PROBLEMS with my S&W .357 686 Plus

Part of my retirement package includes free legal, I'd give the lawyer the barrel and have him deal with S&W. Like someone said earlier, the failure can be read by the fracture face.

Good luck and please keep us updated......hope it wasn't reloads you were shooting:)
 
Do NOT wait for email. CALL SW customer service right away. If hold times are too long, call as close to 8AM as u can (EST - DST). I've slways found them to be excellent to deal with and I'm sure that they don't want a situation as u describe anymore than u do. But call immediately.
 
What the said:
Part of my retirement package includes free legal, I'd give the lawyer the barrel and have him deal with S&W. Like someone said earlier, the failure can be read by the fracture face.

Good luck and please keep us updated......hope it wasn't reloads you were shooting:)
Click to expand...

Following this advice would be a big problem for you if indeed you want to get your gun or a gun back to shoot. Once somebody pushes the legal button the matter goes from the Service Dept to the the Claim Dept of their insurance carrier who in turn review it and can at their discretion either try to settle with you or pass it off to their legal department. Now in case anybody doesn't know it most law offices get paid by the hour and the whole concept of expediting the process for your benefit is unrealisitc if not just plain fantasy.

I have had my problems with Smith & Wesson in the past with failed or improperly manufactured new guns, the last being one of the first run of 625's. JD Jones, myself and others had to jump through so many hoops and put up with so much **** from this company's Service Department that I swore I would never buy another ' NEW ' gun from them. So I buy and shoot used older guns.

Nevertheless manufacturing has, and always will have, a small percentage of failed parts that get through the QC checks. With things like inclusions unless you scan every part or barrel with real time X-ray or UT equipment ( ultrasonic ) internal flaws will go generally go undetected. However there is another side to this coin and that is just plain poor workmanship or lack of adequate QC check points where if indeed these barrels fail due to over-torquing then this is something that can be controlled in house. Perhaps the problem stems from a machining process where by cutting the shoulder, shank and threads they are creating a stress riser or weakness that contributes to this. Unless, as the gun's owner, you intend to spend the money with a good materials test lab to find out what went wrong, and only for your own satisfaction, the source of your problem and perhaps others will remain in-house with S&W. Like I said before they will want both pieces of the gun and if you think about it you can understand why. They don't need both pieces most likely to ascertain why the barrel failed since one good fracture face will normally provide all the info needed. But they can't control the problem unless they have all the proof and they will no doubt tell you until they get the barrel back they cannot satisfy your claim to made whole again. Therein lies your problem but it reflects directly on S&W's business philosophy and how they treat incidents like this. Do they put this fire out by letting Customer Service spray you down and cool you off, or do they go to the machining floor and try to find out why and fix it. Guess which approach is generally less expensive ?

Good luck
 
Just to relate the "good" side of S&W customer service.I bought a used 442 at a gun show that had a small crack in the frame. (yes, I blew it when looking over the gun). Even though I was not the original owner they sent me out a new, no-lock 442--no charge for shipping or the revolver.
 
SelfTaughtIntel said:
i had purchased a S&W 686 Plus .357mag from my local gun shop 07-10-2012 and picked up on 07-20-2012. As you can see i've had this firearm for less than a year now, I went to my local range this past friday 03-08-2013. I put my first 7 down range without a hick-up, then i reloaded and proceeded to attempted to put a few more down range. The 8th shot flawless, then 9th........That's where S.H.T.F. The round went off, and as i looked down range, there was my barrel off of the revolver ! The firearm is now in two pieces. My jaw hit the floor, i have never seen this or heard of this from a S&W product. I have put less than 600 rounds through this revolver, and for this to happen it is quite frightening as somebody or myself could have been seriously injured. Just want to get your guys thoughts on this, and see what you guys think i should do ? I emailed S&W over 3 days ago and nothing back yet....:mad:
Click to expand...

This has happened before, and probably will happen again.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-re...6851-talk-about-lightning-striking-twice.html
 
I saw pics of one other S&W revolver on the net about a year ago where this occurred, so it does happen. I've got to think it is a pretty rare event, given the millions of guns out there.
 
S&W service

I cracked the forcing cone on my 629. I just filled out the online form and they sent me a shipping label. Fedex picked it up at the house and I had it back in a week with a new barrel. No cost to me! It was great service.
 
EDH said:
I cracked the forcing cone on my 629. I just filled out the online form and they sent me a shipping label. Fedex picked it up at the house and I had it back in a week with a new barrel. No cost to me! It was great service.
Click to expand...

I did this with my 63-5 too. I think the online form is the way to go.
 
686 barrel

:eek:Holy SH....T. I've seen nor heard of that before on a revolver !! The closest thing to that was a guy on my trap squad shooting a Perrazi, must have screwed his choke tube in wrong, and about 6 inches of the barrel went flying down range.:p
 
Quality, Culture and the Inevitable . . .

2nd post: As a past quality exec and later on a senior exec of a Fortune 50, I'm dumb founded at the "to get along you've got to go along" attitude expressed here. I'm not making anyone wrong and understand wanting to "just get 'my' ___ fixed."

But this has happened before: how often, what were the failure and fault modes, and how safe are current and past units coming off the production line? In my long career as a manufacturing leader and senior exec, the attitude here is usually what leads to catastrophic consequences from single mode, intolerant failures. Someday, this company and one or more of its customers (and perhaps innocent by-standers) will suffer a preventable and serious disaster.

In the world of consumer products and consumer capital goods, manufacturers do a risk:frequency:impact tradeoff, the results of which all too frequently have led to some unbelievable and totally preventable accidents (being kind in calling these accidents). We know this isn't an isolated event and we know it continues to happen . . . when will and what will the consumer reaction be when the inevitable occurs? Same question for S&W.

This speaks volumes about S&W's culture and it's leadership, and I for one find it wanting in many ways.

This is the second and last post for me on this subject, though I'm uncertain I can just walk away . . . having visited crash sites that cover several square miles, the smell of disaster is something I find difficult to simply pass over as "business as usual."

Take care,
 
Well so here's the update so far, i called and got through to their customer service yesterday afternoon. I got emailed a return label, and i shipped it out today back to them, and was told they should get it by tuesday of next week. So i guess now i sit and wait, to hear back from them...
 
I have every confidence that they will take care of you. The only fly in the ointment is the outrageous (and temporary) demand for handguns of all types has really challenged all manufacturers regarding response time.

Hopefully, this will be expedited for you.

Dale53
 
I think it looks broken!

Definitely defective. Is there anything stuck in the bore?
 
Good to hear you have shipped it back.
As many others have said, S&W will satisfy you with this problem. They have always taken care of me, and I've always been happy with their C/S dept.
Be a bit patient, as it may take a little while for them to decide what to do about your gun - repair or replace.
This doesn't happen every day.
 
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