New hadgun quality control

[Nebraska Kelly]

I have been reading in this forum about problems people are having with there new handguns. I saw several Smith & Wesson handguns mentioned. For what it is worth I have never had a bad Smith revolver. I just picked up another smith a week ago. It is there latest production 629 classic 6.5 inch length with interchangeable front sight. The gun is very nice right out of the box. It has a very nice trigger pull. No creep. Breaks clean. I have shot 200 rounds of my reloads through it so far.

1. 300gr hornaday xtp crimped in rear cannelure  21gr. of 296  win mag primer.  Group at 50 yards is around 2 inches using my T/C 2.5X7 pistol scope. The group was one large ragged hole.

2. 240gr hornaday xtp. 24gr of 296  winchester mag primer. Get 2 inch group at 50 yards. But it was interesting that when I moved the target out to 100 yards I got almost the same group. It was 5 shots in 2.5 inches and one flier (my fault-flinching from recoil) opened group up to 3.5 inches.

3. 240gr laser cast. don't remember what I put in them. I loaded them 3 years ago. But they were fairly stout. Those did about 5 inch groups at 50 yards. Gun did not like them.

All the groups were shot with the T/C 2.5x7 scope set at 4 power for 50 yards and 5 power at 100 yards.

I found the accuracy to be extremely pleasing from this revolver. It also shot CCI BLAZER 240gr hollow points into about 2.5 inch group at 50yds but to a much different point of impact.

All of this adds up to a consistent and accurate revolver in my book. I always buy Smith 629 classics when I want a 44 magnum handgun. I have had the same results from all of them. I have not had any problems with any of them. Money issues had forced me to sell my handgun collection so I am just starting to rebuild it. My first purchase was this 629 classic. The cylinder locks up very tight. I like everything about the gun except the UGLY ZIT lock. I don't see the need for it. Otherwise a damn fine revolver.

I have had good luck with 686 combat masterpiece revolvers too. But I have had a number of other less expensive revolvers that gave me just as good of accuracy in 357. Rossi is one of them.

I will quit rambling now. It just strikes me as very strange that anyone would have a problem with a Smith 629 Classic.

Nebraska Kelly  :-)

[Redhawk1]

Nebraska Kelly, I have quit a few S&W's and I don't have any problems with any of them. Just great guns in my opinion.  

[Mikey]

Nebraska Kelly - count me in with the Redhawk1.  Never had a problem with one of my S&Ws.  Had one Ruger in Super Blackhawk flavor and that one was a shooter too, but I prefer the feel of the Smith and Wesson.  Mikey.

[TScottO]

Some people may consider one thing a problem that others may not. A gun can function with out malfunction and still not have everything correct with the gun. I guess, “problems”, depend on what someone is willing to tolerate. Also, the number of people we see on gun forums is only a small fraction of gun owners out there. As well, most people do not shoot a gun enough for problems to show up. The average gun only sees about 300 rounds in its life time.

These are the Smith’s I’ve had trouble with. This does not include guns from other mfgs.

640- This gun would jam up when dry fired out of the factory box. The gun was sound but I found there internal parts were dry as a bone and was never lubricated from the factory. I have other Smiths that will function rather they are well lubed or not but this one must be well lubricated to function properly.

M60 lady smith. This gun has one cylinder out of time when shot in slow fire. This will never be a problem when shooting but a gun should be in time rather the cylinder is rotated slowly or not.

686 38 Super. This gun would only fire three or four rounds out of a moon clip. Come to find out there was a small portion around frame mounted firing pin that was not fully milled. As a result there were shallow firing pin strikes.

629 classic, This gun shoots great and holds consistent 4” groups at 100 yards when I do my part. The only problem is this gun shoots 15” to the left with iron sights fully adjusted. I put a scope on the gun and haven’t fooled with having the barrel turned.

625 45ACP, Again this gun shoots great but the hammer walks so far to the left that it rubs hard against the frame. Not a real big deal but it causes a lot of friction in the action and makes an ugly radius spot on the hammer. Length wise surface of the double action sear looks to be cut at about a 20 degree angle. This can also be caused buy the pin which the hammer pivots not being perpendicular to the frame but was not the issue in my case.

686 357, The double action sear was so poorly made that the gun had an awful skip in the action during double action fire. Skipping comes from the width wise angle of the double action sear being out of spec.

Most people shoot there DA revolvers in single action mode and would never see these issues. But I feel I’ve had more than my fair share. Poor quality issues I’ve ran across do not apply only to S&W.

These guns function fine but for these guns to cost 500-800 bucks each I think these problems are unacceptable. Other than the lack of milling and a miss aligned barrel these problems are due to poor QC of the parts while assembling the guns. Easy fixes that should be caught before hitting the shelf’s...

Take Care,
Scott

[Redhawk1]

TScottO, your are 100% correct. Some people may have a very small imperfection and complain.  You will find that in every aspect of life. Car, houses and we pay a lot more for them than we do a gun. A new house is NEVER 100% but we live with it. I have never found a car that did not have something that was just not right. When I buy guns, I try not to be anal. I could net pick any gun manufactured and find some kind of flaw, but I have better things to do than complain about such small things. I am sure all gun manufactures don't want QC problems, but there are exceptions when things are mass produced. (Stuff happens) JMHO

[poncaguy]

Ruger P90, P95,P345,Single Six 17HMR, Ruger Mark II 22 Bull Barrel, Ruger Mark III 22 Slab side Bull Barrel SS, Dan Wesson 8" 357, Thompson Contender, 45/410, 223, 357 Max, 45-70, Encore 14" 7mm-08, and Glock 22. All very good and satisfing pistols, and all more accurate than me. :shock: