My 625, new 9/02 and shot a bunch, has jammed several times due to unseatted or burst primers, skipped timing due to my low power aftermarket trigger spring taking on a short set too quickly (OEM springs work great!) during steel plate competition, had the cylinder & yoke land in my hand, during competition of course, twice because the sideplate screw backed out (... needed Loctite!), and - finally - became stiff on one cylinder bore after a few rounds - the b/c gap had deteriorated to .0015" maximum (S&W limits: .004-.010"). It is back in Teddy-land now for that - a first for me with S&W! Keep in mid, this revolver saw a lot of use in it's short life thus far... probably 8k-10k+ rounds - many while under a timer.
My other S&W's have all been perfect. My Rugers were also - except for the recently acquired new 5.5" SS .45 Colt Redhawk - it went back to NH a few days after I bought it new, although they returned it in unreal condition - great work, Ruger! I can thus far state that none of my revolvers have 'failed' due to a part breakage.
oops... my new SRH .454 - years ago - my first-ever DA revolver - had a defective rear sight windage screw - no detents. It made each shot 'adjust itself', aim-wise. Yeah, they mailed me a screw... but the 2x28mm scope really 'fixed' that problem.
Sorry my experience with revolvers has been so good!
Stainz
PS I, and a friend who bought one a year after I did, had the large primer seatting pin break in my Dillon 550B at ~50 rounds. I had a spare (Maintenance Kit) and they replaced the broken part. Great product/company.