Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns New S & W bluing issue

I recently picked up a 29-10. I had been looking for an old one for a while locally without any luck and I came across one of the new ones and after handling it and looking it over I bought it. I got it home and immediately went to clean all of the oil and fingerprints off of it from the gun shop and once I had it cleaned and lubed (cleaned with hoppes elite and lubed with Rem-Oil) I noticed on the barrel and cylinder the finish looked milky or almost faded in spots. And then I found along the top edge on each side of the barrel you can see tooling marks running the length of it. I cleaned it again and lightly oiled it again with no improvement. I am sick. Totally not what I expected on a Smith. I sent customer service an email and I’m waiting on a reply which said could take up to 5 days. I’ve never had any trouble out of any of my smith’s, ever. Am I missing something on the finish? As in am I not cleaning it correct? I can tell this “new” finish is different than my older blued smith’s.

And to top that all off I took it to show my dad and he notices on the end of extractor rod it had been ground down so it would fit I guess with the bare metal exposed. They didn’t even take the time to deburr it. This is the only time I have ever been disappointed in Smith & Wesson. I’m not sure if I should wait on the email or if I should give them a ring. I’ve even considered just taking it on the chin and trying to live with it.

Their quality control sucks compared to the old days. I think it started down hill on that in the late 1990s.

They’ll probably reblue it if you send it in, maybe replace it if the tool marks are bad enough. The ground end on the extractor rod is pretty standard, I’ve seen this on guns made from the 70’s through present

This ought to cheer you up ....

My brother recently bought a brand new 29 Classic (SKU: 150145) and it too had a lousy blue job .... hidden by all the packing lube. He sent that thing back and they re-blued it three or four times ..... and it still isn't right. He finally gave up, called the CS guy at S&W and informed them this gun had been given the Golden Turd Award. But, since he didn't test-fire the gun before going through all that over the aesthetics, this dog and pony show has another chapter.

We took it to the range this past weekend and some of the empty cases had to be driven out with an improvised range rod. That's right, every cylinder full required this procedure. All the fired cases looked like they had been through a case mouth expanding die. Nevertheless, being good soldiers we plodded along with test-firing and zeroing. The good news is the gun has some potential to be very accurate (three round cloverleafs off-hand @ 15 yards) but to get a working zero we had to move the rear sight as far as it would go to the left to correct for windage. It looks real sporty with the sight blade almost hanging out of the sight body. Since I was a Detective once, I gave the gun a closer look and discovered the barrel isn't clocked with the front sight in the 12 o'clock position. Yea, I know .... whining about such a minor detail.

Anyhow, he paid about $1k for this piece of junk and when he tried to unload the turd at the place of purchase ...... they offered him $450.

I pretty much washed my hands of S&W back in the 80's as they were already on the road to turning mediocre into an art form.

Good grief. It's pretty sad to see two of the Big Three revolver outfits, (S&W and Ruger) once renowned for craftsmanship, basically selling 80% kits with a serial number. And Colt is so far out of the DA revolver game it ain't funny.

The problem started when cops stopped carrying them. Most of their quality control effort was switched over to their semi-automatic lines.

I have had to send 4 of their revolvers back over the last 10 years.

"80% kits with a serial number . . ." What a great turn of phrase!

And I agree. My new Ruger Stainless Bisley needed some dead sharp corners rounded and there was some polishing that could have been done more carefully. I don't even want to talk about the fit of the grip panels!

I bought a stainless Bisley once (around 2004, IIRC) that I couldn't fit with aftermarket grips. I went through four different reputable grip makers and none of them fit well enough to even install the screw. I sent it back to Ruger and all they did was replace some internal part and my fitment issue wasn't even addressed. I sent that one down the road without ever firing a shot.

I bought a set from a grip maker. No joy. But I want the gun. So, I'm going to shoot it and make sure there are no issues on that front, then the frame goes to the grip maker to make grips that fit.

Sure you didn't sneak some of your 41 Mag (username) loads in it?

Thanks... I was hot for the 45LC/ACP Redhawk until I read multiple reports of light strikes with ACP ammo in Ruger's own proprietary moon clips.

Man, I wish we could have been blamed it on such a mindless error. At least that's fixable! As it is, this thing is more or less a thousand dollar paper-weight.

How does a Smith & Wesson quality complaint thread become a bash Ruger thread? Come on guys.......one at a time!

It's an automated software default process. The forum's algorithm also weeds out most content that's relevant, timely or anywhere near being accurate.

Man , I hate to hear that about your new S & W. They have always been my go to double action revolvers.I only have two left, a 686 I bought 30 years ago and a 638 I bought about 12 years ago. Both are great guns that I will probably never part with. After reading this I got two new Rugers out I just bought a couple weeks ago to check them out a little better. One is a Single Six convertible I have never shot yet,can't find any flaws to my eyes but haven't shot it. The other was the new Bronze Wrangler that just came out. I may never shot the Single Six, love the Wrangler that much. No way a $180 revolver should be this much fun. The finish is great for a Cerakote finish and plenty accurate for a rimfire revolver. Best money I spent on a firearm in a very long time.

Again, did Remlin buy them.

Well, this gun was picked up today after the Dealer he bought it from sent it back ... this was return trip #5. The Work Order said they replaced the cylinder and addressed the barrel not being clocked properly. A quick test-fire at the Dealer's indoor range confirmed no issues with extraction but the barrel is still misaligned with the frame. More shooting must be done to see if it will zero.

Every time I encounter stuff like this I'm reminded of an old saying; "If you can't find the time to do it right the first time, where are you going to find the time to re-do it?"

I bought a new 629 classic 5” probably 2 years ago. Looked good but when I sighted it in it was shooting way left with the sight moved as far right as it would go. I can’t remember exactly how far left but it was a lot. And I’m talking at 25yrds.
Called them up and sent it back. While it was in for repair I bought another 629 classic 5” no lock off a buddy. Nice gun.
Sold the new one to a buddy when I got it back, he said it shoots fine.
I all so went through the exact same thing with a new 642 I bought. Shooting way left.
Sent it back to be fixed. When I got it back and shot it I was very impressed, Head shots all day long at 25yrds. They said they had to do a barrel alignment?