Smith Model 19 Carry Comp...sigh

[Evil_Ed]

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.

[1911Nut]

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.

Based on my personal experiences with S&W revolvers (N, K, L, and J frames) beginning in 1974 and ending in 2008 (I'm a slow learner) . . . . I am not a bit surprised. Wish you the best of luck in getting your issue resolved.

[Lester Polfus]

I can't tell you the number of times I almost bought that exact model when they were in stock on GrabAGun. The poor rollmarks on my 640 Pro have just left such a bad taste in my mouth that I couldn't bring myself to drop the money on it.

Before you go through the hassle of trying to send it back to Smith, maybe it's worth the trouble to just try unscrewing the whole rear sight assembly and seeing if it's just in their crooked, or the sight assembly itself is bent?

[Evil_Ed]

Not a bad idea - shining a light on it, it's clear it's the whole assembly that's bent...but if it's bent/twisted in it's natural state or if it's bent/twisted because there's a piece of crud under the right side of the sight that wasn't blasted out before some robot screwed the sight assembly in, is unknown. I'll dig out the appropriate butter knife to undo the screws for it tomorrow and see which one it is

[FrankB]

Call S&W tomorrow, and they might just send you a new sight. That offer was made to @Stephanie B when her Model 66 had a bad rear sight.

[Lester Polfus]

Not a bad idea - shining a light on it, it's clear it's the whole assembly that's bent...but if it's bent/twisted in it's natural state or if it's bent/twisted because there's a piece of crud under the right side of the sight that wasn't blasted out before some robot screwed the sight assembly in, is unknown. I'll dig out the appropriate butter knife to undo the screws for it tomorrow and see which one it is

Call S&W tomorrow, and they might just send you a new sight. That offer was made to @Stephanie B when her Model 66 had a bad rear sight.

I'm sensing a pattern here...

Yeah. Even if you wound up having to buy a rear sight, it would likely be cheaper than mailing the gun back to Smith and waiting for how ever you have to wait for the gun monkeys to fix it. I guess the nightmare scenario is that the channel in the top strap is somehow milled crooked.

Use one of the GOOD butter knives...

[HeavyDuty]

I’m sure one of us here have a spare fixed sight that would work for that gun, too.

[Lester Polfus]

Let us know how it works out. I've thought about buying one, putting an ACRO on it and calling it the Médor Special.

[Stephanie B]

I'm sensing a pattern here...

Yeah. Even if you wound up having to buy a rear sight, it would likely be cheaper than mailing the gun back to Smith and waiting for how ever you have to wait for the gun monkeys to fix it. I guess the nightmare scenario is that the channel in the top strap is somehow milled crooked.

Use one of the GOOD butter knives...

If it’s under warranty, ask for a RMA; S&W will pay the shipping.

[FrankB]

A quick fix if it’s just the blade: https://www.midwestgunworks.com/page...O-RS-BLADE-KIT