Help, I'm so freaking mad

K

kr1

Joined
May 30, 2006
Messages
1,343
I just bought a Model 317-3 Smith and Wesson. This is an Airlite .22 8 shot revolver. I owned a Model 17 years ago and it was a great gun. I sold it for money when I got back from the service. Here it is 25 years later and I buy a brand new version made of aluminum with a 3 inch barrel and instead of steel and the 8 inch barrel. Bought it on Saturday and took it out and tried to zero it. I worked in a gun store for over 10 years and have worked with many weapons including some gunsmithing so I'm not a newby.

Here I am trying to zero this weapon and I can't believe what I'm seeing. This thing shoots like crap. Then when I get closer to the target I see that bullets are going trough the target sideways. The bullets are tumbling. Long story short. Try several types of ammo all with the same results. It appears that the forcing cone in the barrel is seriously fouled. I clean it as best I can and a couple of bullets seem to shot OK and then the forcing cone fouls and the bullets start tumbling. I am PI$$ED. Obviously I am calling the gun store where I bought it but my guess is that I need to send it back to S&W to have this fixed. Anyone have any other ideas?

Thanks,
KR
 
I think you're right; it'll have to go back to S&W. The good news is the gunsmiths there are really good and you'll get it back better than new. They don't just fix the problem, they go over the whole gun and make sure everything's perfect and when they're satisfied with a gun it's better than the average brand new gun straight off the production line.
 
Cougar Allen said:
I think you're right; it'll have to go back to S&W. The good news is the gunsmiths there are really good and you'll get it back better than new. They don't just fix the problem, they go over the whole gun and make sure everything's perfect and when they're satisfied with a gun it's better than the average brand new gun straight off the production line.
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You have told me the only up side to the thing. I knew they used to do this. This thing can use some tune up also. Heavy scratchy double action and the single action could also use some work. I'm expecting to drive it up there myself if allowed. I have to know what Mass needs to allow me to transport weapons in their state. Also I am hoping that S&W still allows walk ins.

Thanks Cougar,
KR
 
I don't think it's even possible to do it that way. Your choices are to bring it back to the dealer and let him mail it to S&W, or mail it yourself. If you choose that call S&W on the phone first and they'll tell you how to package it and stuff. That way could be slightly faster because they'll mail it directly to you, but if you let the dealer do it you won't have to pay the postage, and a good dealer will call you the moment it arrives.
 
By all means call S&W. they have really i mean REALLY worked over the service dept and are top notch. Fairly priced for other work, but if the gun is doing what you say it is doing, they will be all over it like a woman on a wallet.

you could try this Email MRossini@smith-wesson.com It was working just last month and he responded in a couple of hours.
 
The service dept. at Smith is great, and you will not recognize your gun when you get it back. This sounds like something very unusual anyways, as my wife bought a 317 with the 3 inch barrel in 1998, and its been a great little gun. In fact it out shoots my model 63 kit gun. We're retired, and nuts over the .22 rimfire and go to the range at least once a week, and in warm weather twice. We use about 4 boxes of bulk Federal 550 round a month and her 317 shoots some of that. So far in 9 years of shooting theres been no problems at all. It sounds like you just got a bad one, and Smith will make it right.

Last summer I bought a new 617 in 4 inch 10 shot and it was a good gun, but I thought the double action was a bit rought. I sent it back to them with a letter saying I wanted to have the trigger smoothed out and to send me a bill, and I would forward the funds imediately. They sent the gun back to the gun shop with no charge, and a trigger like greesed glass.

Smith and Wesson is a great customer service company with a great product. They'll make you happy.
 
Cougar Allen said:
I don't think it's even possible to do it that way. Your choices are to bring it back to the dealer and let him mail it to S&W, or mail it yourself. If you choose that call S&W on the phone first and they'll tell you how to package it and stuff. That way could be slightly faster because they'll mail it directly to you, but if you let the dealer do it you won't have to pay the postage, and a good dealer will call you the moment it arrives.
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I didn't know a person was allowed to mail guns...only licensed dealers??? :confused:
 
zenheretic said:
I didn't know a person was allowed to mail guns...only licensed dealers??? :confused:
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Domestic Mail Manual 601.11 says that handguns and other concealable firearms like short-barreled shotguns (less than 18 inch) or short barreled rifles (less than 16 inch) can only be mailed between federally licensed dealers, manufacturers, and certain other authorized agents that are listed there. It seems that long barreled guns are OK to mail as long as they are unloaded. So if you're not a licensed dealer, you'll probably have to return it to your dealer so he can handle the mailing.

The references about mailing knives are in that section too. So are the rules about mailing liquor, stuff with obnoxious odors, lock picks, and other interesting stuff.
 
Legal to ship & receive via UPS Next Day . . . don't even need a FFL (provided it's your own firearm).
 
It's been a few years and the situation may have changed. I don't want to mislead anybody.... When my NAA mini-revolver broke I called NAA and they told me to mail it to them, and they mailed it back to me after they fixed it, but that was a few years ago.
 
I just called the guys I bought it from. I can drop it off at S&W myself but they would have mail it back, to the dealer I assume. Instead I will drop it off at the dealers and let them take care of it. Years ago people used to drive to S&W all the time (in the 70's and 80's) and S&W would tune up the guns while they waited. The good news is that this is not "normal" for this gun. It certainly isn't what I expected. I have been doing this for a while and I have only seen this happen two other times and both of those were centerfire rifles and I understood why it was happening, with handloads. I am dropping it off at the dealers and they told me expect 2 to 3 weeks :( . Oh well. If it comes back shooting as good as I would expect it to and tweaked and tuned up, I can live with the inconvience. I know thats how they used to be Jackknife/Guntoting_fool, I'm glad to hear that is still what I should expect. ;) :D

Thanks guys, I'll let you know how it turns out.

KR
 
Knifemaster said:
When you bought the gun with all your experience you didn't notice anything was wrong with it?
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I have looked it over entirely and I still see absolutely nothing that looks wrong. The only thing I can think of is that the indexing of the cylinder or the concentricity of the bore is out of whack. Not enough to see with the naked eye and I don't have the equipment to check it. I have seen others that are like that but usually you will see a lead ridge that will build on the top of the frame from the splatter. I see nothing at all like that on this gun. I have also seen little thin lead washers on the front of the cylinders as well from out of alignment cylinders. Nothing like that on this gun.

Latter today (after work) I am going to try something I forgot to try last night. I am going to see what happens when I slide a cleaning rod down the barrel and into the cylinder when it is in the fired position, trigger to the rear and hammer down. See if it lines up at least close.

I hope as well as fix it they tell me exactly what was wrong with it.

KR
 
Just an addition. I went home a lunch and tried running the cleaning rod down and seeing (as much as this proves) if the chambers lined up. I only tried a couple but they did. I got distracted because I could see two large flakes of lead in the barrel just in from of the forcing cone. I was able to remove one of them and will send that to S&W along with the target. I didn't measure it but the one I removed was about .25 at its widest in diamater and 5 to 10 thousands thick as an estimate. Like I said I'll let you guys know what happens.

Thanks for your help,
KR
 
it really sounds like your revolver is out of timing and shaving. When you checked the alignment did you have the trigger fully depressed and hammer down? If you try again with the cylinder and trigger in full lockup, you can wiggle the cylinder back and forth as well as side to side, and use a pencil down the barrel to check for sharp edges of the cylinder not being in alignment.
 
Definitely sounds like a timing problem. It's always a bummer to have to send a new gun back to the factory, but S & W will make it right. (like they should have done in the 1st place) Seems QC is slipping on alot of manufacturers today. Unfortunatelty, it seems to be a sign of the times. Good luck.
 
Yep, did that. It seems fine on all 8 chambers. It is a real mystery to me what is going on. Tonight it goes to the dealer to be sent out. It doesn't lock up as tight as I remember the old Smiths but still locks perfectly acceptable.

Usually if the timing is as bad as you are talking about, in my experience, I would have lead shooting out of the flash gap and that causes a ridge of lead to be put on the frame. I am not seeing that. Plus that cannot be happening if I am firing single action. Which is what I was doing while I was sighting it in.

I really hope S&W tells me what they found. I'll let everyone know.

KR
 
Gun is back from Smith and at the Gun store. With any luck I am hoping to pick it up tonight. I was on vacation for the last four days. I called Tuesday last week to request the hammer and trigger work and they hadn't gotten the gun in yet because of the holiday delivery schedule. I went on vacation Wednesday night and got back Sunday night and I called today to check again about them tuning the gun up and they said that it was delivered to the store on Monday. So I'll have to see what its like. At least it is supposed to be fixed. I am hoping they said what the problem was. The interesting thing was because they didn't have the gun on Tuesday they couldn't process my request for trigger and hammer work. They say they attach all requests to the guns serial number but they have to have the gun in the system because it has arrived in the plant. I hope they also sent back the target. I'll let you know.

KR
 
Picked up the gun tonight. They replaced the barrel. I am planning on going to range at lunch tomorrow to test drive it. I'll let everyone know what the results are.

KR
 
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