Heartache

[Standing Wolf]

Anyway is this a common problem with these?

No, not really. The percentage of lemons leaving the factory used to be lower, but it's still not very high. There's really no excuse for any lemons, but it's less expensive to let the customers do the quality control work. Freedom Arms probably doesn't do it that way, but its guns are in a different class.

 

[Jim March]

Look...if the cylinder blows apart, it's probably the load. But if the cylinder is intact yet other bits are busted (as apparently in this case) then likely something else is wrong. Somebody at S&W figured this out.

Now. I gotta say it. This is one reason I like Rugers over Smiths.

I'm not sure but I think this gun went off slightly out of battery, OR a heavy load pushed the cylinder slightly out of alignment before the bullet could make it out the front of the cylinder. Either would let the bullet slam into the back of the barrel off-set and do the damage described.

Rugers have a fairly solid latch right at the crane that holds the cylinder in and aligned with the barrel even under extreme conditions. This class of problem seen by the original poster is less likely in a Ruger, including the DA 44Mag varieties.

 

[abber]

What do you use to clean them?

Hoppe's 9, Kroil, bronze brushes, patches, jags....Just the standard stuff.

I'm curious as to the timeline here. Your initial posts were in September. Is that when they told you they weren't going to replace it? And when did you get the call that your new revolver was on its way?

Got the call last week. Out of the blue. NICE surprise, I tell ya. Not sure exactly what changed their mind, but in the initial voice message, the rep alluded to a metallurgic test result. Not sure why they sent me a letter denying a replacement, only to recant said denial. I was sure that the ammo was all good, but I figured I didn't have any recourse, so I had just accepted the outcome (albeit painfully).