New S&W 642, Questions

A

Avizpls

New member
Hey all,

I got some help in a nother thread about which small revolver to get. I ended up with the SW642 over one of the Taurus CIA's primarily for future hand-me-down value.

Skip to the bottom if you dont want the story.

Anyways get this....


I bought the gun. I get into the car,m and begin fondling it. I never had speedloaders before, so i was playing with them. while handling it, I saw a huge gouge on the underside of the frame-in the trigger gaurd area right in front of where the trigger goes into the frame. I didnt see this in the store. I immediatly went back in, and the people up front were sympathetic, and vowed to get it fixed. Then the firearms guys came back and right off the bat "I cant give you your money back." He offered me $25 gift card. Errrr Wrong!

So we start talking about what we can do, and I said how about a cash refund of what it will cost for me to have S&W refinish it. He says he'll call monday and try to getthem to do it for them for free. So $399.xx later, I have 2 speedloaders, a box of gold dots, and a box of semi-wads. I know if im lucky, Ill have my gun in 3 weeks.

Just cuz i feel like complaining: Then I go to the mall to pick up the ring I bought for someone special. They mounted the diamond croked AND off center. Gonna have to wait for that too now.


Anyways: my questions are this:

What is S&W's turn around time like?

Where can I get a good holster for this? I want something OWB, but with as extreme of a cant and as low of a profile as possible.

What grain .38 spec +P do you recomend?
 
By your story I guess you mean the gouge was a finish imperfection and not any metal was removed. If it was just the finish then you came out way ahead as S&W would have refinished it for you for no out of pocket money (they would even pay for shipping). The M642 has had finish issues every since it was re-introduced.
Minor issues like that usually see turn around time of 1 to 2 weeks, but there are seasonal times that can add to that (consider it's near Christmas and there may be guns in the shop being refinished to be presents).
Holster selection is far and wide. I suggest you do a Google search on holster makers. Most owners view the lightweight J-frames as pocket revolvers rather than belt guns.
There are quite a few loads for the .38 spl, but the old 158gr LSWCHP whether +P or not has always been a good performer.
 
Hm. I think there was some metal gouged out.

The shop I went to has a wall of guns. they hang on metal hooks-one thru the trigger guard and one infront of the grip. I think that one of these hooks lost its rubber coating and thats where the gouge came from.

The president of the national company was there, it was a big grand opening, there were few customers cuz it was so early, and everyone was looking at me. I think thatmight have played a role in the conversation going beyond "We cant give you your money back." I asked for a 100% value trade-in on the 642 w/ lasers, but we didnt pursue that too much, because I honestly didnt want that version. (i would take it over a gouged non-laser though)


I'm upset abot the time this is gonna take, an that I allready spent $350 on a gun i dont have. But I guess it will be ok in the end.

Will a refinish be better than the origional finish?
 
I bought a S&W 642 NIB last December. Upon cleaning it for the first time I noticed several gouge like irregular groves going across the riflings. I took it back to the dealer who informed me that although it looked bad, S&W would do nothing unless the flaw had a negative impact on accuracy. I was a bit "put off" that a company like S&W would have such lousy quality control. I've since looked down the barrels of a number of other 642' and have not seen anything like this. The cylinder of my 642 also rubbed against the frame when being loaded. The head of the case would touch the frame requiring extra force to turn the cylinder to load the other rounds. Firing pin hits were also very off center. The gun did function 100% though. Nevertheless I traded it off, but might try another some time.
 
If actualy metal is missing then no refinishing job will correct that. A new frame is needed. Pictures would help so we can see exactly what has happened. No brand new firearm should have any damage and the shop should do an exchange for you unless they can prove it was not in that condition when it left their shop.
The M642 is made of 2 different metals. The frame is an aluminum alloy and the barrel and cylinder is stainless steel. Those 2 metals don't exactly match in color. A clear coat is spray over the entire revolver to give it an even color. That clear coat has been known to come off with wear and the use of various cleaning solvents. There has been many discussions on this issue and you should do a search here to see what folks had to say. The factory refinish is to just respray the clearcoat which hasn't always solved the problem for some people.
 
And the original poster's report also demonstrates that any manufacturer can have quality control or defects issues. It is always annoying when a purchase turns out to have a problem right out of the box, but S&W, in common with all the major firearms manufacturers these days, will make it right by you.
 
642 w/ lasers, but we didnt pursue that too much, because I honestly didnt want that version
Click to expand...

Wouldn't you be able to swap the grips? Or is there some different markings on it or something?
 
the dealer who informed me that although it looked bad, S&W would do nothing unless the flaw had a negative impact on accuracy
Click to expand...

Did you verify that with S&W?!? I think your dealer was wrong.

Joe
 
Seattle,

Trading in on a 642 w/lasers was considered as a partial resolution. Just switching the grips would have left me with a damaged gun still. THATS what is most important to me, not the grips. I want a perfect gun. All of my otherones are visually flawless.
 
No, I'm saying get a flawless one with the laser grip, take the laser grip off, and get the grip from the flawed one. Nothing's different besides the grips, right?
 
S & W Customer Service

I bought a 340 PD, had it in a Michael's pocket holsterand just above sideplate screw on top right edge, the finish came off. Just a small part, but to happen on such an expensive gun, I was surprised. I called Customer Service and they sent me a prepaid laber, they paid the shipping and I got it back one week after they received it. I could not expect better service than they gave me. They refinished the entire gun, re lasered the markings and test fired it. If you need the name of the man who took care of me, let me know. But as a suggestion, BEFORE you start paperwork on a new gun, or anything you are going to buy, examine what you are about to buy first.
Coach
 
I have been very impressed with the speed and quality of S&W's service of late.

They had underwhelmed me in the past, but are pretty much the industry standard these days. Must be a new CS manager...
 
I DID examine it. I am anal like that. I looked at it, handed it to him (stil not sure that i was gonna take it) then he hung it back up on the hooks. Then I decided to gett it, we filled out the paper work, and we filled out everything except "I verify i have recieved this firearms and a copy of PA's firearms act laws" which I left unsigned.

After he boruhg the box over with the gun in it, I signed it. THAT was my mistake. I had let someone else be handling it before I accepted it.

There is no way I could have overlooked it, it had to have happened when he hung it up for that last time.




Is there any reason why, if S&W wont/cant take care of it, they cant give me a 100% trade in value? Its still unfired.
 
I am pretty sure that S & W will take care of it. I kinda had the same thing happen to myself last December when I bought one of their pistols. One of the local gun stores always have a sale in December where every firearm in stock is the price with tax and background all included. I decided to purchase a model 629 that they had seen at a very good price. The particular pistol had a price of $517 on it. That means that the price would be $483 plus tax (tax in Mississippi is 7%). A quick review of couple of my dealer catalog references put the dealer cost at approx. $530 to $540 or so. At first, I thought that it must be used, but the tag indicated it was new. I asked the dealer why the particular one that I was looking at was so cheap while they had some other identical models for $100 or so more. He said that the pistol was definately new and that they had bought a couple of hundred various models directly from Smith & Wesson (I guess he means his wholesaler because I don't think you can buy directly) and that they had gotten a special deal of $100 or so off of the regualr prices for them. Well anyway, the particular model that I was looking at had a couple of very minor "rub" marks in the finish that I thought I could live with since I was getting a good deal. After I had gotten home, I started having second thought because I am kinda anal about these things and decided to call Smith & Wesson about my concerns. They promptly said that they would take care of it and sent me a free Fed-Ex return label to send it back to them. After about a two week turn-around, the pistol looked 110% perfect (no imperfections at all).
 
I've had zero problems with S&W's customer service. They will not hesitate to give you a completely new frame if the gouging is as bad as you describe.
 
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