absolutely a beauty, and IMO perfect. Except for those clown grips. Of course it could be I am just lucky, only had to send one two guns back. My wife's Glock 22, broken rail, and my CA Pitbull. Eventually ended up selling her Glock, she never liked it.

If my safe was not full I would probably buy another PC, Smith has a reputation for fixing their mistakes.

ETA Keep in mind that some costs for companies have more than doubled in the last few years. Either prices go up, or corners are cut to continue to make a profit, and answer to share holders.

 

[Jdavis]

From inch to metric multiply the dimension by 25.4. From metric to inch divide by 25.4. I only have a trade school diploma and learned this over 40+ years ago. It looks like your engineers and designers wasted a lot of money or spent to much time partying in college. This comes down to only one thing corporate greed.

Corporate greed is over simplifying the problem. Having run a business for in excess of 30 years, I have seen a decline in the work ethic of employees over the years. The younger generations seem to feel that the company owes them something whereas the older ones were grateful for the job. There was more pride in workmanship and loyalty then than now. Gradually the "you owe me" people began to outnumber the grateful and loyal workers resulting in less than satisfactory production at higher costs. It is a result of the difference in times that folks are raised in. The corporation must use the available resources (people) to operate and make a profit. That isn't greed nor is it as easy as it once was for corporations to meet the growing demands of workers and government regulations and survive.

 

[cmj8591]

One of the few advantages of getting old is that I have the benefit of looking back at things with the experience of life. What we have here is nothing new. I remember Bangor Punta and everyone complaining how Smith will never survive producing such ****. Then came along Lear Seigler and suddenly everyone lamented the loss of the "great" Bangor guns. I won't even begin to get into the things that were said about the junk produced by the Thompson group. Yet, some of the previous posters will only buy Smiths that were produced during these times and tell us about how much better they are than the new guns. The point is that the problems we are seeing are just part of mass production process. They occur with mass produced $1000 handguns and $100000 sedans. It dosen't matter. In the old days, guns, like everything else, were produced one at a time. One person built one gun then attached their name or number to the box. Then automation showed up. Now the machinist who used to machine one frame at a time is operating 8 CNC machines each of which is cutting 6 frames at once. Quality control went from an old guy at the end of the line checking the gun to a laser beam making sure that everything is within a set of specifications. The quality control problems we have here are not unique to Smith & Wesson. Go on any forum about any mass produced object and they are having the same conversations we are. The up side is that we can buy one of these technological marvels for just $1000. If we went back to hand fitting everything and building them one at a time, it is unlikely that most of us could afford to own one gun. Never mind a safe full of them. I think what we have to do when the product dosen't live up to our expectations is: Take a deep breath, think about what your real expectations are and make the factory live up to them.

 

[JHB51]

Corporate greed is over simplifying the problem. Having run a business for in excess of 30 years, I have seen a decline in the work ethic of employees over the years. The younger generations seem to feel that the company owes them something whereas the older ones were grateful for the job. There was more pride in workmanship and loyalty then than now. Gradually the "you owe me" people began to outnumber the grateful and loyal workers resulting in less than satisfactory production at higher costs. It is a result of the difference in times that folks are raised in. The corporation must use the available resources (people) to operate and make a profit. That isn't greed nor is it as easy as it once was for corporations to meet the growing demands of workers and government regulations and survive.

Lets look at the other side of the coin. Why all the temp companies popping up. Lousy work ethic on one side and the other side cheap disposable help. Lets face it we have to many people that think they deserve a days pay for just showing up and the company thinks you should be thank full you have a job no matter how few crumbs they throw at you. Last but not least the company sets the production and quality standards. The first thing a company has to do is set a standard that the customer likes. Good help will give you what you demand if you take care of them but you have to weed out the bad help first. This is a two sided problem that can be solved it takes team work with both sides giving not just one.

 

[andyo5]

There was an Australian member a few months ago complaining of similar (even worse) issues that he had with a Perf Center Model 41. The gun was actually unshootable. I can't understand how they can call these Performance Center products and send them out like that.
It seems to me that you should call customer service and inform them that you want them to issue a UPS call tag so you can ship it back free. And they should send you a NEW gun, not just rework the one that you have now. I would not bother to shoot it because there would be no point. If it shoots well, you would still want it replaced due to the other issues.

 

[TTSH]

Pitiful...

Ya know, people are often down on the later Bangor Punta years (as well as the 3 Lear Siegler years), but none of my late Bangor Punta era revolvers were or are anywhere near as bad as this.

Pretty damn pitiful.

 

[ladder13]

Ruger is not what they once were either

Does that barrel say "read instructions on how to install front sight" ?

 

[patrickd]

This is sad to see that the OP got a poorly inspected gun. But I believe all companies have some guns slip by. Ruger is not immune. I got lucky with my 625 PC, it is absolutely a beauty, and IMO perfect. Except for those clown grips. Of course it could be I am just lucky, only had to send one two guns back. My wife's Glock 22, broken rail, and my CA Pitbull. Eventually ended up selling her Glock, she never liked it.

If my safe was not full I would probably buy another PC, Smith has a reputation for fixing their mistakes.



ETA Keep in mind that some costs for companies have more than doubled in the last few years. Either prices go up, or corners are cut to continue to make a profit, and answer to share holders.

If I were building that gun I'd notice right off the grips didn't fit. I'd also notice right off the sight was cockeyed. That guy building that gun should be fired for ever letting it get out of his work station. Then the QC guy needs to be let go because he obviously never inspected it... A blind man would have noticed that stuff. What it looks like is S&W doesn't bother to inspect all their guns they just ship em out. As for prices going up? They already have... I'd expect a near perfect gun if I was laying out $1K for a revolver. Especially from the custom shop..

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

What I have found is many times when a gun is "special ordered" or bought online, the incidence of poor quality rises dramatically. Seems many times guns are returned to the wholesaler for obvious reasons and then the gun is shipped back out again to the next unsuspecting customer. Seems that because many folks accept a firearm without really looking at it close, it's easier to just keep sending it out until someone accepts it as opposed to sending it back to the mothership right away.

Truth be told, S&W will make it right. Since the beginning of time there have been those products we figured were made on Monday morning or Friday afternoon. The true meaning of a quality company is the customer service one receives and a satisfying resolution when it is needed. As for the crown, I'd shoot it before making judgement. As for the rear sight being adjusted to compensate for the canted front.... someone else may have shot it and tried to adjust it. It certainly wasn't adjusted at the factory. They shoot the gun twice to make sure it fires, not for accuracy. Generally why you find only two dirty chambers when buying a new Smith.

Rear sight was not adjusted. Front sight was canted and then installed off center to make up for being canted.

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

It would have been absolutely fantastic if you could have waited until the problems were fixed before you posted.

I've lost count how many times a poster on X forum whined how his new X is terrible. After weeks of updates on how X hasn't been made properly since 1962, he posts that his X is on the way back from the factory. He then says he will tell us all about how it went....tomorrow.

Around about this time the guy gets amnesia and forgets to tell the 100s following the thread how it went.

Dont you worry I'm an Internet ***** and well versed on forum posting. I currently have this exact thread on no less than 3 forums plus Facebook and will update when fixed