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Quote: Smith has always been able to spin out a good product, they just didn't all the time every time. My Heritage 29-9 for example is a really well-made revolver, at least as good as those made in the mid-60's for example. When I was in the business I saw barrels that unscrewed after a cylinderfull of rounds, burrs hanging off barrel forcing cones, cranes full of metal chips, cranes that barely locked up, etc. Used to be a guy could send back any gun with warts and they'd be happy to fix it for a nominal charge. Vito in repair was a gem of a guy and rebuilt quite a few for me. This made buying even a more-or-less sight unseen Smith a safe proposition. More and more tho, from what I understand, they are limiting the model series' they will repair. I sold off my Smith collection some years ago and haven't been buying wheelguns for some time. I only have two revolvers left. Last time I looked closely at a few at the gunshop {a couple year ago} I was, to be honest, yet again unimpressed. I don't recall exactly when they were made, sometime before that obviously. Tatume: are the two you refer to recently made, as in the last year or so? I have heard Smith has recently made some effort at improving QC. Theoretically, though, even with some of the fitting issues that still seem to pop up, the guns should have a higher service life than the oldies. The endurance package update of the early '90's was a big plus for buyers of the .44 Mags for example. And it was indeed Ruger who cut into Smiths market, along with Taurus and forced a lot of change on Smith, some of it good. I've heard more and more good things about the Taurus guns and with the last few years of inflation skyrocketing Smith prices up, maybe the Taurus guns would be worth a second look. Would be fun to take the tools to the gun shop and compare Rugers, Smiths and Taurus's of similar models. One thing to remember is revolvers don't get tighter with age and increasing round count. If the gun rattles like a half a canful of bolts brand new, it is only going to get worse with time. |