S & W REPAIR SHOP

[gdolby]

Good day gentleman, I have a smith that has a timing problem and I don't have a local gunsmith. Is the factory repair shop good to deal with or would I be better off to go out of town? thank you and good shooting......Bill

[jro45]

Call or E-mail Them see what they say. I had a new barrel put on one of my S&Ws. They do good work but it cost me.

[tmccray45]

I too had a barrel replaced on my pistol.  It came back looking like it just came from the factory.  It wasn't cheap, but the work was first rate and I really like my Model 10.

Be aware - it took 6-7 weeks for them to get the pistol back to me.  They have a little back-up problem.

You pay for what you get.  I was willing to pay a little more and wait a little longer because I was convinced that S&W would return a quality product.  They did not disappoint.

[tpdtom]

Good day gentleman, I have a smith that has a timing problem and I don't have a local gunsmith. Is the factory repair shop good to deal with or would I be better off to go out of town? thank you and good shooting......Bill

Bill,

I think you'll find that S&W will repair almost any defective or problematic pistol free, regardless of when or how you acquired the gun. This would include a timing problem. Major parts that have worn out from shooting like barrels wouldn't be covered...Tom

[JHT]

I had sent to S&W a gun under warranty for some work on the trigger.  The gun was returned in several weeks with a very good bit of improvement to the trigger.  With this being said, I was astonished to say the least to find that someone had removed my custom stocks only to have them replaced  with a "Plain-Jane" set of stocks.  Did this tick me off?  To say the least, it ticked me off!!!  After complaining to the repair shop they took back the "Plain-Jane" stocks and in exchange gave me another set of "Plain-Jane" stocks.  Clearly, a sum-total loss as it regards the stocks.

Before anyone starts to jump up and down and reconsider whether or not they will continue to trust S&W for repairs I have to make it clear that this occurred in 1976 or so.  Until two-years ago, I did not consider sending anything to Smith and Wesson, but I have gotten over it.

Yes, for those of you who are fast thinkers, you would have solved the problem before it existed, wouldn't you have?  You would have removed the good stocks before returning your gun for repairs.  Up until that point-in-time S&W had never burnt me.  Hence, if anything was to be learnt from this, at least for me, it was "live and learn."


Jay

[drdougrx]

We all have to be careful of factory repair shops....their work is usually quite good but generally will return the gun in "stock" condition which means without after market parts.  Remington is notorious for repalcing aftermarket triggers and such.

[sui generis]

We all have to be careful of factory repair shops....their work is usually quite good but generally will return the gun in "stock" condition which means without after market parts.  Remington is notorious for repalcing aftermarket triggers and such.

If you peruse the S&W web-site, they tell you this, right up front.

[dubber123]

My brother recently sent 2 back for repair.  One is a new 500, which was returned no cost, including shipping both ways, in about a week.  We haven't got to try it, but I expect it is fixed now.  The second was a much used/abused 686 and the actual gunsmith that will be working on it called my brother at work to discuss the necessary repairs.  The conversation was quite pleasant (and lengthy), and the price quoted for the repairs was very reasonable.  As yet, the customer service is first rate, something I can attest as to being VERY rare in todays society.

[Wingman26]

I have had some pretty unpleasant experiences trying to get a timing problem worked out with a gunsmith (authorized repair shop) that wasn't too far away, I got the idea that a lot of gunsmiths just don't know how to work on timing problems. 

After several failed attempts to get it fixed I called S&W factory shop, NOT an authorized service center, the MAIN shop back at the factory, they had me send it in and fixed it right!

[dubber123]

My brothers 500 is back and seems to be all better now, the trigger also lost the little bit of creep it had.  Very quick turnaround, and looks like they did good work.  The 686 isn't back yet, but it needed more attention.