S&W lifetime warranty on pre owned guns

[UCLALAW]

If I send in a LNIB S&W for repairs and the original purchaser never mailed the warranty card in, should they honor it? What If the warranty card was sent in by the original buyer? I never sent the card in on a S&W I bought in 2008 but they fixed it under warranty no questions asked.
I don't currently need any work but am wondering how stringently enforced their warranty rules are.

 

[missiondude]

I sent in a 15 year old gun that I was the second owner, and they did warranty work on it and paid the freight both ways. Great cust service...

 

[Gunhacker]

I have had nothing but positive experiences with customer service, I've been sent, replacement parts (no charge) for 15 year old 3rd gen pistols as well as having an 8 year old Lew Horton 4006 in for warranty work on their dime, freight paid both ways, and I'm not the original owner for any of those pistols.

It's seems to be at the discretion of the customer service rep to provide second owners with warranty work and I've found that attitude is everything, when talking to them.

Courtesy and something as simple as having the model and serial number at the ready goes a long ways. I was told by one person "you just don't know how many people call and are unprepared to give us basic info, like the serial number, when we ask for it".

 

[jfd]

I have several S&W pistols I am not the original owner of and have found Cust Svc to be extremely accomodating when needing replacement parts that have failed (an infrequent occurrence). They have NEVER asked for ownership history, SN's of guns needing parts or any other info. Recently needed to replace a magazine catch button for my CS45, called to order and was told they would ship one out, NC. Told the rep I appreciated it and offered to pay for a 2nd one as I have also own CS9 and CS40 and wanted to have an extra on hand. They sent a 2nd at NC. Have NEVER had a bad experience with S&W CustSvc, one more reason the majority of my guns are and probably always will be S&W. They stand behind their products, a virtue becoming increasingly rare these days.

 

[SourwoodTom]

I bought a 625 that had timing issues. I explained to S&W that I wasn't the original owner and asked that they send a quote for fixing the gun. I was waiting for a repair quote, when FedEx delivered the repaired gun.

The whole thing, including shipping, took only 8 days and I only paid freight from NC to S&W.

 

[smithman 10]

On the other hand

Last year I think it was, I sent in a Model 15 I bought brand new when the hammer stud broke. To be fair, the revolver is about 15 years old and has had many, many rounds through it, although most were wadcutters and other low power target loads.

I was surprised that they wanted to charge me to fix it. So I sent a copy of the sales receipt from when I bought it and asked rather pointedly did they want to be telling their customers that after a certain number of trigger pulls things like a hammer stud could be expected to break, i.e from normal usage.

You can see the repair right under the cylinder release.

They finally fixed it for free, but I was not impressed with the fuss they put up about doing it.

 

[dpsix]

Smithman, I have a 27 that needs a similar repair. If the gun comes back looking like yours, there is no reason for me to think about a reblue.

 

[UCLALAW]

Last year I think it was, I sent in a Model 15 I bought brand new when the hammer stud broke. To be fair, the revolver is about 15 years old and has had many, many rounds through it, although most were wadcutters and other low power target loads.

I was surprised that they wanted to charge me to fix it. So I sent a copy of the sales receipt from when I bought it and asked rather pointedly did they want to be telling their customers that after a certain number of trigger pulls things like a hammer stud could be expected to break, i.e from normal usage.

You can see the repair right under the cylinder release.

They finally fixed it for free, but I was not impressed with the fuss they put up about doing it.

A S&W rep told me the lifetime warranty applies to firearms manufactured after 1989. Your M15 looks like a 1960s pistol judging by the diamond screw hole grips. Have you checked the mfg. date?

 

[srgvaz]

A S&W rep told me the lifetime warranty applies to firearms manufactured after 1989. Your M15 looks like a 1960s pistol judging by the diamond screw hole grips. Have you checked the mfg. date?

The grips were added to compliment the gun. Look at the picture closer there no pin on the frame for the barrel the S&W logo is under the thumb latch. It looks like a 15-4 or later.