Great video showing the problems. I can’t tell you how many issues I’ve had with the newer Smith & Wesson handguns same thing sending them in and then sending them back again. I’ve been buying Smith & Wesson handguns for over 40 years and I finally learned my lesson. I will never buy another new Smith & Wesson handgun, now there’s people that say the older ones had to say issues but there was no Internet so you never heard widespread problems with them that’s bull crap. Prior to 1996 all the Smith & Wesson handguns I’ve bought had no problems I’ve had a few Ruger handguns I had to send back also and I had them back within seven days door-to-door the ones I’ve sent back to Smith and Wesson. It was six weeks and then they had to go back again, once they started doing peace work, they just throw them together and push them out the door. The days of gunsmiths are gone. I understand that but at least take the time to test fire the gun and make sure it works properly. Sorry for the long rant, but this is a touchy subject with me bottom line if you have an older one, keep it treasure it because as they say they don’t make them like that anymore.
I've just taken my brand new 686 to the range today. After a hundred rounds, the ejector rod loosened up, causing the cylinder to stick. Then the cylinder release thumb piece loosened up, and seemed loose to begin with. I don't want to send it back to S&W because I'm not confident that they will actually do anything other than clean and lube the gun. I have a 66 from the '70s that I have put thousands of rounds through without a single issue, and before the new 686, had thought that S&W was still the great American manufacturer it used to be fifty and a hundred years ago. So now when I go to the range, I will probably need a tool kit just to adjust all these wonky parts after a few rounds.
Knowing you for years now, I know how well you take care of your guns. Your experience w SW is why I won’t buy a new made smith. You wanted them to work. Good info !
I’ve returned my SW 586 twice times. I’ve yet to try it again. First time it was shaving jackets and it was difficult to eject he empties. The empties had a slight swelling in them. They realigned the barrel and reamed the forcing cone. Even after doing that the shells had to be poked out again. I’ve yet to try it. If it happens again that’ll be it. I own a 442 that runs fine and three M19s no problem. The days of knowledgeable fitters is over.
Im loosing faith in s&w revolvers. Iv had issues with models 617, k22, 686,637. After trading off at a loss after "repairs". I cant afford to make bad decisions anymore.....
Those are a great model, it’s too bad QC passed it, looks like the crane wasn’t installed correctly, the frame damaged. I wouldn’t buy it like that. I hope they fix it for you. My Ruger LCR is plastic, aluminum and stainless and works like a Swiss watch. It’s really sad what Smith & Wesson has done to their reputation and customers. Good luck.
I have the same problem and the rubber grips fell off my 638 and my model 642 and M&P shield had a dead trigger new out box and now I have AR-15 that the dust cover will not close. Wont buy another S&W.
My Shield Plus bnib the trigger safety was getting caught on the frame when trying to squeeze the trigger..trigger would literally get stuck and not allow me to squeeze the trigger
I got two 43c from s&w... first one had a few visual issues (they forgot to laser the s&w trademark logo, and cylinder release is supposed to be black, and mine is stainless steel very silver release.) But function wise its perfect. I have shot 2,000 rounds in past year and it runs like a top. My 2nd copy also bought new and inspected closely on showroom floor, but when I took it to the range I found out its got 2 cylinders that misalign causing lead to spit back at my face and hand out left side even when cleaned and oiled. Brought it back to LGS, who sent it back to smith & wesson. I'm told it takes 4-8 weeks for smith & wesson customer service. I'm 5 weeks into the wait, and no word yet.. a little disappointing at the cost $700+ j frame, i'd hoped it'd be old reliable s&w quality, but there is obviously quality control check issues, or its occasionally skipped entirely. I THINK I agree with some of the comments i've seen in other videos, saying, s&w and some other manufacturers skimp or skip on QC because they know / think many gun purchasers don't actually ever take their guns to range to shoot. Many just stick them in a drawer, closet, purse etc and assume its loaded and working. I think thats a bs excuse but I see many think that so maybe the manufactuters really do think that, or trying to keep costs down and mass production going, lemons pop up more often then we'd like to see. At least smith & wesson is making good on their lifetime customer service and freely fixing mine and anyone who legally buys one. While annoying to be without it for a few months, thankfully its not my only gun (or even copy of this revolver).. i've read others had same issue i did so its not a 1 off lemon. One guy had to send it back in 2 times to be fixed proper, all the rest i've seen were on and done. Hope mine is 1 time and good for rest of my days, but! Even if my lemon takes 2 trips back to fix, I know it'll be worth it! My working 43c is amazing, and shot side by side with ruger LCR 22lr, I feel the 43c is better in every way, so the 43c is the only one I want for my wife and I
I just bought a 329, I hope i don't get a lemon, I live in California so I'm on the ten day waiting period, I'll let yall know how it functions, thanks for the videos they are very informative. 🇺🇲💪🇺🇲💪🇺🇲
I picked up a 686 deluxe. It’s going back to smith again. Since buying it I’ve had it my possession for a total of 6 days. It’s spent more time at smith and in the mail. Very disappointing
I have two that has the exact same issue. A model 317 .22LR and a model 640-1 Pro Series .357mag Please let us know what they do for you to fix it. Thanks
How about this... I purchased a BRAND NEW 43C 22LR 8 shot snub nose revolver, and when I took it out for the first time, it would only fire 5 out of 8 charge holes. I tried 9 different types and brands of ammo and still the same. Test fire these EXPENSIVE revolvers BEFORE you box them up for retail sale!
@@SlimCowboy Thank you for caring, but the timing is perfect. Light primer strikes on some , but hard to tell between the others that do fire. Already ordered and tried two other factory firing pins. Early and late versions. The hollow pin and the solid pin. Measured over all length of all three pins and they are all exactly the same length. To get picky, the variation in length is 2/10ths of one thousandths (5 microns), so there is no real variation over three firing pins in length. Ruger LCR 22LR has 4,000 plus rounds with zero issues. S&W and ruger were the industry standards that other were compared too. It's not like that now. S&W has dropped the ball on revolver QC
I had the same issue with a brand-new Kimber K6S.Sent it to Kimber and they did the following things. Replaced cylinder release, Refinished breech face, then test fired with Buffalo bore 357-158 grain SJHP.Works fine but note says Scratches can be repeated with further use.
I'm interested to hear how they handle it. I bought a 629 brand new and it had missing parts for the lock up. Instead of Smith wanting to repair it they just sent me the wrong parts to repair it. I swapped the whole gun out for a new 629 and it had excessive rust between the crane and frame. True story. I made a video about it. Though I'm no longer impressed with smith, I still bought another model 29, 2 months back. But that one was used.
Hmm, I don’t know... I bought a 638 about a year and a half ago. It seems to look and work much like the one in the video. The cylinder has always been sticky swinging in and out of the frame. It might not necessarily be abnormal. Your gun looks like it has a lot more wear where the extractor pin rubs that channel into the frame, but it’s ten years old. I’m not sure how much wear is too much for that amount of use. I just try to keep that area well-oiled on my gun. Yeah, it could be a potential issue in the future, but if it’s not causing a major problem at the moment, then I don’t worry about it too much. It’ll be interesting to see what S&W has to say. If they don’t repair or replace anything, I personally would probably not be too upset. There’s definitely a reason for concern in the longer term, but if it’s still functioning properly, I’d just keep using it.
