Send it Back or Live With it?

[Matt Hooper]

Bought a NIB 686 Plus Pro. Was having light strikes and the gun shot significantly to the right. Went back to the mothership and just got it back. They replaced the firing pin and the barrel liner. First trip back to the range and it's still shooting right.

Certainly I can adjust the windage (a fair amount) to compensate but should I have to? Haven't had this particular problem with a S&W revolver before. Send it back or live with it?

 

[Triathloncoach]

Send it back and have them get it right. It's the best long term decision. S&W should also be made aware of their manufacturing and customer service short coming.

 

[girvin02]

Are you saying that the gun shoots to the right, yet you haven't adjusted the rear sight to compensate? If that is correct, than yes, you need to sight the gun in. If there is not enough range of adjustment to bring point-of-impact to point-of-aim, then you have a problem and should send the gun back to S&W.

 

[kas9412]

ABSOLUTELY! What the previous poster said! That is what the adjustment is for...

 

[Matt Hooper]

OP here- I can sight it in by moving the rear sights. It's just clearly necessary to do so. But is this normal? shouldn't they come aligned correctly from the factory? Again, never had to do this before so I don't know what's within reason.

 

[Richard Simmons]

First thing I would do is ask someone else to try it and see if it's shooting to the right for them. If so I'd adjust the sights to get it on target. That's why they are adjustable.

That being said you should not have to shift the rear sight all the way to one side just to get the gun on target. If that's the case then another trip back to S&W may be in order.

IMHO a gun should be shooting pretty close to POA with the sights centered and any adjustment should be to fine tune to the individuals shooting style and or range of engagement and or bullet weight/velocity.

 

[CatboatWilly]

What Grivin02 said.

You are going to have this gun a long time. Get them to make it right. And even if you sold it - the next guy would complain to you. There was nothing wrong with the money you gave up for it - why should there be something wrong with the product ?

Regrettably, quality control these days is more driven by how many complaints a company receives on their products, rather than inspection going out the door. And that philosophy is not limited to any particular industry. It's just they way things have become.
I'd send it back !
Happy Holidays......

 

[federali]

Send it Back

Adjusting a gun to shoot to the sights involves "babbitizing" the gun, as S&W armorers would say. This is a skill that comes with practice and even though I graduated the S&W armorers' school, I would not attempt it as they did not teach us how to do it. Best to let the S&W's full time armorers fix it.

 

[Matt Hooper]

If you must move the rear sight an excessive amount to correct for windage I would think there is a problem with the revolver.

I would send it back.

What do you think is excessive? I'm about halfway to the left side now off center.

 

[Voyager28]

They replaced the firing pin and the barrel liner.

Huh? 686 has a 2 piece barrel?

Bob

 

[Hapworth]

OP here- I can sight it in by moving the rear sights. It's just clearly necessary to do so. But is this normal? shouldn't they come aligned correctly from the factory? Again, never had to do this before so I don't know what's within reason.

If not already done, confirm it's not your ammo or your hand. Get reputable, factory loaded match ammo and use a rest.

 

[Arik]

Adjusting a gun to shoot to the sights involves "babbitizing" the gun, as S&W armorers would say. This is a skill that comes with practice and even though I graduated the S&W armorers' school, I would not attempt it as they did not teach us how to do it. Best to let the S&W's full time armorers fix it.

Isn't that what the adjustable sights are for? Turn the screw and change the windage/elevation?

OP, let someone else shoot it first. Make sure it's not just you!

 

[KJS]

Send it back.

S&W has clearly decided to fire their quality control department, instead having consumers tell them when things are wrong. So it's your duty to tell them it's wrong.

Karl

 

[Muss Muggins]

Have somebody else shoot it . . .

 

[vinny77]

Was the light strike problem corrected? To me that would be the most important issue. If you are more that 3 clicks off center, all things considered, it might be the shooter.

 

[Matt Hooper]

Huh? 686 has a 2 piece barrel?

Bob

Yes, pro series does.

 

[Matt Hooper]

Light strike was corrected (I did still have one out of about 100 not fire. Hoping for bad primer and will try again this week). I'm a right handed shooter and usually if my trigger control is off I will shoot way left. This is off to the right. BTW, used a rest so I'm pretty confident it wasn't me.

 

[vinny77]

That being said, I would send it back. Send them a target showing the sight error. If you still have a shell that had a light strike, compare it to one that fired after the repair. you should see a noticeable difference in indentations. I would mention the fact that you had a light strike again after the repair. Get it right or you'll never trust the gun.

vinny

 

[Nick B]

First thing I would do is ask someone else to try it and see if it's shooting to the right for them. If so I'd adjust the sights to get it on target. That's why they are adjustable.

That being said you should not have to shift the rear sight all the way to one side just to get the gun on target. If that's the case then another trip back to S&W may be in order.

IMHO a gun should be shooting pretty close to POA with the sights centered and any adjustment should be to fine tune to the individuals shooting style and or range of engagement and or bullet weight/velocity.

^^ Best answer.

 

[MifflinKid]

I would ask several others to shoot the gun. Each of us grip with different amounts of strength; our hand sizes vary in size; we have different body mass. All of these can affect the point of impact using the same gun with the same ammunition.

Try some other ammo as Hapworth suggested. Bullet weight and velocity can affect the point of impact by a considerable amount.

If you have other grips that fit the gun, try them. Personally I don't like rubber grips but the definitely cause my point of impacts to change versus standard wood grips.

Only after taking these steps would I consider sending it back to S&W.