Bangor Punta Quality?

R

Randy63

New member
Hello all,

I've been handling some late 70's era
Bangor Punta guns at the local shops and shows and I've noticed some poor build quality on more than a few of them. Sloppy lock up, timing issues, and poor polish jobs before blueing.
Most S&W enthusiasts, including myself prefer pinned barrels and recessed chambers because it's an indication of craftsmanship from a time gone by.

From what I've seen some of the early and mid 80's guns have much better fit and finish than the last BP guns. I own two S&W's from the early 80's that have much better fit and finish than SOME of the late 70's guns that I've owned.

Has anyone else noticed these differences in QC?

Randy
 
I sold and handled a lot of early 70s BP guns and for the most part fit, function and finish was excellant tho not as nice as most of the family produced ones. Pricing was good too so the buyer got a lot of bang for the buck.

I have seen far more of the late 80s, to present, guns with functional problems.

Strange that we don't see much about the Lear Siegler guns, between BP and Tompkins. I think the quality went up a bit under LS before nose diving under Tompkins.

Value for price seems to be way down now.

Sam
 
BP guns had some serious QC issues early on.

BP wasn't a gun company, and the people they brought in to run the overall show weren't gun people. They didn't understand, or respect, the traditions that S&W had developed, and the guns and the company's reputation suffered as a result.

Very similar to what happened to Harley Davidson when, who was it, AMC? took them over some years back. That ownership period was horrific for HD, and almost resulted in the death of the company.

It wasn't as serious for S&W, but it was certainly noticable.
 
Only problem I ever had with a BP produced handgun
was with a S&W model 19 that I bought NIB. The darn
cylinder would not rotate, when thumb cocking this
revolver. About 1/2 way through the SA pull it galled
every time!:eek: :( Ending up getting shed of it, rather
quickly.

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member
 
Dan, sounds like it had either a bent, or mis-fit hand.
Definitely should've been caught in QC, but also would've been fixed in warranty. Alot of times when a gun goes back for action-warranty work it returns with a superb trigger pull.
(Kinda like they all came with in the earlier years.)

I have a couple BP-era guns, and neither are dogs, but they aren't jewels either.
Needed a little trigger work and a cylinder shim or two, but the work very well.

If everything else is equal, price, condition, specs, I would buy an 1899-1957 or 1957-1969 over something from 1970-2002.

-Kframe
 
I bought a BP S&W 63 about 6 months ago. I always wanted a "kit gun" or a K-22 so I got this 63 for my birthday. It was new in the box with all the trimmings and it only costed $325.00 out the door.

I wanted to like it but the trigger pull was about the worst i have ever felt and the finish looked like someone polished it with an S.O.S. pad (I didn't really notice in the shop for some reason). It had VERY tight chambers and the rear sight was hard to adjust. It had so many little problems that I started to fall out of love with the whole idea of a .22 lr revolver. I think I'll stick to Ruger MKII's autos for a while.

Anyway, I sold it last week and don't feel bad about it. Also sold a S&W 59 last week and don't miss it one bit. I think S&W has had more than it's share of QC problems. I bought the 59 online so I would caution against buying S&W products online unless you know what you are doing (I don't).

What is considered the peak of S&W quality? I've heard the 1950s, it that about right?
 
Thanks Kframe for the information. I traded it off to a
gunsmith friend of mine who immediately fixed the
problem. You are correct!:D It was a bent hand.:(
Forgot now what I got in the trade; but I have never
looked back.:cool: :)

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member
 
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