I've had enough of S&W

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My first experience with S&W Service & Repair came this month. I love older S&W revolvers. I have quite a few. Eveyone I purchased used. I purchased a 625 JM used in the Fall. The extractor rod loosened up and jammed the cyclinder about the third time out. I may have bent it opening it? The barrel/cyclinder gap exceeded .012 on one side. And.......I swear the crown looked funny to me. (I didn't notice any of this when I purchased it.) Plus, it shot very inaccuartely compared to my other Smiths.

I asked our Dealer in Woburn to send it back to S&W and I told them the truth.....it may have been me that bent the extractor rod? In 3 weeks (today), I got it back with a new barrel, cyclinder, extractor rod and center pin. Cost $0.

SMITH & WESSON is OK in my book!
 
Personally, the only way to avoid these types of issues is to thoroughly check the firearm out before you make the purchase. I have S&W's, Rugers, and yes, many Taurus revolvers-none of which has ever had an issue. I don't mind the bashing-the more people that hate these guns, then the lower the prices. Just bought a new 638 Bodyguard yesterday and am very pleased with it. Price drop plus $50 rebate means $340 out the door for this gun.
 
I can't justify buying any of the new breed of S&W revolvers. I can get what I want in revolvers by buying old Smiths with better parts in them for the the same price and in most cases for much less.
 
10 degrees? Could you not see this while inspecting the gun before you bought it?
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Apparently no one does this anymore with any brand of gun, or much of anything else anymore. Some of the problems I read people reporting, I'd be ashamed to come here and say I'd had it happen to me.
 
Some of the problems I read people reporting, I'd be ashamed to come here and say I'd had it happen to me
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CajunBass,

While I certainly understand your point, it is a reasonable expectation that a new product of any kind would be 100%.

When it is not the fault is on the producer of the product, not the customer that trusted them to do a good job.
 
Well, no it's not, but by the same token, if I'm going to buy it, I'm going to look it over, and look it over close, before I hand over my money. I'm the final inspector. And that's something I've always done, at least with big ticket items.

If it's not right, take it back and get another one.

If the sights are 10 deg off it's the manufacturers fault for making it that way, but it's YOUR fault for buying it.
 
Is it time to start the boycott again until S+W starts making guns that work right out if the box again?? I wish someone from S+W would read some of these posts on the gun boards.
 
Take a look at the thread I started here: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=559696

I'm not making apologies for S&W. All I'm saying is that people are too quick to say, "S&W sucks, buy a Ruger" or "Ruger and S&W quality control is lousy, might as well buy a Taurus." Most of the alternate brands people suggest (at least in the same price range) have a similar reputation.

Personally, I have only bought one S&W revolver new. It is a 442, with the lock, and I have had no problems with it so far. Each time I buy an older S&W I think "wow, I've got one from the good ol' days" and then look online to find out someone else thinks it's crap.

I have owned firearms from manufacturers with an excellent reputation for quality/reliability that had problems out of the box. You can't be absolutely sure a product made by any company is a quality product until you test it.
 
I'm involved in several hobbies that require gear; photography, firearms, cars and watches. There is not one product I've ever come across in any of those avocations that did not have its detractors, regardless of how good the product actually was. I think it's that way for just about any piece of machinery you can think of.

It's just the nature of the beast, and the proliferation of the internet only exacerbates the issue. Most of the time on forums like this one, you are going to hear about the problems much more than you hear about the good things. S&W firearms are no different. Every manufacturer produces lemons.
 
"Every manufacturer produces lemons."

Yes, and evidently the current company calling itself S&W, owns an orchard! :)
 
Hmmm... very interesting and thought-provoking thread here. I have been sorta considering buying a handgun that might suit my wife. She's not anti-gun, more like she just doesn't care about my main hobby, but now she's mentioned that she might give it a better trial if she had a gun that she liked better. She has shot several of my SA revolvers, and she thinks they are too heavy. Of course, she doesn't understand the fact that the recoil is pleasant because they are heavy. So, I let her try my Model 60 with a 3" barrel. She thinks THAT one is too heavy as well.

So... anyway that leads me to think that one possibility for her would be the Ruger LCR or the S&W 642 or 637. We were in the local gunshop the other day for a few minutes and she held them both and agreed that they both felt pretty comfortable.

We didn't have the time to get serious about it then. But I was pleasantly surprised to see that the S&W 642 was priced loower than the Ruger. I have both S&W and Rugers (all older models) and I like them all just fine. But I have just come to expect that the S&W revolvers will be better fitted and feel more refined than Rugers. And they will cost quite a bit more too.

So, reading this has opened my eyes a bit. Evidently, my great feelings about S&W based on my 30-year old versions are not entirely warranted when it comes to brand new revolvers.

This thread has not convinced me one way or the other entirely. But it has made me a bit more cautious so that I will do my homework more throughly when we get closer to the actual purchase point.
 
Get what you pay for!

So, I guess the "mantra" about "you get what you pay for" must now be re-examined in light of the pricey and famous S&W.;)
 
Im FED UP too!

I'm tired of S&W. Why cant they just STOP making me spend money?

I've got 4 smiths, and they are all a joy to shoot- where do they get off?

To make matters worse, the ONE time I had a minor problem, they fell all over themselves to fix it, and paid shipping BOTH ways. THE NERVE!

:fire:
 
If the sights are 10 deg off it's the manufacturers fault for making it that way, but it's YOUR fault for buying it
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Again, while I do not disagree...we all look at new products with a much less critical eye than used items.

For instance, I get down on my knee and look down the side of a used car, looking for imperfections in fit and paint hue. I look in the trunk and fenders to look at the gaps to try to determine if the car had been wrecked.

A new car I walk around and look at the paint and the gaps. I have NEVER been under a new car...I have been under used cars.

Am I a fool if I don't check out a new car as thoroughly?

Maybe so.

And I know that you are going to respond that "the sight sticking straight up is OBVIOUS" and were you to do so, you would be right.

So in the end...I agree with you, but with less force behind the opinion.
 
Kinda off topic but has anybody heard that CZ is going to start building the Dan Wesson 715 revolver line?
I am curious how that is going to turn out.

Dan Wessons could be some hella accurate guns in their day.
 
I am also done with S&W... they are so expensive I can't even move them out of my store. It is not the cost as much as you would think. If you can't see a difference in quality between a smith and a cheaper revolver, who's gonna buy it? On the other hand I can move BHP's no sweat, and look how much THEY cost
 
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