Same experience - I have a 69 with a barrel alignment problem.
On the 69 - there is a detent and ball lockup on the front of the crane, and the barrel shroud is cut for the ball to rest in, and lock up the front of the crane.
On mine - the barrel is turned enough past alignment that the ball can’t drop into the pocket, it rides up on the edge of the surface next to the recess.
I’ve sent it back twice. Once with a written description, and the second time with pictures and the description.
On the first return - the gun was “cleaned and test fired, no fault found”.
On the second trip - “no fault found, gun meets factory specifications”. Per the SW website, the detent is there to add security to the crane and cylinder when firing.
Maybe it does, but the detent is clearly not engaged. I’ve looked several other 69s - the ball is in the detent where it’s supposed to be.
Not happy with their response to the issue.
I don't believe S&W cares, if it's not something that leads to liability exposure. My 686+ was getting light primer strikes and then would just go off. NOT good. I sent it back and they went through it and did a really nice trigger job on it.
That gun and a 642 are the only 2 "new" S&W revolvers I own. There won't be any more. The older stuff is where the craftmanship and attention to detail lies.
