I'm so angry at S&W, are there firearm lemon laws?

SATRP said:
Arguably the most oft repeated myth of revolver aficionados is that their holy grail of handguns, the revolver, is more reliable than a semi. A good quality semi will whip a good quality revolver in reliability testing. A semi is of simplistic design with few moving parts. A double-action revolver is of complex design with many moving parts, all of which have to work perfectly for a revolver to function as intended.
Click to expand...
I think the myth that a revolver is more reliable than a semi-automated is because a dirty semi-auto is more prone to failure than a dirty revolver. Also, revolvers are more forgiving when the ammo is marginal in quality. I have six semi-automatics and I trust myself to disassemble and reassemble them (I don't get into the triggers) but I don't get into my five revolvers other than changing the cylinders and cleaning what I can reach. I'm afraid of messing with revolvers and messing up the timing. I think a typical semi-automatic is simpler than a typical double action revolver.
 
Several years ago, I bought a 686SSR through my LGS. When it came in, there was a slight problem. The cylinder had six chambers, but 7 flutes, one of which was directly over one of the chambers.
I posted photos on every firearms forum I could find and my post was copied to many forums I’d never heard of. S&W was not happy about me sharing their monumental screw-up and agreed to replace the very dangerous cylinder with an unfluted one.
I advise you to post your problem on all the firearms sites and see what Smith’s reaction is.

https://www.irista.com/gallery/twu5uafwbzwn
 
Discussing Revolver vs Semi (anything) is off topic in this thread. If you want to do that, you are welcome to start a thread for it.

The OP got a bad gun, and is trying to get the maker to repair/replace it. Experiences with that make & model gun and with S&W customer service are on topic, lets try and focus on those.

If I'm reading the OP correctly, the gun has been sent back twice, already.
Who paid for that??

Since there was no gripe about the cost, I'll assume it was S&W.

Wait time it wait time, and while its important to each of us individually, to S&W, its just another customer, and expecting to go to the front of the line, just because you don't want to wait is unrealistic. Aggravating, yes but unless you can convince S&W why your gun needs to be fixed before everyone else's, then you have to wait like everyone else.
 
My point is, S&W turns out a boatload of guns every year. Like any large reputable company (Colt firearms, Ford, Chevy, Bear Archery, etc.), given the tremendously high volume of products being manufactured, there will always be an occassional imperfect item that slips by Quality Control, hence their Warranty and repair Departments.
Click to expand...

Very true, guns are made by humans, and humans are fallible. But, didn't the OP write that he has returned this same handgun 3 times? If you can't get something right the first time, that's ok, we all make mistakes, fix it and say you're sorry. If you can't get it right the second time, you need serious training. If you can't get it right the third time, you're in the wrong line of work. Obviously, someone at S&W is in the wrong line of work.
 
The cylinder had six chambers, but 7 flutes, one of which was directly over one of the chambers.
Click to expand...

I toured the Smith and Wesson factory a number of years ago. There was a CNC station dedicated to cutting the flutes into cylinders after the chambers had been bored. There was an example sitting there of a 22 cylinder with the wrong amount of flutes. I don't remember now exactly how many chambers were in that cylinder, but clearly somebody had popped the wrong program into the machine and it started cutting too many flutes onto the cylinders. One flute was directly over one of the chambers. I seem to recall a whole bunch of cylinders were cut this way before somebody caught the error.

I think they left the bad cylinder there to remind the operators to put in the correct program for each cylinder.
 
I've owned a few Smiths... one being a "Performance Center" that I got in a trade. Was not impressed with it at all. Seemed like just some flashy extras for much more cash. Since selling that one, I've stayed clear of S&W. I prefer Rugers, for quality and customer service. No, there's not a perfect company, but at least Ruger takes care of their customers.
 
Yesterday I got a call telling me that I will be getting a replacement. I'm glad Smith is finally doing the right thing. Just hoping that this one is a good one.
 
I do believe

I will fall off my virtual bar stool if you receive anything but excellence from them for your new 460.
Please update the thread and let us know.
 
Apparently S&W has their own "LEMON LAW". I too believe the one they send will meet with your satisfaction. I know it's easy to get frustrated and the internet and social media is a great way to vent it. Sometimes tho, patience still is a virtue.
 
I think S&W is doing the right thing, I certainly don think they did this to me on purpose. My patience did begin to run thin however after 5 months and 3 trips back to the homeland.
 
It is possible the gun you get will not be the same gun you sent in. It could be entirely new, and have the serial # of the gun you sent in. S&W can legally do this, and often does when repeated repair attempts just don't get all the bugs out.

It could also be a complete rebuild of your frame, but if they say "new gun" it will be a new gun. Check and see if its not the same serial # as the one you had, I'm guessing it will be.

let us know how it works out.
 
44 AMP said:
It is possible the gun you get will not be the same gun you sent in. It could be entirely new, and have the serial # of the gun you sent in. S&W can legally do this, and often does when repeated repair attempts just don't get all the bugs out.

It could also be a complete rebuild of your frame, but if they say "new gun" it will be a new gun. Check and see if its not the same serial # as the one you had, I'm guessing it will be.

let us know how it works out.
Click to expand...
Just curious...how is a frame rebuilt?
 
DirtyHarold said:
7c3d99feaed91ccf59c4962cbc846f89.jpg


Pictures of the barrel. It’s like this down all 7.5 inches of rifling.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
I am curious to know what you used to take this picture.
Camera? Phone? How did you light up the barrel interior?
 
Just curious...how is a frame rebuilt?
Click to expand...

Generally its not. The original maker can replace the frame with a new unnumbered one, and mark it with the serial # of the customer's gun, and legally its still the customer's gun.

So, if the maker replaces the frame with another one, but marks the new one with the original's serial number (and destroys the defective original) it is still considered a repair of the customer's gun.

If they give you a new gun with its own serial#, that is not a repair of the customer's gun, it is a replacement of the customer's gun and slightly different legal rules apply.
 
I’m 99.9999999% sure it will be a different serial number. If it is the same they wouldn’t be sending it to an FLL. The last time I sent it in they replaced EVERYTHING but the frame, including the barrel they just replaced which was okay but the new barrel they put on is why I had the next issue.

sarge912 said:
I am curious to know what you used to take this picture.

Camera? Phone? How did you light up the barrel interior?
Click to expand...


Just an iPhone 6S camera and a plain flashlight down the muzzle :) I zoomed and cropped the photo once take.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I baought a new Bulldog. Blew it up in a day with some one elses reloads. Called charter, they replaced it free. They had to send the new gun with a different serial number to my FFL so It would be recorded properly.
David

Sent from my SM-T900 using Tapatalk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top