Considerable discussion of this at the S&W Forum. Looks like a possible metallurgical problem to me. It happens. There was a batch of 624's that had cylinder problems.
Best regards to all,
Considering that the vast majority of agencies transitioned to the semiauto pistol in the 80s and 90s, one wonders just how old these revolvers are.
If its like one agency I'm aware of, they may be over 80 years old - someone found a crate of revolvers in the armory and discovered that they were old Peacemakers - still carried on the books as ready-to-issue.
Considerable discussion of this at the S&W Forum. Looks like a possible metallurgical problem to me. It happens. There was a batch of 624's that had cylinder problems.
I don't believe a word of this article.
To the anti-gun nuts: This is what a "defective product" in the firearms industry is.
I've got a model 586 .357 magnum that I've owned for about 15 years. It's been very reliable. I sure hope that continues.
Duh!! It's like saying that only a low percentage of aircraft parts are bad and have caused mishaps. A gun is something that you have to count on to work reliably. It HAS to work every time or the consequences could be fatal to you. If some crackhead rapes and kills me and my family because my gun wouldn't fire, my surviving relatives aren't going to sit there saying, "Gee, the gun had a very low statistical rate of failure, so this is really just a PR problem."
Should have done what 90% of the other agencies do and purchased Glocks.
When I read N.C. law enforcement and barrels breaking off only one image popped into my mind....
Buy Ruger, they have NEVER been a member of the "Gun Grabber" lobby like S and W have been!
"Oh my darling," she said as she reloaded. "I've missed you."
"No, dear. Your barrel--"
How come they don't issue L frame revolvers? Then LEOs would have options on what cartridge they load.
None of the revolvers have failed in the line of duty, and for now, the department is keeping the guns in service. But in testing, about one in four revolvers didn't fire when the trigger was pulled. In some cases, the barrel of some models broke off when the gun was fired.
...The guns cost about $320 each, meaning it would cost the state more than $1.5 million to replace them all. That doesn't include the cost of buying new ammunition, holsters and other accessories, plus retraining officers to use a new model of gun....
I guess that means they have about 4,687 of these things.
Here's another interesting quote from the article.
...None of the revolvers have failed in the line of duty, and for now, the department is keeping the guns in service. But in testing, about one in four revolvers didn't fire when the trigger was pulled. In some cases, the barrel of some models broke off when the gun was fired....
I find it hard to believe that one in four of these guns wouldn't fire when the trigger was pulled.
"In some cases, the barrel of some models broke off when the gun was fired."
Which models? I thought they were talking about one gun here.
I have to wonder even how many barrels actually broke off in this test. Highly unusual? I would think so.
They just want some new guns.
I have had S&W revolvers for years, but now my model 66 cylinder locked. It appears that the ejector rod unscrewed itself enough to do it. I will have to get a gunsmith to look at it.