I bought an expensive S&W 640 pro, destined to be my carry pistol. It is a J-frame, NO LOCK, 5-shot, .357 Magnum rated, DA only revolver in full stainless steel, but what sets it apart are the actual dovetail sights with Tritium dots, and that the cylinder has been relieved so it can use moon-clips.
Except when I went to use the moon clips, the extractor sat so high I couldn't close the cylinder! Yikes! I assumed the cylinder had not been relieved enough. I emailed S&W to ask for a return tag, and included this picture.
Also the front sight was pushed as far as it could go to the right. Any more and it would have fallen out. And yet the gun shot to the left. Strange.
The return tag arrived in an email two days later, and I wrote a letter mentioning both problems, included the picture above and packed everything up and called FedEx for a pick-up, which they did about two hours later! *L*
Three days later I got a form letter saying S&W had received the gun and that it normally takes 2 to 3 weeks for a repair, longer if they are busy or the repair is complicated. Sigh... oh well, I thought.
Two days later (after a 12 hour day at work) I found a FedEx tag stuck to my front door! What? It must be the gun!! I got right back in my car and drove up to the FedEx office. Actually I was worried that maybe nothing had been done or something, since it had come back so quickly!
But when I opened the box I found the letter below:
Wow, sounds good. Sad that S&W can't build a revolver anymore without cocking the barrel, and let this gun get out with the wrong extractor installed, but they fixed it for free and the gun was only gone a week!
Click For Big Image
Click For Big Image
I had included a couple of the original moon clips, so they could make sure the cylinder would close after their repair, and when the gun was returned some nice person had included six more, free, new, moon clips. Interestingly the new ones were much easier to load and unload than the original moon clips!? Maybe another problem that has been addressed?
I noticed the front sight was now dead center, and as I aimed it at the wall and dry fired it, as a final bonus, I noticed the trigger pull (double-action only) seemed lighter and smoother than when I sent the gun away! ^L^ I was one happy guy! =L= Now I also notice my car is faster after I wash it, so the action improvement could be physiological but I don't think so!
I got to test fire it the next day, shooting 9 yards from the targets, two hand offhand, and with some Winchester target ammo it was shooting low, but otherwise well regulated. Here is a target where I adjusted the sight picture by putting the front sight higher than the rear sights. (like _-_ )
Not bad, but then I switched to my carry ammo (I have already carried a Model 38 and 49) the Federal .38 Special +P High Velocity 158 grain lead semi-wadcutter hollow points. I was thrilled to see it shot these right to point of aim, and very accurately! I was pulling the first shot low, but the rest could not have been better! (At least with me shooting.)
So, in the end, I couldn't be happier. A compact (if heavy) J-frame with a fully enclosed hammer, with real sights (including Tritium dots!), a smooth double-action pull, and able to use moon clips for faster reloads! And it shoots an effective load with little apparent recoil and very accurately. *L*
Thank you, S&W Customer Service!!
- Thomas
Except when I went to use the moon clips, the extractor sat so high I couldn't close the cylinder! Yikes! I assumed the cylinder had not been relieved enough. I emailed S&W to ask for a return tag, and included this picture.
Also the front sight was pushed as far as it could go to the right. Any more and it would have fallen out. And yet the gun shot to the left. Strange.
The return tag arrived in an email two days later, and I wrote a letter mentioning both problems, included the picture above and packed everything up and called FedEx for a pick-up, which they did about two hours later! *L*
Three days later I got a form letter saying S&W had received the gun and that it normally takes 2 to 3 weeks for a repair, longer if they are busy or the repair is complicated. Sigh... oh well, I thought.
Two days later (after a 12 hour day at work) I found a FedEx tag stuck to my front door! What? It must be the gun!! I got right back in my car and drove up to the FedEx office. Actually I was worried that maybe nothing had been done or something, since it had come back so quickly!
But when I opened the box I found the letter below:
Wow, sounds good. Sad that S&W can't build a revolver anymore without cocking the barrel, and let this gun get out with the wrong extractor installed, but they fixed it for free and the gun was only gone a week!
Click For Big Image
Click For Big Image
I had included a couple of the original moon clips, so they could make sure the cylinder would close after their repair, and when the gun was returned some nice person had included six more, free, new, moon clips. Interestingly the new ones were much easier to load and unload than the original moon clips!? Maybe another problem that has been addressed?
I noticed the front sight was now dead center, and as I aimed it at the wall and dry fired it, as a final bonus, I noticed the trigger pull (double-action only) seemed lighter and smoother than when I sent the gun away! ^L^ I was one happy guy! =L= Now I also notice my car is faster after I wash it, so the action improvement could be physiological but I don't think so!
I got to test fire it the next day, shooting 9 yards from the targets, two hand offhand, and with some Winchester target ammo it was shooting low, but otherwise well regulated. Here is a target where I adjusted the sight picture by putting the front sight higher than the rear sights. (like _-_ )
Not bad, but then I switched to my carry ammo (I have already carried a Model 38 and 49) the Federal .38 Special +P High Velocity 158 grain lead semi-wadcutter hollow points. I was thrilled to see it shot these right to point of aim, and very accurately! I was pulling the first shot low, but the rest could not have been better! (At least with me shooting.)
So, in the end, I couldn't be happier. A compact (if heavy) J-frame with a fully enclosed hammer, with real sights (including Tritium dots!), a smooth double-action pull, and able to use moon clips for faster reloads! And it shoots an effective load with little apparent recoil and very accurately. *L*
Thank you, S&W Customer Service!!
- Thomas
