1911PD First Range Trip, great gun, Great Reliability...problem with excessive wear

[Patriot86]

I took my brand new S&W 1911PD to the range on Friday for my first session with it. I made sure to lube it up real good before I left (I have STILL have a nice black gun oil stain between my thumb and trigger finger) The gun shot great, it cycled everything I put through it reliably except for Hornady Critical Defense. Not sure why but I have read some 1911's don't like certain brands of ammo, considering I am not a big fan of Crit. Def. anyways that was not a big issue.

The gun ate up Gold Dot's, Golden Sabers, Ranger T hollow points without issue.
The gun also ate up Remington UMC, Herters, S&B and Federal FMJ's without issue.

In total I fired somewhere around 200 rounds and it was loads of fun.


Now the downside, when I got home I broke the gun down and noticed a LOT of what I would call unusual wear.
The first sign was noticeable the second I really started to look at the gun, the finish was wearing off of the slide just below the muzzle on the right side see below.

Considering this gun has a steel slide but a scandium frame I might of expected some wear on the frame but NOT on the slide.


Then I broke the gun down and there was a lot of wear on the rails. I put almost 3000 rounds through a SIG P226(another Alloy frame, steel slide pistol) and didn't have anywhere near this level of wear.
Especially troubling is the spot in this picture on the "lip" of the forward part of the frame.

Lastly some pics of the wear on the frame, there was not much wear on the slide itself.

I know someone is going to chip in right off the bat "Call Smith and Wesson" which I plan to do tomorrow morning, but I just wanted to check with you guys on TFL , as this is my first 1911 to see just how abnormal this level of wear after 200 rounds is.


any input is really appreciated


PS: I am now an Official 1911 addict. I had the most fun of my entire shooting life putting lead down range with this 1911.

 

[Smit]

Call Smith and Wesson.

 

[AKsRul.e]

The "lip" is commonly called the dustcover.

First the bad news...

Possible problems ---
dust cover and/or slide machined off-center so that metal is thinner on one side than the other.
Hold the gun so as to look at it barrel-on. Look at the right and left sides of the dust cover. Is the metal of equal thickness on both sides?

--Slide rub, where the slide is not centered on the frame creating a rub mark on one side of the gun but not the other.
--
These are signs of poor quality control.
These can be fixed by replacing the part(s)
--
Good News !

The wear is really only cosmetic -will probably NOT get worse- and doesn't really affect the function of the pistol.


You have every right to ask S&W to fix it.
***********************************

IMHO - DOCUMENT every phone call or Email to S&W -
and take extra pictures before you ship it to them.

Good Luck

 

[Don P]

You could always send it to me and I'll gladly place it on a shelf in my safe and then take it out and shoot the hell out of it.

 

[Hansam]

Possible problems ---
dust cover and/or slide machined off-center so that metal is thinner on one side than the other.
Hold the gun so as to look at it barrel-on. Look at the right and left sides of the dust cover. Is the metal of equal thickness on both sides?

--Slide rub, where the slide is not centered on the frame creating a rub mark on one side of the gun but not the other.
--
These are signs of poor quality control.
These can be fixed by replacing the part(s)
--
Good News !

The wear is really only cosmetic -will probably NOT get worse- and doesn't really affect the function of the pistol.

^^^ This.

More advice - next time buy a Springfield or a Colt.

 

[orionengnr]

More advice - next time buy a Springfield or a Colt.

Oh, for the love of Pete. Spare us all the condescending idiocy.

Many of us have owned troubled Springfields and Colts...and in my experience, neither Springfield or (especially) Colt has Customer Service that holds a candle to S&W.

Although, on a good day, Springfield will try to be a close second.

 

[TunnelRat]

Many of us have owned troubled Springfields and Colts...and in my experience, neither Springfield or (especially) Colt has Customer Service that holds a candle to S&W.

In my experience Springfield doesn't need the customer service nearly as much as Smith and Wesson.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

Many of us have owned troubled Springfields and Colts...and in my experience, neither Springfield or (especially) Colt has Customer Service that holds a candle to S&W.

Gotta disagree. Colt's customer service these days is easily equal to that of S&W, and arguably better.

 

[Patriot86]

I am going to see if I can't have it sent back for repairs. The extractor is also not perfect, a good number of brass seem to ding off the slide about 1 inch behind the front sight. If it were not for the wear on the outside of the slide i'd probably let it be but external wear after 1 range session IMO is unacceptable. While it is @ S&W I'll see what kind of a deal they are willing to cut me on installing some night sights too. Will post updates

 

[Patriot86]

Surprise surprise they don't even want to see pics, just send it back and they will look at it. The good news is it goes back on their dime, not mine which is not the case with a lot of gun manufacturers.


Also asked about night sights...Trijicon's for $180.00+$60.00 to install, they must think i'm smokin crack. Will get the sights myself and have someone do it locally.

 

[WVsig]

S&W is good about paying shipping on warranty claims. They normally have a pretty quick turnaround too.

 

[RampantAndroid]

S&W is good about paying shipping on warranty claims. They normally have a pretty quick turnaround too.

On my Model 29 that's having metal fatigue, they aren't responding to my request for service. I'm pretty down on S&W's support right now.

If you'll forgive my stepping into this thread to ask a question, on my Dan Wesson, I have one spot showing wear that I was curious about:

http://rampantandroid.com/images/Guns/1911cco/IMG_1168.png

The only other spots showing wear are the slide stop, which I totally expect, and the magazine well, where it's showing some brass marks and a ding or two which strike me as par for the course.

What is the part I'm pointing to? I can see it's contacting the barrel and made a light scratch on the barrel, but more than that I don't know. Is this normal?

 

[WVsig]

RampantAndroid that is the ejector....

 

[Patriot86]

Little update:

Ugh not so quick on the turn around...I mentioned before about the magazine I had to return, they got that right turned around and after calling today I found out I should have my new mag in about another week. While I had them on the phone I asked how long a typical 1911 warranty claim takes to turn around and they said 4 weeks! Jeeze and they just got it 2 days ago...sounds like I am in for a long wait.

 

[TunnelRat]

I'm in the same boat amigo, it stinks.

That 4 weeks however includes the time it takes for them to get to it, not just fix it. My P99 has been at S&W for over two weeks, not sent out two weeks ago but actually at S&W, and when I called last Friday they hadn't even looked at it yet. They told me typical turn around is 2-4 weeks. I get the impression they are very busy. I don't think they've gotten my 1911 yet .

There's part of me that thinks that while their lifetime warranty is great, it might tend to be a bit of a crutch. I feel like if their quality control was a tad better they wouldn't need the warranty as much. Anyway, I'm just venting. YMMV.

 

[Patriot86]

Well the lifetime warranty is a nice touch though and so far they have been a bit easier to deal with than someone like say SIG or CZ so that goes a long way. Plus like I said before, they pay for the shipping which is great.

 

[TunnelRat]

Plus like I said before, they pay for the shipping which is great.

You can usually get other companies to do this if you put up a fuss.

 

[Kreyzhorse]

Good luck although I'm sure that they will take care of you. Post an update when you find out more.

 

[orionengnr]

In my experience Springfield doesn't need the customer service nearly as much as Smith and Wesson.

Well, your experience is about 180 out from mine.
I have owned about 20 S&Ws (mostly revolvers, but at least four semi-autos so far) and have sent back one revolver...which was bought used and buggered up by the prior owner.
I paid for shipping to S&W, told them I had bought it used and they fixed it free of charge and returned it in about two weeks.

My new 1911 PD still looks great after it's first range session and a good bit of dry-firing. If I note any unusual wear, it will go back.

Of the four Springfields my wife and I have owned, two have gone back...twice each. To Springfield's credit, their CS did a good job. Their initial QC and repair facilty...not so much.

Colt...I grew up in CT, and visited the Colt factory in Hartford as a young lad. First handgun I shot was my dad's WWII Colt 1911 (about 1964). First handgun I ever bought was a Colt 1911 (about 1982). It has been about five years since I gave up on Colt, out of sheer frustration. If they are doing better these days, good on them. But I am not going back. They had me for the first 43 years of my life.

 

[TunnelRat]

I have owned about 20 S&Ws (mostly revolvers, but at least four semi-autos so far)

To be fair, I won't own a revolver that isn't a S&W. They know how to make a fine revolver and I've never had a problem with a S&W revolver. But when it comes to semiautos I won't buy another S&W in the near future. Of the four I have owned three have had problems. The XD I owned and XDM I own now have never even had so much as a cough and have been flawless. Like you said 180 degree difference. I certainly understand your hesitation with Springfield, I hope you understand mine with S&W.