S&W Performance Center - Fail

[happyfast79]

End of last year I bought a 629 classic and a 329pd both new and both had to go back to s&w right away, the 629 had machine marks up the front of the frame, but other than that it was good

The 329 had a massively crooked forcing cone (.011 -.005), anodizing missing is spots, punch marks around all the shroud pins and a few other cosmetic issues.

I was very disappointed in these expensive guns being sent out looking like this, sent them back with a note on what I wanted the barrel cylinder gaps set at and they came back perfect... like how they should have been when they left there the first time. But anyway it all worked out.

Edit. It took 4 weeks for the 629 and 5 weeks for the 329 to get them back.

[ScrapMetal]

While those kind of problems should not leave the factory, I imagine that S&W (with record guns sales the last couple of years) may be having problems with new employees, or errors due the speed of production.

The last coupe of S&Ws that I bought were perfect but that was before all the "panic" buying started.

As long as they make good on everything, it might be a pain, but it doesn't get me too excited.

FWIW

-Ron

[Thumbcocker]

Smith and Wesson just announced sales and profits. They are selling guns like daiquiri in hades.

[megasupermagnum]

Smith and Wesson just announced sales and profits. They are selling guns like daiquiri in hades.

Is that good?

[Thumbcocker]

Is that good?

It is a fact. It is also a sign of the times that manufacturers can turn out turds and the majority of consumers are fine with that.

[Hickok]

Bought a new Smith 586 4 inch barrel not long ago. I didn't really notice the front sight when I picked it up,...everything looked good.

Then I got to shooting it, and was grouping to the right. (Most all S&W's I own, shoot to center or slightly to the left for me, until I adjust the rear sight. Just the way I shoot, or hold the revolver. YMMV) So I was a little surprised. I had to adjust the rear sight to the left...to far to the left to suit me, to get a good zero.

I then looked the revolver over from every angled, and saw the barrel was no "clocked" to the frame perfectly...the front sight was canted to the left a couple of degrees. (I should have seen it when I bought it, but I didn't.)

Put the revolver in a vice, using a S&W revolver insert in my barrel wrench, and clocked the barrel properly "dead-center", front sight vertically straight. Only had to back up the barrel minutely, so it is still nice and tight, everything lines up, and the revolver shoots and zeroes perfectly. The "Crush-fit" that S&W uses to tighten barrels to the frame is super tight!

To me, it is simply inexcusable that S&W can sell a revolver with the barrel/frame fitment not clocked perfectly. From what I researched, this has been a big problem for some time with many S&W revolvers.

My older Smiths do not have this problem.

[ubetcha]

Last handgun I bought was a S&W M&P Shield in 40S&W. I bought it used and it came with a bucket of Remington 180gr FMJ. The little that I have shot it, it seemed to be ok. Only thing about it is, I dislike chasing brass. That's why I prefer wheelguns.

[Thumbcocker]

Look on the bright side. Bubba finally got his dream job; working for a real gun company. He can now but his lifetime of gun knowledge to work for the buying public.

[megasupermagnum]

It is a fact. It is also a sign of the times that manufacturers can turn out turds and the majority of consumers are fine with that.

I'm even more confused than before. "selling guns like daiquiri in hades" is not something I've heard before, and the internet has no info. All I can find shows a daiquiri is some kind of cocktail, and unless I'm mistaken, Hades is a Greek god. I can only assume it is hard to sell cocktails to a god. So is Smith and Wesson doing bad?

[Thumbcocker]

Daquqries are an icy cold cocktail. Hades is a forum friendly way of saying h e double hockey sticks, a place generally associated with fire and high temperatures. It is fair to assume that ice cold drinks would be popular there.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[Hrfunk]

Now here's the rest of the story:
Howard

[rintinglen]

I wish that your experience was unique, but unfortunately, "build, sell, then fix" seems to be the business model of the day. I bought a Kimber Micro 9 which was a bust out the gate, light firing pin strikes and FTF's to the tune of about 9 malfunctions per hundred shots. My experience was pretty good, IIRC it only took about two weeks, including shipping time and it is now a functional firearm. However, I have had equally poor experiences with Ruger, and S&W products. In fact, my experience with Smith was such that my S&W 69 was the last, and I do mean final, new S&W Revolver I shall ever buy.

Ruger in particular has outstanding service, but you shouldn't need it so often. 4 out of ten Rugers purchased in the last decade by me had serious defects, my 308 American Rifle had never been chambered properly and would not allow a cartridge to be inserted and fired. Three were sent back and one I repaired myself. Fortunately, there are a lot of old, GOOD guns out there for the discriminating buyer.

I hope your new gun proves to be worth the aggravation.

[Mal Paso]

A 629 I ordered came in to the gunshop with no rifling.

[Bmi48219]

A 629 I ordered came in to the gunshop with no rifling.

I can almost understand post #26 the revolver barrel being slightly canted. Shipping a revolver with an unrifled barrel is inexcusable.

[BMW Rider]

Those "lugs" in 3:18 - 3:33 don't look undamaged to me. Are you sending it back again?

[Hrfunk]

It looks better than it did the last time. I’m going to shoot it before I make any other decisions.

Howard

[Outpost75]

I can almost understand post #26 the revolver barrel being slightly canted. Shipping a revolver with an unrifled barrel is inexcusable.

I witnessed an entire ten-board of unrifled Model 10s at the S&W factory. I asked if I could buy one for a snake gun and Roy Jenks, who was our group host was gobsmacked.

[JoeJames]

Huh, that would indeed be quite a snake gun, notwithstanding the NFA though.

[Idaho45guy]

Watched the video last night, then came here and saw this thread about it. Outstanding job, again! Congratulations on getting merchandise! That's a big step for a YouTuber.

Regarding S&W, my own experience with them mirrors yours.

I bought a Performance Center Shield 9mm a few years ago for my carry gun. It was to replace my S&W M&P40c, which I loved, but was chunky and I decided to see what all the fuss was about regarding the micro 9mms.

I bought it from the local shop brand new and took it to the range to see how accurate it was.

It had a wonderful trigger and seemed nice and tight in the shop. When I loaded the magazine and racked the slide, it felt "off". I fired the first magazine at 7 yards and was in love with the sights and low recoil. All shots went into about an inch and a half.

Then I backed up to 25 yards and bench rested it. I don't think I got all 5 shots on the 12" target. Tried again and again with different brands (I didn't reload for 9mm back then). Best group was 12".

I field-stripped the gun and discovered the issue; the barrel had a weird anomaly. Looked like a little bump on it...

Attachment 298555

And the crown didn't look right...

Attachment 298556

I called S&W and got a clueless female CS rep who argued that it was a self-defense pistol and 12" at 25 yards was acceptable. She totally ignored the fact that the barrel had a major flaw and said it was just cosmetic and couldn't be seen when the gun was assembled so no big deal.

I asked to speak to her supervisor. Got him on the phone and he immediately agreed to have it looked at and sent the shipping label.

They had it for two months. To do a 30-second barrel swap.

Got it back and it wouldn't do better than 8" at 25 yards. The crown of the new barrel was also nicked...

Attachment 298558

I gave up and sold the pistol to a gentleman with lower standards than mine. I don't even look at S&W Performance Center products anymore.

[Green Frog]

The last new S&W revolver I bought was a 6” Model 16-4 in 1989. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it and I sincerely regret selling it to buy an antique Winchester single shot. Since then I’ve bought a few S&Ws, but QC had been performed by previous owners since the factory hasn’t felt it necessary. Besides, now I tend to get them as building projects, so “problems” can be dealt with during the build.

When S&W named it, they left out a word for brevity. It should have been called the S&W Unpredictable Performance Center. Sad but true!