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Posted: 6/17/2010 9:27:09 PM EDT
First post on Arfcom so I apologize if this is a common and easily searched question. My search turned up nothing, and I lost the will to continue after 6 pages of archives. I might just have to buy a team membership so I can get the good search.
I've got an M&P15 that is about 2 years old and has somewhere just under 2K rounds through it, Gun has been flawless, and generally runs like a top. Shooting last week I had some feeding and extraction issues so I tore the gun down to clean and inspect. During inspection I noticed that the chrome lining on my chamber is starting to chip off. I currently have about an oval about 1/4in in diameter in the 10oclock position in the chamber that is missing and has a jagged and raised edge. Has anyone ever heard of this before, specifically with the M&Ps? I contacted S&W , the CS guy didn't seem suprised and issued a warrenty call tag even though it is outside of a year. My questions are: How bad is it to continue shooting this gun as is? I have a Carbine class this weekend and my backup gun is still just a lower. I can borrow a rifle but I really wanted to run mine. Also if S&W decides not to replace the barrel under warrenty buying a new one is going to put a bit of a dent in my current build budget so I was wondering about just shooting it for a while. Is it possible that the uneven surface, and little bits of chrome in the chamber were causing additional drag on the case as it ejected, causing it to "short stroke" and not feed the next round, or to only extract 3\4 of the case length. ? FWIW I went through 150rds no problems then had 2-3 failures each mag, for 3 consecutive mags , I was using new Pmags, Tula Ammo, non laquer steel case. I know the ammo may be a contributing factor, but my friends are feeding this same stuff to their BCMs, LMTs, CMMGs with no hickups at all. Thanks in advance for the responses, I'll keep this updated with S&Ws action. -Ryno |
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If the chrome plating is peeling away, yes the barrel needs to go back for a replacement.
As for running it, don't even waste your time since although the plating is only a few thousands thick, it is enough for the brass to swell into such voids and make the normal extracting of the barrel problematic at best. And no, it is not common to have chrome lining in a barrel chip or peel, so sounds like they get a back lot of barrels, and instead of doing a recall, are waiting for the customers to just call them up instead. It may go over fine in the civilian market, but the repercussions from the LEO market are not going to be to there liking. |
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Quoted:
If the chrome plating is peeling away, yes the barrel needs to go back for a replacement. As for running it, don't even waste your time since although the plating is only a few thousands thick, it is enough for the brass to swell into such voids and make the normal extracting of the barrel problematic at best. And no, it is not common to have chrome lining in a barrel chip or peel, so sounds like they get a back lot of barrels, and instead of doing a recall, are waiting for the customers to just call them up instead. It may go over fine in the civilian market, but the repercussions from the LEO market are not going to be to there liking. ^This |
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With all due respect, this is really a stretch and jumping to conclusions, isn't it?
Could it just be that S&W customer service wanted to get the OP taken care of so they issued a warranty authorization without arguing? You call it coveing up a known problem, I say it sounds like damn fine customer service. Do you have an axe to grind with S&W?? Quoted:
If the chrome plating is peeling away, yes the barrel needs to go back for a replacement. As for running it, don't even waste your time since although the plating is only a few thousands thick, it is enough for the brass to swell into such voids and make the normal extracting of the barrel problematic at best. And no, it is not common to have chrome lining in a barrel chip or peel, so sounds like they get a back lot of barrels, and instead of doing a recall, are waiting for the customers to just call them up instead. It may go over fine in the civilian market, but the repercussions from the LEO market are not going to be to there liking. |
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Quoted:
I contacted S&W , the CS guy didn't seem surprised and issued a warranty call tag even though it is outside of a year. Maybe this is not a common problem with their barrels, but the way op stated such above, I read it as this problem in not something that is just coming up once in a blue moon. As for axe to grind, No - but do like to keep all the manufactures honest when it comes to their product and be proactive when batch lot problem does arise. If this is a strange problem for S&W and not an ongoing event, with the CS rep playing it cool to simply get rifle in and swap out the "out of the ordinary event problem barrel", then good for him and the company. Simply, It's just the way that the op stated the CS response, and how I respond to his statement. Ryno622, when you talked to CS, where other barrels having this same problem as well, or was your barrel unique to them on a whole? |
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I didnt mean to insinuate that his lack of suprise equaled a common issue, in fact in my searching I found absolutely 0 similar reports. I had heard good things about S&W customer service so I figured I'd give it a shot. I called them, informed them of the problem and that the rifle was past its one year warrenty. I was fully expecting to be told to pound sand but the guy was really nice, took my info and told me he was sending a FedEx call tag for it. They may still get it back, inspect it and decide not to cover it. If they do, fine, I'll replace the barrell myself. To this point I have been impressed with them, and anything further they may do is a bonus because I am clearly out of warrenty.
-Ryno ETA: Dano, he made no mention of whether or not this was an issue. He was infact, as you stated very calm, cool and professional. |
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Quoted:
If the chrome plating is peeling away, yes the barrel needs to go back for a replacement. As for running it, don't even waste your time since although the plating is only a few thousands thick, it is enough for the brass to swell into such voids and make the normal extracting of the barrel problematic at best. And no, it is not common to have chrome lining in a barrel chip or peel, so sounds like they get a back lot of barrels, and instead of doing a recall, are waiting for the customers to just call them up instead. It may go over fine in the civilian market, but the repercussions from the LEO market are not going to be to there liking. +1 This is exactly how a lot of companies would handle this kind of situation. It’s not likely to get someone killed and its way cheaper than a blanket recall. |
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UPDATE: It seems I've jumped the gun.
Figurativley. 
I ended up running my gun for my carbine course. I didnt have any failures that werent purposely induced or easily attributed to ammo. When I got home I cleaned the rifle in preperation of shipment. One last look down the chamber with flash light before boxing and.... The spot is gone. I took the gun to work and inspected the bore with a borescope and there is no sign of any chamber damage. I' dont know what I was seeing in there the first time around, whether it was burnt oil residue I didnt get off when cleaning. Maybe something left over from the steel cased Tula ammo I was shooting, its supposed to be laquer free, but who knows. I think I'll stick to brass cased stuff for the time being. |
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