Dissatisfied new S&W owner

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sisyphus

sisyphus

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I just picked up a new 686 Plus Deluxe. I'm a Dan Wesson 1911 owner twice over, and I was inclined to go new 715 because of that. But the Youtube videos comparing the DW and the S&W made me think the DW trigger was kind of stage-y, whereas it seemed much smoother with a quicker DA reset on the S&W. That and the tradition S&W has swung me over to a brand I have no previous experience with.

Picked up the new S&W Saturday. Initial impression was that it looked like hot garbage. Just an overall lack of finesse on the finish, and it made me feel like I had picked up a mass produced revolver made by people that didn't much care for people whom maximum profit was a priority.

Took it to the range Sunday, and it functions flawlessly and puts rounds exactly where I point it every pull.

So on the one hand I couldn't be happier with how the gun works in practice, but on the other hand I am not feeling the pride of ownership that I do with my other handguns.

Do I need to learn to forgive this gun's shortcomings the way I do the Eastern European stuff I own? In those cases the firearms are far from flawless in fit and finish, but their performance is so amazing that I never give it a second thought and would never part with any of them.

Or, would I be better served looking to trade this S&W in for a new Dan Wesson 715 or a Colt Python? From what I can tell not having handled either, they appear to be much more nicely finished sidearms than this S&W, and I would be more than willing to take a small trade loss and part with the additional money to step up to either if it ended in me owning a gun that both functioned flawlessly and I was proud of when I handled it.

Everything I read online before purchase told me that the S&W was superior in almost every way to the Ruger, but from memory that Redhawk I handled looked a lot nicer than this S&W. I did notice the cylinder had more play than the S&W, but everything else about the Ruger looked and felt right.

I just want to own a 357 that I am happy to have and not having second thoughts about. I would really appreciate any feedback you guys have so I can either settle down and learn to love this perfectly good shooting S&W or get out of it while the getting's good. I was trying to be conservative for once and talked myself into saving $600 by getting the S&W and not buying the new Dan Wesson, but where I sit right now I wish I had splurged and done it. Appreciate your time, thanks.
 
welcome to thr, mlankton.

you can dress up a pig, but underneath it is still a pig. you have a diamond that is dressed like a pig. if you don't like the way your diamond is dressed, change clothes!

when a s&w revolver is "right", there is no better revolver, imo. you got one that is right.

murf
 
We all have our quirks in what we want in a firearm.

the fact that you think it’s ugly, but it shoots great for you, may be a dichotomy you can or cannot overcome.

I shoot a very loved and hated brand of plastic semiautomatic. My criteria is reliability and shoot ability first, and all the other stuff is after that.

Maybe a DW is what you desire...maybe an older Smith. I’m not sure a new Colt would be as I’ve heard mixed reviews. Good luck
 
Also want to add...

this is the first time I’ve heard of someone buying a gun where they disliked the looks, fit, and finish, that ended up being a great shooter for them and they liked the performance...very curious!

Most of the time (in my experience), folks buy guns they believe look good and meet all visual check marks, and then the gun disappoints them on the range.

All your regrets are stuff that were readily apparent upon visual inspection...I’m curious why you completed the purchase on a gun you don’t like based on appearance (over function)?
 
As the owner of two DW 15-2 revolvers and a DW .22 LR revolver, along with several S&W revolvers in J, K,L and N frame sizes, there is a decided difference between the trigger pulls of the two brands.

I have personally found the DW trigger in DA mode is a bit “stacky” and doesn’t have the start to finish smoothness and consistency of the S&W system. It isn’t bad, just not as smooth. It is similar to the trigger pull on my Ruger SP 101 and Redhawk revolvers, they also stack up near the end of the DA cycle (especially the SP 101.)

To me I find that I am more accurate shooting DA with the S&W guns (and also with my Colt Cobra .38 2”) than with the DW or Ruger revolvers.

Now in SA mode, the DW is outstanding. Both of mine are as crisp as any other revolver I’ve shot, the sight picture is great and the heft of the VH shrouds make recoil easy to handle.

The biggest plus to owning a DW is the fact that you can go from a 2.5” snub revolver to a 10” scoped hunting revolver in about three minutes... provided you spent the not-insignificant amount of money to buy other barrels. This is because many barrel lengths and shroud styles aren’t factory made anymore, so you’ll most likely have to go the used route and compete against other bidders for a diminishing number of them still around (And older stainless pieces, because they weren’t as common, can be really spendy!).

In closing, before you take a loss try to shoot a DW revolver to see if you’re having second thoughts because you’re smitten with the marque rather than the fit/feel/action of the gun itself. You may have serious buyer-seller-buyer remorse if you go ahead and dump the S&W and then find the DW doesn’t light your fuse as much as you thought it would. If you do get a chance to do a side-by-side comparison let us know what you decided. :thumbup:

Good luck and stay safe.
 
Buzznrose said:
Also want to add...

this is the first time I’ve heard of someone buying a gun where they disliked the looks, fit, and finish, that ended up being a great shooter for them and they liked the performance...very curious!

Most of the time (in my experience), folks buy guns they believe look good and meet all visual check marks, and then the gun disappoints them on the range.

All your regrets are stuff that were readily apparent upon visual inspection...I’m curious why you completed the purchase on a gun you don’t like based on appearance (over function)?
Click to expand...

internet purchase shipped to my ffl, decision made by reading forum posts and watching Youtube vids
 
I get what you're saying. I bought into S&W revolvers in the last couple years because of the "logic." Had I followed my "passion," I would have gone Colt -- at the time it would have meant original Python. I was always enamored with the look and feel of the Python ever since I was a kid. Having learned a lot more about revolvers and shooting them, I became convinced the S&W is a better match for me. In the practical sense, it has proven to be so for many reasons. Since you have no aversion to owning multiple revolvers, perhaps the best thing you could do would be to buy all that you're considering. You can always sell the ones you find no desire or use for. I've done a bit of that, not so much among brands, but with other things. I thought j-frames would be practical, but it turned out large revolvers were much more so. I thought blued revolvers were more attractive, but it turned out stainless was better for me. I thought short-barreled revolvers made sense, but determined long barrels made more. What I ended up with isn't what I began thinking I wanted at all. I'm fortunate in that if I ever have a second thought about something I haven't tried, I can try it. I'm getting better at knowing better and I don't often have second thoughts and when I do, they're not very convincing.
 
You guys are right. If I'd bought the DW I could have only hoped that it would shoot as well as this S&W.
I just wish they would have charged me a little more for a better level of fit and finish. All the pics I've seen of pre-lock S&Ws the guns look like my expectation. It just feels that corners were cut with my gun for the sake of selling price and profitability, and I wasn't expecting that so it came as a bit of a shock.
 
mlankton said:
I just picked up a new 686 Plus Deluxe. I'm a Dan Wesson 1911 owner twice over, and I was inclined to go new 715 because of that. But the Youtube videos comparing the DW and the S&W made me think the DW trigger was kind of stage-y, whereas it seemed much smoother with a quicker DA reset on the S&W. That and the tradition S&W has swung me over to a brand I have no previous experience with.

Picked up the new S&W Saturday. Initial impression was that it looked like hot garbage. Just an overall lack of finesse on the finish, and it made me feel like I had picked up a mass produced revolver made by people that didn't much care for people whom maximum profit was a priority.

Took it to the range Sunday, and it functions flawlessly and puts rounds exactly where I point it every pull.

So on the one hand I couldn't be happier with how the gun works in practice, but on the other hand I am not feeling the pride of ownership that I do with my other handguns.

Do I need to learn to forgive this gun's shortcomings the way I do the Eastern European stuff I own? In those cases the firearms are far from flawless in fit and finish, but their performance is so amazing that I never give it a second thought and would never part with any of them.

Or, would I be better served looking to trade this S&W in for a new Dan Wesson 715 or a Colt Python? From what I can tell not having handled either, they appear to be much more nicely finished sidearms than this S&W, and I would be more than willing to take a small trade loss and part with the additional money to step up to either if it ended in me owning a gun that both functioned flawlessly and I was proud of when I handled it.

Everything I read online before purchase told me that the S&W was superior in almost every way to the Ruger, but from memory that Redhawk I handled looked a lot nicer than this S&W. I did notice the cylinder had more play than the S&W, but everything else about the Ruger looked and felt right.

I just want to own a 357 that I am happy to have and not having second thoughts about. I would really appreciate any feedback you guys have so I can either settle down and learn to love this perfectly good shooting S&W or get out of it while the getting's good. I was trying to be conservative for once and talked myself into saving $600 by getting the S&W and not buying the new Dan Wesson, but where I sit right now I wish I had splurged and done it. Appreciate your time, thanks.
Click to expand...
Why not have it sent off for a custom polish job?

I feel ya, though. I cant get behind any newish S&W, no matter how well it shoots. All mine are pre-lock, they are shooters AND lookers.

As far as DW goes...well both of mine are vintage as well, but they are every bit as accurate and attractive as my old Smith and Wessons. I prefer the DW for DA and the SW for SA....but they are both good.
 
I had a new 686 a few years ago. It looked good and shot ok, but never really was impressed with it. Live and learn I guess. I am of the opinion older smiths are better, but that’s an argument I’m not getting into today... the new ones just don’t have much to get excited about, especially stainless and rubber. The blued and wood guns are more exciting but not by a wide margin.
 
I have done this..
Odd Job said:
Get the other gun first.
Then decide which of the two you need to sell. You would kick yourself if you got another gun that was prettier but less precise, and the S&W was gone.
Click to expand...
And I still kick myself 10 years later. “It’s just a raggedy old Taurus, I can easily do better than that one” it’s the first revolver I killed a deer with, most accurate revolver I have ever owned, and I still have not been able to replace it. I wish I could afford the advice here... get both at the same time and get rid of the one you like less... my pockets aren’t that deep.
 
First, welcome to THR.

What about the finish do you not like? We'd love to see pics.
As far as being happy with a good shooter that doesn't look perfect, only you can decide if you're happy with that. Some of us are only concerned about function, others among us demand both function and appearance. Nothing wrong with either, we're all different.

Also, looking at your profile pic, it's great to see another pipe smoker here. Not many of us left. :)
 
Years ago, I bought a S&W 629-4 classic, with a 5” full lug barrel. I loved it. The way it looked, the fit and finish, and it shot like a dream. I foolishly sold it to finance something I thought I need more and because I had other S&W .44s. I have regretted it ever since. I few years I bought one of the new 629 classics, with a 5” full lug barrel. It had the lock, that I hate with a passion, and the finish was cloudy and milky looking. It looked like hammer hell. It shot ok, but it was just not the same revolver. The lock hole put me off and the finish put me off even more. I own many older S&W revolvers, and wouldn’t part with them. I own everything, five screw, four screws, there screws, pinned and recessed and not pinned and recessed, and I own a model 21, with the lock now, that will go in trade, when I find something. To me the new S&Ws are not the same revolvers as the older prelocks. It is just me and my option and views. It is the same as the older generation saying they were done, when S&W quit pinning the barrels and recessing the chambers. What they are putting out now is just not the same. I will buy older prelock, hammer mounted firing pin revolvers anytime over a new one. There are plenty out there, you may have to do some looking and in good condition, they will sell for more, but you will, in my opinion, be getting a better revolver. I am in my mid fifties and I still like to be able to look at what I am hunting with or shooting, and think to myself, i my not be seeing game, or hitting targets but I sure have a beautiful firearm in my hands.
 
mlankton said:
Picked up the new S&W Saturday. Initial impression was that it looked like hot garbage. Just an overall lack of finesse on the finish, and it made me feel like I had picked up a mass produced revolver made by people that didn't much care for people whom maximum profit was a priority.
Click to expand...

S&W is a business, not a charity. They are mass produced, they do want maximum profit, that shouldn't be surprising to anyone. How else would they stay in business?

If you want a custom built revolver be prepared to pay a LOT more than what you did, maybe a Korth?
 
Is it ugly like this one?

index.php
 
I don't use a phone so it's not so easy to provide pics, so I'll try to explain.

With my Dan Wesson 1911, it looks and feels like one man painstakingly sat at a bench with that gun making sure it was right before it went to be test fired and boxed. The slide to frame fit is perfect, tight but not too tight. The frame is bead blasted, the slide is brushed, and the finishing on the slide is uniform and perfect. That on a gun I paid about 1200 for, so you don't have to go to custom shop lengths for near-perfection.

In comparison the brushed finish on my new S&W looks like it was applied with a bench grinder. The finish runs the gamut from milky to brushed to deep swirl marks in spots where they almost burned the metal they hit it so hard. It's just not what I would have expected from an American gun producer. And yes, at $700 and change I probably don't have much room to gripe, but on the other hand my $700 stainless CZ 75 B is flawless, so if CZ can do it why can't S&W?

I know that if I bought a new DW 715 the finish would match my 1911s and give me nothing to complain about, but would it shoot as well as the S&W? This S&W performs _exactly_ as I would hope the revolver I bought would perform. The S&W gets the most important part right, but it still disappoints in the finish. Also, I just went through the process of picking out a revolver, I don't want to be back at square one. For me, the right answer would have been to originally have gone with the DW, opened the box and been dazzled by what a pretty gun it was and then blissfully never known how it wasn't quite as good at the meat and potatoes as the S&W is. Now that I have the S&W and it's such a good shooter it's not so easy to decide to keep looking. As others have noted, it's not an easy thing to part with a gun that gets the most important part right.
 
apparently I can't tell from internet pics and Youtube videos because the finish on the gun I bought seemed fine from everything I'd seen online
 
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