New 629 - POI way off

[Smitty1911]

I was just reading a post in this section about how S&W quality has led to having to deal with interesting customer service. A close friend of mine purchased a brand new 629 and took it to the range. It so happened that I went to the range the same day and he brought out this 6" 629 from his car. He asked me to shoot it and see how it goes on paper. We both had different .44mag ammo and they shot very nicely from my 3" 629, much older revolver. While shooting his new one, I noticed the POI was drastically off, so far off it was not hitting the target / paper from 10 yards. I checked out the rear sight and looked to be centered. I moved the rear sight to compensate and long story short, I moved the sight all the way to side and still couldn't hit the bullseye. He said he was happy that it was hitting the paper and my first response was something around paying a grand for a pistol that can hit the paper?? I told him he needs to send this in to S&W and get them to fix this disaster.

Fast forward a year later, he still hasn't done anything with it. I offered to help him and here I am reading about questionable and long lead times from the manufacturer. So before we contact CS, looking to see what you all think and thanks for the input.

 

[stansdds]

Brand new S&W and the barrel is that far off, send it back. This is definitely a warranty issue.

 

[gwpercle]

If ... He's Happy ... I'm Happy Too !
Gary

 

[65Whelen]

Continue encouraging your friend to send it back. If he doesn't, S&W doesn't know there's a problem. If he doesn't, eventually he just passes the problem to someone else. He will have the best odds of S&W taking responsibility and fixing the problem. Those odds will continue go down as time goes by.

 

[cmj8591]

Did you shoot it single action off a bench? I don't want to disparage anyone marksmanship skills but sometimes it's not the gun.

 

[Protocall_Design]

Once in a great while, you will come across a gun with the barrel misaligned with the frame. That happens when the frame is drilled and threaded at a slight angle to where it should be. Probably there was a metal chip that got into the mill fixture and the frame loaded on top of it, making the frame slightly out of position.

I have seen 4 of these over the years, each one a different model. If this is the case, you will not be able to sight in the gun. This is a subtle problem, but once you see it, it's obvious. The first one I came across was making me crazy trying to figure out what was going on. I finally figured out to put a straightedge along the sides of the topstrap to see if the barrel is parallel to the frame. The muzzle end should be equally distant from the straightedge on both sides. One was off to the left, one was down and left, one was off to the right, etc. You might check to see if this is one of those cases.

 

[stansdds]

Decades ago, I had a close friend whose father bought a Llama Comanche III, 357 Magnum revolver. He complained that it shot far to the right and that adjusting the rear sight did not correct the issue. I looked at it and the barrel was angled to the right of the frame.

 

[Smitty1911]

Did you shoot it single action off a bench? I don't want to disparage anyone marksmanship skills but sometimes it's not the gun.

ok, now for the fun part... my wife was also with me, who was an instructor at an academy called Front Sight in Nevada. After I bench rest shot his 629 with 2 different 240gr rounds (3 each) I was able to confirm the sight needed to move. Seeing it was a lot of inches (can't recall exactly) off, I moved the sight all the way and figured I could move it back towards center as needed. From the bench rest, I put 2 on the paper a couple of inches from the bullseye. Discouraged because there was no more movement with the rear sight, I called my wife over and handed her the firearm. She took 2 shots in single action while standing next to the shooting table. They hit almost the same spot as my last 2. At first I thought she was aiming at my shots and she put the pistol down on the table and said she only aims at the bullseye.... At that point, my friend figured he should have asked her right from the start LOL

From reading the other responses, thanks everyone, there could be a manufacturing flaw here and I did not check for straightness like suggested. I will be going there on Friday to his house and will most certainly see if we can see the offset. I am figuring it will be obvious with a straightedge. Once I point it out to my friend, I will then help him get with CS and get that boat anchor fixed, as it should have been sent after the range trip last year.

A little more background, my friend is almost 80 and he got this because he and his wife would take their side by side out regularly and wanted something in case he encountered a ticked off bear. He picked this 629 because he really likes his model 28. I will be checking that out and making sure it shoots straight too!

 

[Wfevans4]

I sent my new Model 19 in and got it back in 4 or 5 weeks. Quick turnaround for me. Now it seems like it's good to go.

 

[s&wchad]

Once in a great while, you will come across a gun with the barrel misaligned with the frame.

Yup, sounds like the barrel isn't "clocked" properly. The was the best photo I could find showing the problem...

 

[Protocall_Design]

Fairly often they are over or under clocked as in the picture. That may be the case for the OP. What I'm talking about is the whole barrel misaligned with the frame. It could be either situation.

 

[Smitty1911]

I sent my new Model 19 in and got it back in 4 or 5 weeks. Quick turnaround for me. Now it seems like it's good to go.

Curious as to why you had to send it in?

 

[Smitty1911]

Fairly often they are over or under clocked as in the picture. That may be the case for the OP. What I'm talking about is the whole barrel misaligned with the frame. It could be either situation.

Great info, will have to see what is the likely culprit, either way CS will be the final decision makers

Thanks for the picture Chad! I can see how flush the lineup is next to your thumb and about a mile and a half off on the other side!