S&W Performance Center Hits a New Low
- Thread starter Brad
- Start date
It's not just there poor QA. I sent them an email about the prospect of a .22 Magnum 317 airlite. The person that responded returned my email with a very informal-"Hi", we may offer an airlite in .22 at some time. That was it literally, no further info, no thanks for inquiring. Total BS!!! Who is running that dump- unbelievable. It's like Mcdonald's service at your local gun manufacturer. I gotta stop.
Don Mallard
New member
Brad and others,
I just cannot tell you members how impressed I am about your rich-strong-correct knowledge . This is my first entry to the civilian shooting community. My State DPS has a direct tie with Smith and Wesson since 1937-8.
I have been in the mix since 1969.
What that means is that I share much of the same thoughts and observations you guys have.
I will not flame a member here on purpose.
It breaks my heart to 'see' some of the 'new' Smith and Wesson guns hit the market as.............near junk!
I cannot, at this point, know how you guys deal with it but I am happy that I have the high quality Smith and Wesson products which they once produced.
Looks like we really better obtain all the 'good-old' ones and have pity on those who have the sub-par guns which Smith and Wesson is marketing.
I hope that is the general concept here.
Don Mallard
I just cannot tell you members how impressed I am about your rich-strong-correct knowledge . This is my first entry to the civilian shooting community. My State DPS has a direct tie with Smith and Wesson since 1937-8.
I have been in the mix since 1969.
What that means is that I share much of the same thoughts and observations you guys have.
I will not flame a member here on purpose.
It breaks my heart to 'see' some of the 'new' Smith and Wesson guns hit the market as.............near junk!
I cannot, at this point, know how you guys deal with it but I am happy that I have the high quality Smith and Wesson products which they once produced.
Looks like we really better obtain all the 'good-old' ones and have pity on those who have the sub-par guns which Smith and Wesson is marketing.
I hope that is the general concept here.
Don Mallard
The problem with those PC guns could have a simple fix. The Hammer Block these days is crudely stamped and not hand finished. You can pop off the sideplate and file and buff the hammer block until it feels like a little bar of soap, then reinstall it.
I find that the worst actions come on a PC gun lately. Run of the mill guns seem better to me. The PC guns do have a better bore and polished chambers.
Actually, you can just leave out the hammer block. It is redundant anyway, the trigger blocks the hammer when it is at rest.
My brand new 625 Mountain Gun would not fire double action. I was at the range so I just popped the sideplate off and pulled the hammer block out and then the gun worked perfectly. I still have not gotten around to reinstalling it.
Call me crazy or a traitor, but I can't stop buying Smiths. You think that they are bad now, just wait untill the foolproof integral safety locks show up.
I find that the worst actions come on a PC gun lately. Run of the mill guns seem better to me. The PC guns do have a better bore and polished chambers.
Actually, you can just leave out the hammer block. It is redundant anyway, the trigger blocks the hammer when it is at rest.
My brand new 625 Mountain Gun would not fire double action. I was at the range so I just popped the sideplate off and pulled the hammer block out and then the gun worked perfectly. I still have not gotten around to reinstalling it.
Call me crazy or a traitor, but I can't stop buying Smiths. You think that they are bad now, just wait untill the foolproof integral safety locks show up.
Brad:
You can scrap Dan Wesson (DW) too. They will not provide any complimentary or free of charge service on the older DW guns.
The new company only bought the tooling and intellectual property rights to their machining and production processes.
Their own people stated the older DW's had some QC problems due to out of tolerance tooling.
While the new DWs maybe quality now, I don't do business with companies that don't fully stand behind all of their products. There are too many good gun manufacturers out there. SW included.
You can scrap Dan Wesson (DW) too. They will not provide any complimentary or free of charge service on the older DW guns.
The new company only bought the tooling and intellectual property rights to their machining and production processes.
Their own people stated the older DW's had some QC problems due to out of tolerance tooling.
While the new DWs maybe quality now, I don't do business with companies that don't fully stand behind all of their products. There are too many good gun manufacturers out there. SW included.
Kenneth L. Walters
New member
I have probably eight of the Performance Center guns. All are very well made and well worth the money. Couldn't be happier with them.
Robert the41MagFan
New member
Personally own more than a dozen Performance Center guns. And work for the largest stocking dealer in the Northwest and have sold Performance Center guns in the hundreds. Never seen a bad one!
But then again, I must be extremely lucky.
Robert
But then again, I must be extremely lucky.
Robert
Quote by jimmy
Smith and Wesson began it's nosedive into oblivion when it was aquired by a company from one of the most anti gun countries in the world. The agreement with the most anti gun administration in American history was just a logical extension of the British philosophy on gun ownership and freedom, and has brought an end to a once fine company. The current quality control woes are the final nail in the coffin, I'm afraid.
Smith and Wesson began it's nosedive into oblivion when it was aquired by a company from one of the most anti gun countries in the world. The agreement with the most anti gun administration in American history was just a logical extension of the British philosophy on gun ownership and freedom, and has brought an end to a once fine company. The current quality control woes are the final nail in the coffin, I'm afraid.
Kenneth L. Walters
New member
Maybe so but I'm awfully tired of hearing this crap. There is a place for it but it shouldn't be here!
Moderator? You out there somewhere?
Moderator? You out there somewhere?
Mike Irwin
Staff
What's that high-pitched whining sound?
Oh.
Oh.
Robert the41MagFan
New member
Here Mike. Take a good look at these.
They are the finest revolvers on earth!
http://www.smith-wesson.com/sport/pc_firearms.html
Squeal in private.......
Robert
They are the finest revolvers on earth!
http://www.smith-wesson.com/sport/pc_firearms.html
Squeal in private.......
Robert
sox, I had a similar experience with S&W's email support. Their customer service seems to be on par with the quality of their new guns that people are reporting. The response I got didn't even have a 'hi' in it, was inaccurate and didn't answer the question. The response to my reply was little more than a regurgitation of my reply to them.
It's a shame that a company with such a rich history of making fine firearms and advancing the sport has come to such a state. It's fortunate they made so many revolvers over the years, there are plenty of high quality used ones on the market to pick from without buying new.
It's a shame that a company with such a rich history of making fine firearms and advancing the sport has come to such a state. It's fortunate they made so many revolvers over the years, there are plenty of high quality used ones on the market to pick from without buying new.
.......I'd be willing to say that my PC-13 and/or my 625-4 are, if not the best guns I own, close enough to make argument on it pointless. My 629-1 and 586 are both stellar wheelguns, too.
My posts on this thread have nothing to do with "politics" or "bashing"; they are statements that the quality of a manufacturer whose guns I revere has been steadily slipping for some time now.
In this house are revolvers with production dates ranging from the late 50's to 1999. You can lay them out in chronological order and it looks like a display of devolution.
There is a used 5" .45 ACP 625 for sale, with the factory box, right up the street from my house for $399 (Charlie's Super Pawn, for you Knoxvillians). I wouldn't touch it, except to resell it, and by the time I paid tax and background check on it it would be pointless. I certainly wouldn't keep it.
The differences between that 625-(7? 8? whatever number they're up to now) and the 625-4 sitting next to me as I type this are staggering. The trigger on the new gun is atrocious, it's gritty, it stacks, the new lockwork just feels cheap. I can't see that the new, built-in safety will do anything to help that.
For some time now, I'd have told someone that buying a gun with the Performance Center logo on it was as close to a 100% guarantee that the gun will not be a lemon, will be fine right from the box, that there was. I can't, in all honesty, tell folks that any more.
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Further ruminations on a theme...
A lot of *&* collectors and aficionados have a "line" they will not cross when it comes to adding newer ones to their collection. For some, it's when they went from names to numbers for model designations; for others, if the barrel's not pinned and the chambers aren't recessed, it's a no go; still others draw the line at the point where *&* went from roll stamping to laser etching for barrel markings. My roommate, who owns ten or eleven *&* wheelguns, has said he won't let a centerfire *&* wheelgun with a frame-mounted firing pin "defile" his collection.
In all fairness, and to avoid sounding like a certain other "only trust the classics" member, a lot of these changes don't affect the function of the gun one whit. I've felt new *&*s with actions cleaned up by gunsmiths that feel just fine. But all these things were done to cheapen manufacturing, and sometimes it's nice to own a gun that doesn't make so many concessions in that department. Part of what makes old wheelguns neat is that each and every one required some hand-fitting to make it out the door. Each one is, to a tiny degree, a bespoke handgun. And in a world of mass-production, it's a nice hearkening back to an earlier age. I own *&* wheelguns for completely different reasons than I own, say, Glocks, and expect different things from both.
Once again, all this has absolutely nothing to do with "politics".
A lot of *&* collectors and aficionados have a "line" they will not cross when it comes to adding newer ones to their collection. For some, it's when they went from names to numbers for model designations; for others, if the barrel's not pinned and the chambers aren't recessed, it's a no go; still others draw the line at the point where *&* went from roll stamping to laser etching for barrel markings. My roommate, who owns ten or eleven *&* wheelguns, has said he won't let a centerfire *&* wheelgun with a frame-mounted firing pin "defile" his collection.
In all fairness, and to avoid sounding like a certain other "only trust the classics" member, a lot of these changes don't affect the function of the gun one whit. I've felt new *&*s with actions cleaned up by gunsmiths that feel just fine. But all these things were done to cheapen manufacturing, and sometimes it's nice to own a gun that doesn't make so many concessions in that department. Part of what makes old wheelguns neat is that each and every one required some hand-fitting to make it out the door. Each one is, to a tiny degree, a bespoke handgun. And in a world of mass-production, it's a nice hearkening back to an earlier age. I own *&* wheelguns for completely different reasons than I own, say, Glocks, and expect different things from both.
Once again, all this has absolutely nothing to do with "politics".