Dissapointing new 629 PC

[daehawc]

I just won an auction on gun broker for a new 629 PC 170135 2 5/8" .44 mag. i purchased this for occasional CCW and backwoods backup. The gun showed up to my friends house who is an FFL, I signed the paperwork and brought it home. Once home and dry firing the new gun I found a couple problems.

1: Gouge in the front of the cylinder. Not very deep but leaves a sharp edge which is how I found it.

2: Occasionally (about 1/4 - 1/3 of the time) when I close the cylinder it fails to lock up. The cylinder release stays forward and the action wont move. Slight downward pressure on the cylinder clicks it into place and then it will work.

This last one has my confidence in the gun shaken. Last thing I want to happen is pull the gun and have the action locked up or do a reload and not be able to shoot.

Has anyone experienced this from a Smith, especially a PC gun?

I contacted smith and should be getting a return label. Not very pleased to be sending a brand new supposedly "Performance Center" gun back to the factory before even firing it.

I was looking at a PC V-Comp but this may have soured me on Smith's.

 

[eldon519]

Is the gun new or used?

 

[daehawc]

New from a dealer.

 

[Old Fuff]

Apparently they don't do enough final inspection.

Anyway, the "gouge" in the front of the cylinder may (or may not) be an easily corrected cosmetic issue. If it's worse then I think I'd expect them to replace the cylinder.

The sticky cylinder bolt could be caused by a number of things, mostly minor. It may need nothing more then a through cleaning and lubrication.

For this last year all of the handgun manufacturers have been literally overwhelmed with orders, and this is sometimes reflected in what gets out the door. I offer this not as an excuse, but rather an explanation. Grit your teeth and send it back. :banghead:

 

[MrBorland]

I'd be disappointed if a brand new revolver had to go back for repairs, and moreso a PC revolver, but IME, PC revolvers no longer appear to receive any extra tuning, premium parts, and fitting compared to a standard revolver. Instead, the Performance Center now simply seems to be offering revolver variants that aren't available in S&W's standard lineup. IMO, it's a marketing mistake on S&W's part - many think they're paying for a semi-custom hand-fitted revolver, then naturally get disgruntled when they find otherwise.

 

[bluetopper]

Yes, I think PC just means options not available on base revolvers.

 

[boricua9mm]

I'd let S&W work their magic. In my opinion, they have set a very high bar for customer service, and they take their Performance Center seriously. If they should screw up by sending you back another set of problems, then I don't blame you for writing them off.

I just went through the same thing with Ruger for a $750 GP100 Wiley Clapp. They replaced it with a hastily made hunk of garbage. I've written off Ruger, but I have to say that I did give them a chance first. That gun is now gone and a Smith 627 PC just took its place. This gun is everything the Wiley Clapp dreamed of becoming.

The seller probably took your gun to GunBroker because nobody would buy it after a firsthand inspection. This reflects more poorly on the seller than S&W. I say let Smith do their thing. These PC snubs are sweet!

 

[Torian]

PC stuff (I have a 627 PC) is supposed to be tuned and a final QA/QC by the talented gunsmiths that work in the performance center.

Aside from some trigger / hammer strike issues on mine (I had to adjust the torsion screw), and some minute aesthetic issues...mine has functioned well..but nothing is minor when you are spending over a grand for a revolver.

I haven't sent mine back...but maybe you should call SW and see if they can make it right?

 

[bikemutt]

I'd let S&W work their magic. In my opinion, they have set a very high bar for customer service

That hasn't been my experience lately. In fact, the bar as far as I can tell is 2" below a Jamaican Limbo pole. After three reluctant promises to email/mail a return label for warranty work, nothing.

Ruger on the other hand has; answered the phone before I had to shave again, engaged me in a polite manner, and resolved my issues in a generous, productive way.

As far as I'm concerned, S&W's CS is underwater, any day I wake up and have to call them is a bad day.

 

[RussB]

There was a day when and if we bought a new gun and it had issues, we returned it to the dealer, or we called the manufacturer and made arrangements to have it fixed.

Now we come first to the internet and complain. No one here can help, but your sure will find a lot of folks to help pile on!

It sucks, but it happens with EVERY manufacturer! Especially in these times where they can't build enough guns to meet demand.

 

[boricua9mm]

Ruger on the other hand has; answered the phone before I had to shave again, engaged me in a polite manner, and resolved my issues in a generous, productive way

Your experience is the direct opposite of mine. Ruger flat out refused to send me a prepaid shipping label, not even a promise to do so. Ruger then insisted on sending my replacement gun to an FFL, even though there is no need to do so, so I was out another $30 on top of the $86 for shipping the original garbage gun back. They also sent me a total POS as a replacement...and this was just one week ago.

Let S&W work their magic, then complain.

 

[RussB]

Different gun = new serial number. It MUST go through an FFL

 

[daehawc]

There was a day when and if we bought a new gun and it had issues, we returned it to the dealer, or we called the manufacturer and made arrangements to have it fixed.

Now we come first to the internet and complain. No one here can help, but your sure will find a lot of folks to help pile on!

It sucks, but it happens with EVERY manufacturer! Especially in these times where they can't build enough guns to meet demand.

Well, that day was likely before internet ordering across state lines. Most dealers won't accept a return on a mail order once it has been transferred and is now a "used" gun. I didn't catch the problems until after I got home with it.

I have emailed Smith, I have received one automated reply asking again for the information I included on the first email. I'm waiting to see what happens with their work and will post good or bad how it turns out.

I feel it is important to let others know what sort of product they may get. Especially at the price and reputation a PC gun commands.

Their own website says that gunsmiths with an average experience of 23 years "conceptualize, engineer, and hand-craft our products from the ground up." To me, these flaws could have been easily discovered by a veteran gunsmith.

I hope and expect that they fix it and make it right, and if they do I will post back with a very favorable review.

 

[bikemutt]

There was a day when and if we bought a new gun and it had issues, we returned it to the dealer, or we called the manufacturer and made arrangements to have it fixed.

Now we come first to the internet and complain. No one here can help, but your sure will find a lot of folks to help pile on!

It sucks, but it happens with EVERY manufacturer! Especially in these times where they can't build enough guns to meet demand.

It is a fact that gun manufacturers are very busy, car manufacturers are very busy, that is not an excuse for shoddy customer service, period. The very prosperity they are experiencing should lead them on the right path. Their is simply no good reason to allow success to become failure in this day and age

 

[buck460XVR]

I feel it is important to let others know what sort of product they may get. Especially at the price and reputation a PC gun commands.

Their own website says that gunsmiths with an average experience of 23 years "conceptualize, engineer, and hand-craft our products from the ground up." To me, these flaws could have been easily discovered by a veteran gunsmith.

While your gun is new, it does not mean it hadn't been handled or mishandled before you got it. The sharp gouge on the front of the cylinder sounds more like a post production ding, since finish polishing would have at least rounded or softened the edges. The ejector rod may be loose or have something under the extradition star, causing the cylinder to not close properly.....it could be a bent ejector rod or yoke that was damaged when the cylinder got gouged. You gun is covered by a lifetime warranty..........S&W will take care of it.

One thing I have noticed so much of lately is the amount of cosmetic and damage problems posted here from folks that have bought new firearms from online sellers and accepted them before they looked at and/or had a chance to see if they functioned properly. Makes me think that this may be how some dealers sell firearms that have been returned/refused or picked over by other folks in person. Gun that gets dinged up by careless customer or clerk takin' it out or puttin' it away. Bent ejector rods/cranes from morons spinnin' and slammin' cylinders closed. Kinda like the used car dealer that wants to make the sale at night, before you have a chance to see the ripple in the door panel in good light.

 

[RussB]

It is a fact that gun manufacturers are very busy, car manufacturers are very busy, that is not an excuse for shoddy customer service, period. The very prosperity they are experiencing should lead them on the right path. Their is simply no good reason to allow success to become failure in this day and age

It's not an excuse, just a reality

 

[back40]

insisted on sending my replacement gun to an FFL

as noted, replacement gun with new serial goes through an ffl to my knowledge. ruger did this with a gun for me, but compensated me for the transfer costs when i pointed it out to them. anytime i've needed ruger's service, they have gone above and beyond.

 

[boricua9mm]

Different gun = new serial number. It MUST go through an FFL

There's been two instances in my immediate family, from 2 different manufacturers, where new serials were sent directly to the owners. We have no registration here in FL. This seems to be more of the individual company's desire to have another background check run.

 

[Torian]

While your gun is new, it does not mean it hadn't been handled or mishandled before you got it. The sharp gouge on the front of the cylinder sounds more like a post production ding, since finish polishing would have at least rounded or softened the edges. The ejector rod may be loose or have something under the extradition star, causing the cylinder to not close properly.....it could be a bent ejector rod or yoke that was damaged when the cylinder got gouged. You gun is covered by a lifetime warranty..........S&W will take care of it.

One thing I have noticed so much of lately is the amount of cosmetic and damage problems posted here from folks that have bought new firearms from online sellers and accepted them before they looked at and/or had a chance to see if they functioned properly. Makes me think that this may be how some dealers sell firearms that have been returned/refused or picked over by other folks in person. Gun that gets dinged up by careless customer or clerk takin' it out or puttin' it away. Bent ejector rods/cranes from morons spinnin' and slammin' cylinders closed. Kinda like the used car dealer that wants to make the sale at night, before you have a chance to see the ripple in the door panel in good light.

This is a very good point. I learned this lesson the hard way early on in gunbroker. Now I require the seller / dealer to provide me detailed and high resolution photos of exactly the weapon they are selling.

A typical dealer ploy is to use generic photos of the gun model when it is for sale, or a picture of another NIB (unhandled) gun, but the same model.

I've had frank conversations with dealers over the phone that don't want to take a minute or two to send me good pics of the actual gun in question. Our conversation went something like this:

dealer: "Sorry sir, we don't have time to take pictures of everyone firearm we sell on gunbroker".

me: "So what you're saying is...you don't want to take a couple minutes out of your day to take pics of what you are ACTUALLY selling for a business deal worth a thousand bucks? Now I'm understanding why your feedback score is lower than usual".

There are only 2-3 dealers on gunbroker that do enough volume to actually justify that excuse. Even then...I will not spend money on a firearm without seeing pictures of it first.

 

[RussB]

There's been two instances in my immediate family, from 2 different manufacturers, where new serials were sent directly to the owners. We have no registration here in FL. This seems to be more of the individual company's desire to have another background check run.

Your family has a lot of trouble with firearms!

 

[bikemutt]

It's not an excuse, just a reality

Good point.

 

[orionengnr]

Different gun = new serial number. It MUST go through an FFL

Negatory.
Springfield had to replace my EMP (s/n 1073, well-documented elsewhere) when they were unable to fix it.
Replacement (s/n 2750) was sent directly to my door.

 

[boricua9mm]

Your family has a lot of trouble with firearms!

That would be a Heckler's point-of-view. A realist's point-of-view is that collectively we buy a lot of firearms throughout the years, and *gasp* we actually shoot them more than one box per year and "hunting season" is not the one time where they are called upon .

When a company makes something that, prematurely, winds up not working, we send it back and expect the company, with a fist-full of our cash, to make right on it.

 

[RussB]

Negatory.
Springfield had to replace my EMP (s/n 1073, well-documented elsewhere) when they were unable to fix it.
Replacement (s/n 2750) was sent directly to my door.

I learned something today. I wonder why some manufacturers do it and some don't?

 

[daehawc]

As promised, received my 629 back from S&W today. Initial look seems to be good. Cylinder is operating nicely and I haven't been able to recreate the problem. Repair order says they replaced the cylinder and repaired the yoke.

All in all, it is disappointing to have to send a high quality gun back to get fixed right out of the box but Smith did a solid job all around in handling the process. Somewhat of a long delay in the back and forth getting the return authorization but I guess it is somewhat to be expected with a company that deals with that kind of volume.

I'll update when I get it to the range.