On my way to an appointment, I stopped off at an out of the way (for me) gun store and found they had a 3" Smith M19 Carry Comp in their display, SKU
12039. I fidgeted with it for a bit, found I liked it better than my 19-7 late 80s/early 90s security guard surplus M19 (and they fixed the whole "not a lot of magnums" issue these things had with this iteration apparently), so I picked it up. I wish it was the 2.5" barreled version, but this was here and now...I'll take it.
Anyway - I get it home, strip, clean, wipe down and inspect and etc...and discovered the rear sight is canted.
It might not be super obvious in the photo; it wasn't when I was fidgeting with it at the store at all. But, looking down the sights at a bright white background, it becomes a little more obvious.
Damn you Smith...all you had to do was put the gun through QC...sigh
Guess I'm calling them tomorrow and seeing if they can or will do anything about it.
And yes, I pressed the rear sight into a block of wood, hoping it was just the rear blade a little out of joint and a gentle smush would push it back into true...nope. Looks like it's the whole rear unit.