Had always regretted not getting the 686 Mountain when they first introduced the limited run many years ago, so had my LGS order the Lipsey when they were announced at SHOT this year. Came in a few weeks ago. Fit and finish are good, grips are plain but superb. Action is smoother than most other current production I've felt. NO endshake, carry-up is perfect. There is no key hole above the thumb piece (yay) but you can see a bearing or buffer plate alongside the left side of the hammer when you cock it, so there might be some of the lock parts in there. I've not taken the side plate off nor removed the lockwork (was a factory-trained department armorer back in the day when we carried them on duty) for the reasons listed below, in case I do wind up having to send it back; don't want to void the warranty.
But the brass bead is missing from the front sight; the back of the front sight blade is drilled for it, but it's not there nor anywhere in the box. It was difficult to open and close the cylinder, and it got harder, until I had to smack the cylinder with the palm of my hand to open it, and a light rap to close it. Long story short, it was a nasty burr on the inside face of the crane lock. Firing pin protrusion from the recoil plate is minimal, though I have no way to measure it (I have several dozen DA S&Ws of both hammer-mounted and frame-mounted pins, so have some basis for comparison). Yep, misfires at a rate of 10 to 15%. It's not the strain screw. I suspect another burr, in the tunnel, as the more I fire and dry fire the pistol the fewer misfires I seem to have ('course, I loaded up a bunch of .38's with Federal primers after the first set of misfires, which may be helping, as Feds tend to be softer or more sensitive IME).
This particular pistol should never have passed QC inspection, if such a thing remains at S&W. To their credit I emailed customer service and got a prompt and courteous reply, saying they would send a replacement front sight blade, complete with bead. After two weeks with no blade yet I emailed again, mentioning the issues as well (which I had not on the first contact; I really don't want to ship the gun back for fear of loss). A different but equally pleasant individual said the order was in queue, waiting for a sight blade to arrive in order to ship. No idea when. They also sent a call-tag even though I hadn't requested one, which I thought signaled a willingness to address the issues.
I have heard several credible reports of flawless Mt. Guns, so I believe this one is just one of those which rarely but inevitably slip through. Which I guess means you should inspect any particular pistol before purchase if you can (not possible in this case; the whole initial production run was pre-sold at SHOT, or so I am told). JME.
