s&w warranty isn't bullet proof

[L2R]

thanks all.

At the time, I had no idea whether it was the gun or the ammo. I had to pick and I chose Smith as it was the first time out. In hindsight, maybe the ammo would have been a better choice.

And I will give Federal a chance to review it. Not throwing them under the bus or Smith.
As for smith returning the gun, I will ask but I doubt that they would let something that bad with their name on it be passed around for more pictures.
I will contact Smith in the morning and ask they forward their findings to Federal. I have pictures of the box, the lot#, and the ammo and have a letter ready enclosed in the box with the ammo. I also will send a copy of the letter in an email if an email address is provided.

And if someone steps up and takes accountability, I will be here on the same day to say so.

 

[shawn mccarver]

thanks all.

At the time, I had no idea whether it was the gun or the ammo. I had to pick and I chose Smith as it was the first time out. In hindsight, maybe the ammo would have been a better choice.

And I will give Federal a chance to review it. Not throwing them under the bus or Smith.
As for smith returning the gun, I will ask but I doubt that they would let something that bad with their name on it be passed around for more pictures.
I will contact Smith in the morning and ask they forward their findings to Federal. I have pictures of the box, the lot#, and the ammo and have a letter ready enclosed in the box with the ammo. I also will send a copy of the letter in an email if an email address is provided.

And if someone steps up and takes accountability, I will be here on the same day to say so.

I hope you get it resolved.

Remember, that pistol is YOUR property, and S&W has no right to keep it, even in its damaged condition.

Now, they may want to put a condition on selling you a new one at cost, like "we want to keep your existing pistol as a trade in," or something.

They certainly have a right to do that, and if they do, you have to decide whether to buy the new one at the lower price and give up your pistol or refuse their kind offer and demand your damaged pistol back.

Personally, I would want the damaged pistol back so I could go after Federal for full replacement cost.

In fairness to some old timers or whoever talked to you, I am aware of one LE agency situation that occurred in the 60s where an over pressure round destroyed a Model 15 Combat Masterpiece.

S&W went to bat for the agency and worked it out. The ammo company apparently settled up with S&W, who provided a replacement Model 10 to the agency.

I am not sure if a Model 15 was unavailable, or if the market value of the destroyed revolver was, as a used gun, less than the price of a Model 15.

Thinking in terms of a used car, you don't get a NEW car if a defect results in, say, an electrical fire which destroys the car. You get the fair market value at the time of the fire.

Now, in your case, you had, in essence, a brand new gun, and it should simply be replaced. But, if S&W is telling you the truth, it should be replaced by Federal.

So, there is some precedent for S&W doing this before, but the only case of which I am personally aware was an agency customer.

I hope you will let us know what the final result is after you talk to Federal. I would be as nice to S&W as possible. You need their cooperation to a certain extent. Have you talked to anyone there about how you go about getting a reimbursement from Federal and if they will help you by providing you a letter with their findings. Maybe they won't do that, but perhaps after you talk to Federal, you can get someone at Federal talking to someone at S&W.

I wish you the best of luck.

 

[kendak]

any chance reloads were put back in an original box?...I do it all the time with my own reloads...take care

 

[gunguy56]

When I was a Deputy our Dept went with the S&W 4006 for duty guns, and Federal 165 gn Hydra Shock for issue duty ammo. During one qualification range session, the 4006's starting blowing out extractors with noticeably more felt recoil..The cases that didn't completely separate into two pieces had big bulged out case heads. Various recovered cases were later sent back to Federal for some sort of compensation to the Dept..luckily no one was hurt as I remember..however we were using ammo that had been issued after the previous qualification session..that ammo could have caused a tragic result if it had been used in a duty shooting incident..

 

[What the]

Glad no one was hurt, but why oh why did you send them the suspected ammo case, that was the "smoking gun" as it were....

 

[Jaymo]

Yes, I was referring to the responsible party, whether it be Smith or Federal.

 

[Rastoff]

I'm sorry to hear that you have more leg work to do. I'm also sorry your gun got destroyed.

I'm curious to hear what Federal has to say about it.

For the record, I would be unhappy too. However, sending it to S&W was the right thing to do. They may have discovered that the damage was due to a weak chamber. You couldn't possibly know that without some professional looking at it.

Now that you have more info, it's time to talk to the ammo manufacturer. It has to be one or the other. I hope Federal will step up.

 

[WallyJJ]

I feel your pain since mine blew up a couple weeks ago. I have a feeling it will be awhile before I hear anything.

If you want another shield it's cheaper than buying one outright at the moment. It might also be your only way to find one assuming they send you a new one direct and not just an IOU.

What did they tell you they would do with the old magazines? I assume they can't sell them as new so maybe you could sweet talk them into tossing them in the box with the new one?

WallyJJ

 

[L2R]

All great input.

And some being critical have explained it well. I was ticked that they offered at gun at their dealer price, not their cost. That still takes little on their part. Maybe that is enough.

However, not ready yet to give up without Federal having a chance to look at it and get their take on it. I think that is fair.

 

[jajo]

I understand S&W not wanting to be a third party in a product liability issue. Only you know the circumstances behind the incident.

I think S&W has offered you a very good deal for something that doesn't seem to be their problem. Of course, their offer doesn't make you whole. You have to decide what your additional time, aggravation, and effort is worth in pursuing the ammunition maker - and assess your probability of resolving the issue in your favor.

Good luck.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Jyezahn]

My $0.02? Take S&W's offer of a new Shield at their dealer price, provided that they return the blown out one to you since it is still yours. That way, you have a new Shield, and can send the blown out one to Federal to get their take on it. You'll probably end up with compensation from Federal (either monetary or in the form of ammo) and everyone will be happy.

 

[RussC]

S&W is honoring their warranty. They do not cover ammo defects.

If you have your car motor oil changed and the motor burns up due to wrong lubricant or no lubricant added who is negligent?

There is always small claim court if no one assumes responsibility.



Russ

 

[DJFaninTN]

man, i'd be some what chapped that I spent that much for a gun and it blew up. i understand their argument but I think S&W needs to help you with as much info as possible so you can go to the ammo manufacturer with all your ducks in a row.

sorry this happened to you.

 

[Hillbilly77]

I think the fact that Smith & Wesson offered anything beyond saying "Ammo did it. Not our problem." is indicative of their great customer service.
The fact that they offered a discounted price for something that is not their fault shows a lot of generosity on their part.
It puzzles me when people flame S&W customer service. Maybe I'm just lucky, because I have dealt with them a few times and always have had great experience with them.

I'm reminded of a sign I saw once that said:
"How about we refund your money, send you a new one at no charge,
close the store and have the manager shot. Would that be satisfactory?"

 

[ammodave]

I'd want the gun back along with a statement from S&W that the failure was caused by defective ammunition. Then you still have to convince Federal that their ammo was in the gun when it blew up. Good luck!

 

[JNewell]

When I had a firearm damaged, my first call was to the ammo manufacturer and the firearm and ammo were returned to them, so I didn't have to try to get the damaged gun back from the manufacturer. I will be interested to see whether S&W will return the pistol to you or not. It's kind of a between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place situation for both you and S&W at this point. Maybe they'd be willing to ship it directly to the ammo manufacturer - worth asking, after you talk to the ammo company.

 

[Jyezahn]

I will be interested to see whether S&W will return the pistol to you or not. It's kind of a between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place situation for both you and S&W at this point.

They can't just keep it. It still belongs to him, he paid for it. They'll either have to return the original one to him, or compensate him for it.

 

[Lost Lake]

I was thinking their cost would be a lot less... They sell to LEO's at $335 all day long, and I can't imagine they are giving guns away.

Regardless, $334 is a good price, and they may ship you one immediately which is faster than finding one would be. I'd take the gun they offer and see if you can get your old one back too, but they will want to keep it for a number of reasons.

 

[Comrad]

So in summary, that's why I like my guns to be made the way God intended, out of metal.

 

[Lineman73]

I don't know about Smith & Wesson replacing a gun due to over pressure ammo, but I do know about Ruger!!

A number of years ago while shooting a metallic silhouette match in Florida, I observed a friend's Super Blackhawk blow up!! The topstrap was broken and bent up at a 90 degree angle. The fired chamber in the ciylinder was gone and the chambers on each side of it detonated, blowing them apart also. Pieces of the blown out cylinder hit the shooter next to my friend breaking bones in his hand.

My friend called Ruger the next day. He was put on hold by the customer service agent. The next thing he heard was a rather gruff, yet polite sounding voice telling him to pack up the gun and any ammo left out of the box he had been shooting and ship it to them in Southport. Wishing to keep track of the proceedings for his records, my friend asked, "To who am I speaking?" The voice said, "This is Bill Ruger. I want to know what it took to blow that gun up!!"

Two weeks later, my friend had a special courier knocking at his door. The man had a package and a letter from Southport, Connecticut. In the box was a brand new Ruger Super Blackhawk. The letter from Mr. Ruger stated that the ammo that was sent with the blown up gun had been disassembled and analyzed. It seemed that the company that had re-manufactured the reloads loaded 22 grains of Hercules Bullseye powder in the .44 Magnum casing behind a 240 JHP instead of 22 grains of Hercules 2400 powder---an amazing quaduple overload! This load was 4 times the pressure of a Ruger proof load!

After a number of incidents like this, the careless ammo remanufacturer was closed down. Sturm, Ruger and Co ate the cost of that Super Blackhawk to satify Bill Ruger's curiosity!!