Well my Brand new 986 came in the mail today. I was very excited. The gun looked mint, until I looked at the crane of the revolver. There was a couple gouges and a hair line crack.
Now I am going to run this gun hard, should I be worried about the crack and return it or just keep it and shoot it. This is not going to be a safe queen.
I’m not sure I see the hairline crack you are referring to. Is it vertical in the picture or horizontal? I see two spots that I guess could be the hairline crack on the round in your photo. The gouges in the photo, while unsightly, shouldn’t be a problem. If you believe their is a hairline crack, however, you should have that fixed before you decide to run your gun. That stuff doesn’t improve by being used.
Added pics of what I think the crack is.
That’s what I thought the crack was as well. I would have S&W look at it. The other arrows just point to small gouges, which shouldn’t be a concern. They’re definitely annoying on a new gun though.
Without having it in hand, they look like machining marks to me. Personally, I wouldn’t worry about it.
That what it looks like to me.
They look like tool marks to me.
You said you plan to run the gun hard. If they are, in fact, cracks they will lengthen; at which point get Smith Wesson involved.
Until you decide it needs fixing, run it as hard as you like.
Is the forcing cone OK? Several have been miscut at the factory.
If I’m orienting this correctly, we’re looking at the bottom front of the frame and the cylinder crane. Those marks on the frame are a non issue and if that’s a crack in the cylinder crane on the top pic (top left arrow pointing up), I can’t imagine that’s an area that would get much stress under recoil.
I’d lean towards it not being an issue, but only the owner can say for themselves.
That’s an example of current specs, which de-emphasize cosmetics.
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If when you open the crane do you see the crack on the face? If you do then you need to send back to S&W. If not it’s not a crack but a machine mark and no big deal.
Agreed. They simply “chucked-up” the part for engraving/stamping and it left marks. No worries-ENGAGE!!