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I intended to come home tonight, take some pics and post for input on the scandium framed S&W 1911's. Today's events have derailed my call for info and turned this post into one of shear disappointment with S&W.
I recently purchased one of their Gunsite 1911's, placing the order directly with Davidson's. My dealer got the serial and started the DROS, I waited my 10 days and all seemed to be going smoothly. When I picked up the pistol, it looked great with the exception that the slide was extremely hard to pull back and there was noticeable grittiness when doing so. I figured it's a new pistol, so the extreme effort must simply be due to the tight slide fit and any residue left from test firing at the factory.
I was delayed in fully examining it since I received from my dealer, however as I finally got some free time for shooting this last weekend, I intended to field strip it last Friday night for it's prepatory cleaning and lubing. Operative word being intended ...
First up, depressing the recoil spring plug to turn the bushing, I noticed the plug was staying firmly depressed and appeared to be stuck. I couldn't get it to budge, so I had to remove the slide while carefully holding the spring and guide, then removed same from the rear once the slide was removed. The spring plug was still firmly stuck and I had to take a cleaning rod and tap it out as it would not come out under moderate pressure. Once out, I could see the outer surface deeply scarred from burrs or being pinched in it's hole in the slide.
That was the good part. On wiping the dirty oil residue from the frame rails, I was shocked to see the severe scoring and abrasion of the anodization. Sure, Aluminum/Scandium frames will wear with use, but this was new out of the box and unfired since received.
Looking at the marks, it was not the initial wear I'd expect from test firing at the factory nor was it from any careful hand fitting or lapping. There were some burrs on the rail edges and deeper grooves apparently from particles that had abraded the surfaces heavily. Needless to say, my plans for it's initial range session were shelved until I could get some answers.
This week, I intended to post here seeing if any other Scandium owners had seen marks like this out of the box. I've been trying to contact my dealer, but he appears to be out this week. Likewise, I called S&W asking about how much 'wear' should be expected out of the box and basically got the cold shoulder. The lady was a rather indignant with comments like "well it's a carbon steel slide on an alloy frame ... of course there's going to be wear" and "apparently you've never shot an alloy gun before". I told he my first semiauto was actually a S&W 59, and I have numerous Al framed Sigs, and none have ever showed marks like on this new Gunsite 1911. Her reply, "well maybe yours had some problems and they had to do more fitting or test firing before it left the factory". Gee, thanks for your reassuring words.
Getting nowhere with her, I came home tonight to get some pics of the pistol so I could contact my dealer and/or someone else at S&W. On prepping for the photos, I degreased the frame and slide and examined the marks more closely. The slide is also scored in the inner rails, so it seems like there was quite a bit of grit and dirt present in the assembly process as I don't think this would come from the limited test firing that presumably occurs at the factory.
Finally, once the pistol was fully cleaned and readied for the pics, I noted how clean the hole diameter for the ejector roll pin looked ... almost too clean. A slight pull and you guessed it, out pops the ejector ... no roll pin in place! Since my first discovery last Friday, some reading highlighted an issue with the breechface milling across from the extractor ... mine seems to have that ridge as well.
What a mess and all from a factory new S&W. After today's call, I don't think I will even bother calling S&W, so tomorrow I will see how good Davidson's "lifetime replacement guarantee" really is.
I recently purchased one of their Gunsite 1911's, placing the order directly with Davidson's. My dealer got the serial and started the DROS, I waited my 10 days and all seemed to be going smoothly. When I picked up the pistol, it looked great with the exception that the slide was extremely hard to pull back and there was noticeable grittiness when doing so. I figured it's a new pistol, so the extreme effort must simply be due to the tight slide fit and any residue left from test firing at the factory.
I was delayed in fully examining it since I received from my dealer, however as I finally got some free time for shooting this last weekend, I intended to field strip it last Friday night for it's prepatory cleaning and lubing. Operative word being intended ...
First up, depressing the recoil spring plug to turn the bushing, I noticed the plug was staying firmly depressed and appeared to be stuck. I couldn't get it to budge, so I had to remove the slide while carefully holding the spring and guide, then removed same from the rear once the slide was removed. The spring plug was still firmly stuck and I had to take a cleaning rod and tap it out as it would not come out under moderate pressure. Once out, I could see the outer surface deeply scarred from burrs or being pinched in it's hole in the slide.
That was the good part. On wiping the dirty oil residue from the frame rails, I was shocked to see the severe scoring and abrasion of the anodization. Sure, Aluminum/Scandium frames will wear with use, but this was new out of the box and unfired since received.
Looking at the marks, it was not the initial wear I'd expect from test firing at the factory nor was it from any careful hand fitting or lapping. There were some burrs on the rail edges and deeper grooves apparently from particles that had abraded the surfaces heavily. Needless to say, my plans for it's initial range session were shelved until I could get some answers.
This week, I intended to post here seeing if any other Scandium owners had seen marks like this out of the box. I've been trying to contact my dealer, but he appears to be out this week. Likewise, I called S&W asking about how much 'wear' should be expected out of the box and basically got the cold shoulder. The lady was a rather indignant with comments like "well it's a carbon steel slide on an alloy frame ... of course there's going to be wear" and "apparently you've never shot an alloy gun before". I told he my first semiauto was actually a S&W 59, and I have numerous Al framed Sigs, and none have ever showed marks like on this new Gunsite 1911. Her reply, "well maybe yours had some problems and they had to do more fitting or test firing before it left the factory". Gee, thanks for your reassuring words.
Getting nowhere with her, I came home tonight to get some pics of the pistol so I could contact my dealer and/or someone else at S&W. On prepping for the photos, I degreased the frame and slide and examined the marks more closely. The slide is also scored in the inner rails, so it seems like there was quite a bit of grit and dirt present in the assembly process as I don't think this would come from the limited test firing that presumably occurs at the factory.
Finally, once the pistol was fully cleaned and readied for the pics, I noted how clean the hole diameter for the ejector roll pin looked ... almost too clean. A slight pull and you guessed it, out pops the ejector ... no roll pin in place! Since my first discovery last Friday, some reading highlighted an issue with the breechface milling across from the extractor ... mine seems to have that ridge as well.
What a mess and all from a factory new S&W. After today's call, I don't think I will even bother calling S&W, so tomorrow I will see how good Davidson's "lifetime replacement guarantee" really is.
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