I have grown up to believe that S&W is the premier Revolver Manufacture in the world, however my experience in the past year makes me rethink their quality. They do guarantee their gun forever, but I bet their return repair shop is pretty busy these days.
In the past year, I have purchased 5 S&W guns, and have had to send 4 of them back to S&W for repairs as soon as I shot them the first time. Their customer service is fantastic, they are quick to repair them and they pay for shipping both ways, but, what a pain. Maybe I am just lucky to have 80% of my purchases need repairs.
1. S&W AR15: Bolt locked first time fired, I got the bolt open, fired it again and the bolt locked. Sent back to S&W they replaced the bolt and did some work to the barrel. Works OK now
2. S&W 929: Light primer strikes 2 out of every 8 bullets. Sent back to S&W they replaced the main spring and firing pin. Works OK now
3. S&W 627 2.78" barrel: Gun locked up would not shoot out of the box. Took back to gun shop and they gave me another gun that did work, they sent to S&W for replacement.
4. S&W 66 2.75" barrel: Worked OK out of the box, no problems so far.
5. S&W 642: would not fire at all, the cylinder would turn, but the firing pin would not reach the primer. Sent to S&W have not gotten it back yet.
My confidence in S&W quality is badly shaken. I would hesitate to purchase any more new S&W products, even though they make it right, it sure is a pain to have to deal with manufacturing defects 80% of the time. I was under the impression that they fired each gun before leaving the factory, if that were the case the would have discovered some of these deficiencies.
In the past year, I have purchased 5 S&W guns, and have had to send 4 of them back to S&W for repairs as soon as I shot them the first time. Their customer service is fantastic, they are quick to repair them and they pay for shipping both ways, but, what a pain. Maybe I am just lucky to have 80% of my purchases need repairs.
1. S&W AR15: Bolt locked first time fired, I got the bolt open, fired it again and the bolt locked. Sent back to S&W they replaced the bolt and did some work to the barrel. Works OK now
2. S&W 929: Light primer strikes 2 out of every 8 bullets. Sent back to S&W they replaced the main spring and firing pin. Works OK now
3. S&W 627 2.78" barrel: Gun locked up would not shoot out of the box. Took back to gun shop and they gave me another gun that did work, they sent to S&W for replacement.
4. S&W 66 2.75" barrel: Worked OK out of the box, no problems so far.
5. S&W 642: would not fire at all, the cylinder would turn, but the firing pin would not reach the primer. Sent to S&W have not gotten it back yet.
My confidence in S&W quality is badly shaken. I would hesitate to purchase any more new S&W products, even though they make it right, it sure is a pain to have to deal with manufacturing defects 80% of the time. I was under the impression that they fired each gun before leaving the factory, if that were the case the would have discovered some of these deficiencies.
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