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I took the gun to the range today. I replaced the factory grips with a set of Pachmayr Decelerator grips and installed a fiberoptic front sight from EasyHit. Mostly, I was playing with the mainspring strain screw, looking for that “sweet spot” where I had the lightest pull possible with 100% ignitio...

UPDATE 2/3/2012: The FedEx guy showed up today with my 686. As they promised they would, S&W installed an unfluted cylinder and didn’t mess with my action work. It looks pretty good, don’t you think? http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y145/Japle/Guns/Newcylinderopensmall.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com...

UPDATE - 1/30/12: Got a call today from Paul Pluff, Director of Marketing Services at S&W. We had a long conversation about S&W’s inspection, QC and testing. According to him, they fire 40,000 psi proof loads through their .357 Magnum revolvers. The fact that this cylinder, even with 40% of its wal...

Those flutes on the cylinder should have been noticed easily by at least 3 people. When I first posted photos of the gun, dozens of people looked at them and, even though they were told there was "something wrong with this picture", they missed the fact that there were seven flutes on the cylinder....

Anxiety has been known to cause problems with vision, so now we know the one who should be chewed out. How do you do that to yourself?

I'm not as flexible as I used to be, but I'll try.

Still curious as to the purchase of this gun. Was it internet or mail order or an over the counter with the LGS? I was in a local gun shop and mentioned that I was looking for a 686 SSR. The owner checked with his supplier, got me a very good price and I ordered it. The owner had no chance to inspe...

I wouldn't be upset if they'd told me right at the beginning that they wanted the cylinder back and they wouldn't send the gun back with aftermarket parts in it. But they didn't do that. Their CS guy told me it was OK if I kept the cylinder. He said they'd leave the parts alone. That was a lie. In t...

UPDATE: 1/25/12 I got a call from Jon Young at S&W Customer Service. He says getting an unfluted cylinder installed won’t be a problem, BUT: 1. When he told me on 1/3 that I could keep the screwed-up cylinder, that wasn’t true. They want it back. He’s sending me a return shipping label. 2. When he ...

I'm not really complaining about the time. I'm a little surprised that a gun with this much publicity didn't get priority, but I've been in lots of management meetings myself. I can imagine a manager making the decision to put the gun at the tail of the line. "Treat it like any other return/repair a...

S&W does have other customers, and I am sure they don't base their turnaround time on forum hits that certain issues get.

It seems you're correct.

What about the others that got there ahead of you?

What "others"?

Posted by Bullseye: Did a local shop ship it back for you? If so, then the manufacturer may not have had it quite as long as you think they have. They sent me a FedEx shipping label. I sent the gun back in its original case. FedEx tracking showed they got it on 6 Jan at 9:07AM. I know the SHOT Show...

Update – 20 January:

Well, as of today, S&W has had my gun for two weeks. Considering the fact that it’s the subject of distinctly unflattering threads on 15 different firearms forums and S&W’s Facebook page, I thought I might get a little quicker action.

Guess not. I haven’t heard a word.