Excellent service from S&W factory!

[PWS]

Just wanted to put out there that I just had an excellent experience with S&W warranty service. Some of the horror stories floating around will scare a guy sometimes.

Nevertheless, they fixed a bad muzzle on my 686 in less than two weeks, no cost to me. Granted, it took a few phone calls, a bit of waiting, and dealing with FedEx twice but overall, S&W gets a gold star for thier service!

[357Ruger]

I recently sent back a 10shot 617 that I bought used, due to poor accuracy. They replaced the cylinder and sent it back in about two weeks. It shoots fine now. S&W paid shipping both ways.

Ruger did the same for a very poor shooting SP-101 (new version) and it didn't shoot much better. I did some fire lapping and it shoots decent now. Not as well as the 617 either in my hands or my Ransom Rest.

[Bonz]

I contacted S&W when I saw a roll pin backing out on my .40 Shield. They shipped me a replacement roll pin, just arrived yesterday. Support at S&W told me that if it does not fix the problem I need to ship my gun back to them and they'll fix it and return it to me. But they did not mention anything about paying for shipping if I need to ship my gun to them for repair. Hopefully the replacement roll pin fixed the problem.

[RobsTV]

... Support at S&W told me that if it does not fix the problem I need to ship my gun back to them and they'll fix it and return it to me. But they did not mention anything about paying for shipping if I need to ship my gun to them for repair..

S&W always pays for shipping both ways when under warranty. Simply use their online claim form and they will email you a prepaid shipping label. After repairing, they will ship the gun back to your home.

In the event that major component like the frame needs replaced, and new serial number issued, they will need to ship repaired gun to FFL of your choice, and you will need to again pay a transfer fee (in most states?). S&W will then reimburse you all FFL transfer fees you had to pay, so that all warranty work will continue to be 100% free with no costs to consumer. Excellent service. Been there. Done that.

[Bonz]

I contacted S&W when I saw a roll pin backing out on my .40 Shield. They shipped me a replacement roll pin, just arrived yesterday. Support at S&W told me that if it does not fix the problem I need to ship my gun back to them and they'll fix it and return it to me. But they did not mention anything about paying for shipping if I need to ship my gun to them for repair. Hopefully the replacement roll pin fixed the problem.

Just an update that the replacement roll pin from S&W fixed the problem on my .40 Shield. I have shot it a dozen or more times and the roll pin is staying in place.

[JohnFM]

I'm currently going through a not so good experience with S&W service.

I just bought a new 460 XVR, got one round off and the cylinder hand broke off at the tip!
To say I came unglued is an understatement!
After close to 60 years of buying guns this was the first time I had ever got one with such a serious defect.
When I came back to earth and started breathing again I had a talk with a rep at S&W, very apologetic about it; the gist of it was, they'd get the return info on the way to me that day, get on it ASAP, it was all on their dime, etc.

A week after I knew the gun had been received by them I made another call to check on status.
Got another friendly and knowledgeable rep who told me the gun had gone into the performance shop and was repaired and finished the next day. Excellent!

Then came the kicker.
The gun is backlogged in their bottleneck of a shipping department and it would probably be another 2 to 3 weeks before they got it shipped back to me.
The guy told me everything, whether it's a warranty repair or an order for a S&W baseball cap slowly crawls through the shipping room till they get to it.

I ain't a real happy camper!

[FN in MT]

It would be interesting to know the rate of Warranty RETURNS , now and what it was 20 , 30 and 40 years back.

All the CAD/CAM stuff is neat, but an Experienced Craftsman giving that gun a check before it leaves his hands...worth all the computers in the world.

I seldom recall any returns way back. NOW it's simply part of owning a new gun. Sad when the Beancounters take over a company.

FN in MT

[ebner glocken]

It would be interesting to know the rate of Warranty RETURNS , now and what it was 20 , 30 and 40 years back.

All the CAD/CAM stuff is neat, but an Experienced Craftsman giving that gun a check before it leaves his hands...worth all the computers in the world.

I seldom recall any returns way back. NOW it's simply part of owning a new gun. Sad when the Beancounters take over a company.

FN in MT
I couldn't agree with you more. Unfortunatly if they was built the same way they was way back I'm guessing the price would be a tad out of reach of the average customer today thus eventually bankrupting the company. The end result of this would be even more guns made out of country where hands on labor is pennys on the greenback here.

Ebner

[JohnFM]

You're both right. I doubt top end companies, like S&W, have many defective fire arms get by their inspections and quality control.
Amongst my circle of friends we have guns in the many hundreds. We buy a lot of used ones, but also a lot of new ones. None has ever had a major failure in a new one like I ran across.
That said, it'll probably be a long long time before I could bring myself to buy another brand new S&W.

What still boggles my mind is how a "new in the box" defective gun could go back for warranty, be repaired and ready for return and then get hung up in what sounds like an antiquated shipping department for maybe a month before being returned to the customer.

[rintinglen]

It would be interesting to know the rate of Warranty RETURNS , now and what it was 20 , 30 and 40 years back.

All the CAD/CAM stuff is neat, but an Experienced Craftsman giving that gun a check before it leaves his hands...worth all the computers in the world.

I seldom recall any returns way back. NOW it's simply part of owning a new gun. Sad when the Beancounters take over a company.

FN in MT

Really? I fear nostalgia is casting a cloud over the real truth. Back in the 70's I worked for a Home Center that had a gun counter and hung out at popular gun shop. When Bangor Punta owned S&W, Quality control was non-existent. I recall a Model 57 with a 44 magnum cylinder, a model 37 that wouldn't cycle with a round in the cylinder, a Model 17 Target hammer spur that broke off while firing and a shipment of Model 28's where 7 out of 9 had defects, ranging from rough actions, rear sights that wouldn't adjust to a missing firing pin. After Dirty Harry hit town, every S&W was in high demand, and they all but threw stuff together. Once Bangor Punta sold off the company things got better, but there was still the occaisional glitch. I sent back a Sigma that wouldn't feed in 92, myself.
Modern guns may lack the hand fitting of Pre-WWII guns, but those days are long gone. For the last 40 years, I'd have to say things have gotten better. Not perfect, things still go wrong once in a while, but now thanks to the internet, one bad gun is made known to scores or even hundreds of people who would never have heard or known about it. And I also get a sense that there is some dog-piling going on. Some people just have to say "me, too'" or they don't feel like they belong in the conversation.