S&W says "J-Frame 357 is for carry not shooting"!

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I am NOT impressed with S&W's customer service.

WebHobbit,

If you'll note my post from June 10th looks like our guns were there at the same time, same results.

I just gave up on them totally. Damn shame, quality service was really one of S/W's big selling points. Won't be buying another one.
 
S&W's Customer Service

I have to add my 2 cents here. S & W have, IMHO, the type of excellence in customer service, that legends are made of.

I recently had to send a new purchase back to repair a firing pin bushing. One call and a pre-paid FedEx label was sent to my door. I wrapped my package, set it on the front porch, and FedEx came back and picked it up. Could not have been quicker or simpler. AND, the customer service rep was just a pleasure to talk to.

A few weeks ago, I found a used S&W auto, 12 years old, that I knew had been recalled back in 1991 to retrofit an upgraded part. This auto had never been sent back. I called S&W expecting to pay the shipping, knowing they would probably update the piece. Again, they offered free FedEx and free upgrade. What more could you ask for. I wasn't even the original owner!

Now that's excellent customer service. I can buy S&W with total confidence in the future; not something I can say for all US gun makers today. They stand behind their product as well as any other company I can think of.

Sobell
 
Sobell - that's nice to know it worked out for you but there stance on barrel to cylinder gaps & the fact that they would tell me to "practice with .38s and carry Magnums" mean they only have so much faith in their products.


Also I found it very unprofessional that NO ONE at S&W could actually confirm for me that my gun was repaired.

See here:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30451
 
In a perfect world, we would have perfect customer service from every company. Unfortunately...This isn't that world.
Most good businesses (like S&W) historically have a high percentage of positive feedback from there clientele.
My experiences with S&W have been positive to this point.
 
The one time I used S and W's customer service was for my 625 (nice house gun BTW). I sent it to a shop in Long Beach (authorized svc ctr) and they got it back to me after a weekend. Admittedly, the problem was a quality control issue but Smith took care of me!

That is my experience with the big S and I hope that some Customer Svc management type from Smith reads these posts and castigates the parties who are responsible for the original poster's bad experience and rectifies it to his satisfaction.

BTW I'm a new member who likes Smith wheelguns. My fave is my 17 :D
 
I do agree, however, that if a gun is rated for 357, then one should be able to shoot that round until all his dental work falls out and not hurt the gun at all.

LOL all the comparisons with Ruger reminds me of the Burgers and Fries ads that Smith ran when the 686 came out!
 
Heyyyyy,
That Ad campaign about Ruger's thick revolvers vs Smith's thick burgers & shakes still brings a big smile to my grumpy old face ;)...

And yup, the SP101 does remind me of the snubby M66 :neener:
 
I do agree, however, that if a gun is rated for 357, then one should be able to shoot that round until all his dental work falls out and not hurt the gun at all.

I disagree.. my speedometer goes up to 160, but if I ran my car at 160MPH, all day every day, its life span would be shot to heck. On rare occasion, when necessary, it's ok.
 
I'm looking into a 640 and I must say I'm less concerned with this issue than I would have been five years ago. Fact is, I simply don't use handguns unless there's an emergency. Some practice rounds will suffice, there's no need for a CCW .357 that can cope with 1,000 rounds of the hot stuff. I will always favor a rifle or shotgun first, simply because experience shows I can hit very little IRL with the short guns. Even the big, heavy short guns with long barrels :D
 
Here's a thought for you. Sell the pistol and get another one.

You bought it in 1996. Even using "new math", that's still 8 years of service. Let's say you paid $450 for it. You've invested $56.25 a year into a pistol you use to defend our life. That's pretty freakin' cheap.

It's a small easy to conceal CCW pistol designed for self defense. It's just a tool. A commodity. An instrument. It's not a life long investment that you will give down to your kids grandkids.


Lots of guns are for play and fun and for keeping. A self defense gun is just that. A tool used for self defense. Then again, I don't skimp on the tires, brakes, and work I do on my trucks either.

Heck, if you ever HAVE to use it, expect the police to take it anyway at least for a while. I've seen some of the pistols that have come back from PD's after cases. May as well have been tossed in a dryer full of rocks. Case #'s etched into frames. Finish trashed. Grips marked up.

IMHO if you're going to carry or use it for self defense, you've got to look at it as a disposable item.
 
I've owned a couple of J-Frames (shot one loose) and consider them carry-only-last-ditch-emergency guns. Sadly, your experience with S&W is probably the norm. Corporations-pfffftt! Their first loyalty is to stockholders, then management, then (maybe) you, the customer.
 
Gunsnrovers has the right idea. I've spent years searching for the perfect CCW piece, but when it comes right down to it my favorite handgun is not the one I want to carry. There's far too much exposure to mud, dirt, rust, and of course potential legal exposure. It's the same thing I'm discovering with hunting rifles and fishing shotguns. They just get too abused, and at this point I'm restricting myself to beaters for all field use. A 640 isn't going to be the most accurate handgun, or the strongest, but it will sit for years in a holster until needed and you don't have to worry about it or fuss over it much.
 
I've owned a couple of J-Frames (shot one loose) and consider them carry-only-last-ditch-emergency guns.

Huh.

I only own seven J-frames at the moment, plus three I's and one improved-I, so maybe I haven't shot enough of them loose yet. I always thought the cure for lack of hits with a gun was practice, but maybe I should research this further... :uhoh:
 
I only own seven J-frames at the moment, plus three I's and one improved-I, so maybe I haven't shot enough of them loose yet

Well, keep going. In time the cylinder will not lock up tight, the timing will go, it will shave lead, and eventually will not fire every time. :p
 
I've had excellent service from S&W. If I ever shoot my 642 loose I'll be sending it back for warranty repairs. Its aluminum, I like to shoot , it will probably wear out, its that simple. Same if my model 65 ever shoots loose. I eventually expect to wear them both out, big deal, thats what warranties are for.

If you got bad service or talked to some numbnut on the phone that doesn't know what they are doing, go up the ladder and talk to the service manager or higher if you have to. Most companies will be glad to help you out, most also want to know when some lazy numbnut is blowing off the customers rather than helping solve their problem. Crying about it here won't get your gun fixed for free or otherwise. Worse you end up having to read a bunch of wiseass responses telling you to buy another gun:rolleyes:
 
S&W customer service

I have sent 2 used revolvers to Smith & Wesson for work and couldn't have been treated better.

Sorry to hear your experience was not as positive.

I sent a stainless security six ( I had carried and shot it a lot ) that was getting out of time and sometimes locking on one cilinder, back to Strum Ruger and couldn't have been treated better there either.

Joe
 
Afraid I have to disagree with you Tamara

Tamara said:

Huh.

I only own seven J-frames at the moment, plus three I's and one improved-I, so maybe I haven't shot enough of them loose yet. I always thought the cure for lack of hits with a gun was practice, but maybe I should research this further...

Afraid I have to disagree with you Tamara.:eek: Those little J frames are cute. I have at least one. It stoked with 158 grain lead semi-Wadcutter hollow points. You can guess why. I hardly ever (OK ....almost never) fire it at targets. It's just no fun to shoot.

So what am I going to do if I have to use it in an emergent situation? I am going to be so close that I will not aim!.........Only point it in the direction I need it to go. I am not planning on firing it if I can escape harm's way by running or ducking etc. I practice with other pistols enough that I can do that...............they are made for shooting.

PigPen
 
Guns are different than speedometers.

A .308 is made to shoot .308's, a 12 ga is made to shoot 12ga shells, a .45 colt is made to shoot .45 colts, and so on. Any J Frame, L Frame, K Frame, N Frame, etc. made in the .357 Mag caliber should be built to shoot that caliber throughout it's lifetime, assuming "normal or standard" pressure loads are used.

If S&W say's the gun is not able to do so, it's borderlining on legal issues, they should extremely careful in their replies to customers. Again, if that is the case, they should be taking steps to solve the problem.

The average Joe that decides to buy a .357 J Frame for his first gun, buy's it with the obvious assumtion it's made to shoot .357 mag ammo. He may not even know you can shoot .38's in it.

My 02 cents.
 
He asked me what the 500 magnums were & I told him mostly Winchester 110 jhps. He said "that's a law-enforcement type round...it's pretty HOT!".

Hot?? That's one of the lightest 357 magnum loads available. Even Winchester only claims 1,295 fps for it, less than Corbons 115gr 9mm load. So even the lightest factory 357 load available is to much for it...sounds like they should quit letting their marketing department decide what ther guns should be chambered for. If it's built for 38's it should be chambered for 38's.
 
The average Joe that decides to buy a .357 J Frame for his first gun, buy's it with the obvious assumtion it's made to shoot .357 mag ammo. He may not even know you can shoot .38's in it.

I know what you are saying has some veracity. The public has gotten a free ride on product knowledge for somew time now. I do not know how long this can last.

Every person in our society must take responsibility for knowing the basics about everything that they touch.

PigPen
 
FWIW, The S&W 'K' frame is also not meant for a steady diet of .357 mags either. The idea was you qualified with and carried the magnums, but practiced with the .38's. That's more or less why the L frame came about, for those who liked to pop magnums more often.

I'm willing to bet you can mess up a SP101 with a constant diet of magnums too. Would take more than a J frame, but it could happen. most folks would proably get Carpal Tunnel first though.

I have over 1,000 125 grain magnumss through my 640 and 4k of +P .38's and just had to correct endshake. Guess some guns wear different than others.

Shooting magnums in these two guns will eventually stretch the frame some and cause some other barrel issues. I've had to have S&W set the barrel back on a model 13 to compensate for frame stretch. Didn't cost all that much and considering the gun is nearly as old as I am, I didn't think it too bad a service life.

S&W has always been very good to me on warranty work. Guess the next test is my 625 that is there now.

Rugers are a pretty nice gun but I do prefer the J frames over them, the airweights to be specific. If I have to buy a new one every 10 years or so, then so be it.

Odd that S&W warranty did not work with you more than that. I've had them do quite a bit more to guns for less money. Don't know the reason they didn't want to do the same for you though.



Ted
 
They really did'nt say that the gun was not meant for shooting 357's. What they said is that 357's would wear more than 38's. That's pretty axiomatic. The hotter the round the more wear on the gun. Nothing new there. The S&W J-frames made to shoot 357 will shoot that ammo quite well thank you. Good shooting;)
 
If anyone can show me an all steel J, K, L, or N frame .357 manual that explains that the gun is made for qualifying and carrying magnums but made to be practiced with .38's, I'll let S&W off the hook.

I mean heck, they tell you everything else in the manual. If that is so, it sure is a huge omission, IMO.
 
Dunno Marshall,

I've known that since I started shooting. Guess I've always thought it was something generally understood, which is why I'm puzzled at your outrage.

Be interesting to write ruger and ask them if they recommend a steady diet of .357 magnums for the SP101. I bet they caution you as well.

Ted
 
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