New to S&W...new revolver already broken?

[Model69]

Hello everyone. First post here. Picked up my first S&W new revolver today - model 69. Always wanted a 44 magnum in S&W and I really enjoyed the feel of this one. Everything looked good....but when I got the revolver home I must have missed inspecting the firing pin area. You can see the hole around the firing pin is not uniform:

Is this normal? If not...will it cause problems? Will S&W honor any repair work for me?

 

[CTP]

Congrats on the new Smith. Certainly doesn't look normal. It will probably fire fine but yes they will fix it and pay for shipping both ways.

 

[jimbo728]

Welcome to the Forum and the world of Smith & Wesson.
I cant say I have ever seen that condition on a firing pin bushing. But all of my L frames are .357. The Model 69 is the first L frame .44 Mag revolver.
The photo does not look like out of round. It is so clean it almost looks like a relief cut but not knowing for sure and if other 69 owners dont chime in, I would ask S&W, for sure.
Jim

 

[HarrishMasher]

Call S&W Customer Service (800) 331-0852 and they will ask you to email them a pic. They will show it to a tech and write you right back. Within an hour you will have an answer. I have done this twice.

 

[avery53]

Looks like a quick fix to get it on down the line, ship it back.

 

[S&WForty]

My 69 has a perfectly round hole.

 

[Model69]

My 69 has a perfectly round hole.

Sigh...I was afraid to hear that...looks like I bought a brand new revolver that was damaged from the factory :-( I have always associated S&W with high quality revolvers and good Quality control too :-(

 

[S&WForty]

I know negative news travels faster than good news in Internet Land, but some of the flaws that make their way into new owner hands is really disappointing. Just be ready for a very nice shooter when it's repaired and returned to you. Happier days are ahead!

 

[rwsmith]

That's not a good looking primer hole.....

The L frames had a recall simply due a bad fit of the firing pin in the bushing that would let soft primers with hot loads to flow back into the hole and lock the cylinder up. Your's looks a lot worse than my L frame that I haven't bothered to get the recall work done on.

 

[jrandyh]

That's bad. I bought two new one recently and the first one had crown issues and the next was a Oerformane center gun with several issues, I want a 586 4 inch and can't find an older one so was going to buy the new one but after two strikes a little gunshy.
Sorry about your purchase, a lot of companies have dumped guns on the market recently with issues. Got two lemons from Sigs last year after never an issue in 30 years. S&W will make it right it's just a bummer yo get a new gun with issues.
JR

 

[Dave Lively]

Mine does not look like that either. If you decide to send it back look through the postings here and make sure you have not overlooked any other flaws you want corrected. That would bother me enough to send the gun back.

I just got my 69 earlier this week and joined this forum to ask if the burrs or flashing on the crown on my gun was normal. It was. In the few days since I read about drag marks on the left side of the hammer which my gun has but is minor to the point I consider it a slight cosmetic defect. There was another post about canted barrels but mine seems to be perfectly centered. That people are joining forums to ask about potential problems after buying a new revolver should concern S&W more than it does.

Bad news gets greatly amplified on the internet though. The last time I bought a S&W revolver was in the early 90s before there were online forums. For all I know there might have been a bunch of similar issues with 610s at that time I was blissfully unaware of. I had an expensive SW41 I bought in the early or mid 90s break and lock up before I made it through my first box of standard velocity .22s. I sent it back, S&W fixed it and the gun has shot so great since then I completely forgot about having to send it back until I found the warranty paperwork while looking for the box for my 610 last week. If anyone was having problems with a recent version of the 41 I would have told them how much better the older ones were. QC has gone down and S&W has changed the design to reduce cost but I think selective memory might be at least partially responsible for the "they don't make them like they used to!!!" comments about the new guns. If they had been making L frame 44s for 40 years I would have considered looking at an older model but that was not an option.

The real test for me will be how well the gun shoots. It is going to be a while before I can take my 69 to the outdoor range at the gun club I belong to, rest it on a bench and really test it out. But I am going to take it to an indoor range tomorrow and try it. I expect it to be much more accurate when shot off a bench than I will be shooting it offhand which is what really matters in my case. If the gun shoots well it will be easy to overlook the muzzle and marks on the hammer.

 

[CaptRon956]

These comments LOL. ok guys, just saying.......



I've seen that beveled firing pin hole many times & its perfectly normal... My M&P shield 9 is like that.... it is a update they added the tear drop shaped machining to help resolve issues with hotter +p loads. Only the newer pistols are machined that way...

 

[at_liberty]

My question is what functional problem it creates. I am not indifferent to cosmetics and the feeling of something being expertly crafted, but care mostly about the exterior appearance.

 

[tbgunner88]

These comments LOL. ok guys, just saying.......



I've seen that beveled firing pin hole many times & its perfectly normal... My M&P shield 9 is like that.... it is a update they added the tear drop shaped machining to help resolve issues with hotter +p loads. Only the newer pistols are machined that way...

Just looked at my shield, it's the same way. I never noticed before, but it looks like you are right.

 

[muddocktor]

These comments LOL. ok guys, just saying.......



I've seen that beveled firing pin hole many times & its perfectly normal... My M&P shield 9 is like that.... it is a update they added the tear drop shaped machining to help resolve issues with hotter +p loads. Only the newer pistols are machined that way...

And that is a 9 MM, not a 44 Mag. Small pistol primer versus large pistol primer. I would at least check this out with S&W, especially since you have had 2 other 69 owners post that theirs are round and not oval. I'm thinking that with a LPP and the oval pin hole, there is a decent chance of having metal flowback of the primer locking up the pistol. And if S&W says to send it back to fix it, just go ahead and do it.

 

[CaptRon956]

And that is a 9 MM, not a 44 Mag. Small pistol primer versus large pistol primer. I would at least check this out with S&W, especially since you have had 2 other 69 owners post that theirs are round and not oval. I'm thinking that with a LPP and the oval pin hole, there is a decent chance of having metal flowback of the primer locking up the pistol. And if S&W says to send it back to fix it, just go ahead and do it.

Go ahead & call them..... here's the number...

1 (800) 331-0852
Smith & Wesson, Customer service

 

[tbgunner88]

And that is a 9 MM, not a 44 Mag. Small pistol primer versus large pistol primer. I would at least check this out with S&W, especially since you have had 2 other 69 owners post that theirs are round and not oval. I'm thinking that with a LPP and the oval pin hole, there is a decent chance of having metal flowback of the primer locking up the pistol. And if S&W says to send it back to fix it, just go ahead and do it.

Maybe the other forum members revolvers were produced before the update? Not sure when it would have started but would like to hear more about it.

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

I gave HarrisMasher's post a "Like" because I think that it's the best answer. My first reaction was that it's a manufacturing defect of NO consequence. Others believe that it's intentional. Regardless, following HM's advice costs almost nothing, gets you the right answer, and doesn't cause unnecessary loss of the revolver.

Good luck!

 

[CaptRon956]

If I recall correctly the beveled firing pin hole was created to reduce firing pin bounce from +p+ loads, something to do with ejection I forget, but its perfectly normal & intentionally machined there by S&W.

 

[one eye joe]

WELCOME TO THE FORUM. I WOULD CALL S&W FOR A SHIPPING LABEL, AND SEND IT BACK. I HAVE NEVER SEEN A FIRING PIN HOLE LIKE THAT, AND I WOULD NEVER BUY A WEAPON WITH A FIRING HOLE PIN LIKE THAT. IF I SAW ONE ON A SELLERS TABLE AT A GUN SHOW, AND HE TOLD ME THAT IT WAS AN INTENDED DESIGN FEATURE, I WOULD CONSIDER IT BS (WHETHER IT IS TRUE OR NOT) AND PASS ON THE GUN. A POSTER ABOVE HAS STATED THAT HIS SAME GUN HAS A ROUND HOLE. I HAVE BEEN SHOOTING FOR 60 YEARS, AND I HAVE NEVER SEEN THIS "DESIGN FEATURE" ON ANY OTHER WEAPON…….