Pistol back to S&W?

**Glock17** · July 13th, 2010, 03:07 PM

I have a S&W .357. The pin that holds the cylinder in place is slightly bent, and it causes the gun to jam and the cylinder not turn.

I was told that Smith will fix issues such as this at no charge if you return it to them.

Can anyone tell me how this is best done? What are the steps to do this?

thanks.

**FLICK** · July 13th, 2010, 03:12 PM

Call S&W customer service and tell them of your problem. They will most likely send you a prepaid shipping label and appropriate instructions to ship a handgun. You can ship directly to them and they to you. S&W has great CS and the only time I ever used it I was happy with the results....

Edit....

1-800-331-0852
From their website as an initial contact number......

**brian** · July 13th, 2010, 03:18 PM

depends on a few things.
how old is the pistol?
smith is not really willing to work on older stuff. seems the late 1990's is about as old as i've read on various forums as they go. they just do not have the inventory of old parts to advertise that they work on them.
i'm also not sure i would expect this to be a free fix.
best bet is to call their customer service number.

really if it's just the ejector rod that is bent, you can do that yourself.

**Glock17** · July 13th, 2010, 03:20 PM

Originally Posted by brian

depends on a few things.

really if it's just the ejector rod that is bent, you can do that yourself.

It is a Smith 686.

Yeah, I was thinking about that. I can do that myself. Just get a new rod and pin.

Does anyone know what type of frame the 686 is? Is it an L frame?

**brian** · July 13th, 2010, 03:24 PM

Originally Posted by Glock17

It is a Smith 686.

Yeah, I was thinking about that. I can do that myself. Just get a new rod and pin.

Does anyone know what type of frame the 686 is? Is it an L frame?

yes the 686 is an L frame, but there might be a dash number(i.e. 686-1) after the model 686, that is needed some times.

can you post pictures so that "we" can at least help you with the proper nomenclature.

**Glock17** · July 13th, 2010, 03:27 PM

Originally Posted by brian

yes the 686 is an L frame, but there might be a dash number(i.e. 686-1) after the model 686, that is needed some times.

can you post pictures so that "we" can at least help you with the proper nomenclature.

I will do when I get home.

**Pizza Bob** · July 13th, 2010, 05:45 PM

It's pretty hard to bend that. Are you sure that it hasn't just backed-off on its threads? That is a common problem that causes cylinder binding. Your model should be reverse threaded IIRC so to tighten it you want to turn it counter-clockwise. Try that before investing in new parts or calling CS. Sometimes we overlook the easy stuff.

HTH

Adios,

Pizza Bob

**Neko456** · July 13th, 2010, 06:36 PM

Originally Posted by Glock17

I have a S&W .357. The pin that holds the cylinder in place is slightly bent, and it causes the gun to jam and the cylinder not turn.

I was told that Smith will fix issues such as this at no charge if you return it to them.

Can anyone tell me how this is best done? What are the steps to do this?

thanks.

I've heard the same thing, IF THE GUN DOES NOT SHOW SIGNS OF ABUSE.

Do you know how much pressure it takes to bend a ejector rod?

Good luck, please be sure to post the results S&W usually has a good PR/QC group.