Have you ever heard that it is risky to buy a gun with a proprietary design, because you may not be able to get spare parts for it if something breaks or wears out? I am here to tell you that this is a very valid concern, particularly with Smith & Wesson products. Here’s the story:
Last year, I got a lightly used M&P 10 on trade at a LGS. Upon range testing, I learned that like many M&P 10s (as well as DPMS’), it was severely undergassed. It would never lock back on empty and suffered very frequent “bolt over” malfunctions. I remedied this by drilling the gas port to a larger size. After that, the rifle worked flawlessly for several hundred rounds. I did notice something strange about the bore though… there was, for lack of a better term, a “ring” around the bore halfway between the gas block and the muzzle. It looked like the same size and depth as a land of rifling, and appeared to me to be machined that way. I thought it might constitute a tight spot in the bore, but I didn’t worry too much about it because the rifle was working fine and accuracy was very acceptable (consistent 2 MOA with Lake City M80 ball). I realize in hindsight that it was a poor decision to keep shooting the rifle after noticing this. Learn from my error! I also installed a Troy TRX 308 free float handguard over a low profile gas block, swapped the carbine stock setup out for a fixed stock, and put a scope on the rifle.
I used this rifle, along with my M&P 40 pistol, in the Pecos Run 'n Gun last year. This is a 6+ mile run through the desert with 7 shooting stations along the way. The rifle was shooting great… I got the best times on several stages using it, including the 400 yard stage. West Texas was experiencing record floods the weekend of the Run 'n Gun, and traversing the course required crossing some standing water that was up to waist deep at one point. I carried the rifle slung in the “low ready” type position across my chest, muzzle down, so the rifle got wet during this crossing. I was always taught to retract the charging handle and shake the rifle muzzle down after getting it wet, so that is what I did. Internet lore has it that this is only necessary on smaller bore rifles like 5.56, but I did it anyway out of precaution. At the next shooting station, I fired at a not-too-difficult 200 yard rifle target. I called the shot good when it broke, but it did not score a hit. The rifle also jammed… a “bolt over” malfunction like it used to suffer when it had too small of a gas port. I cleared it and fired again. Again I called the shot good but didn’t get a hit, and again the malfunction. The Range Officer told me I was hitting way low, like 20 yards in front of me. I thought he must have been mistaken because of how I called the shot, and thought that if I missed, it wasn’t by much. I cleared the jam and fired again. This time I saw the mud fly in the bottom of my FOV… I was indeed hitting way low. Something wasn’t right. I checked the scope mount and confirmed that it was tight. It was then that I noticed the barrel. To my horror, the barrel had a split in it, centered about halfway between muzzle and gas block, with cracks extending almost to the muzzle on one end and almost to the gas block on the other. Amazingly, neither myself nor the RO noticed the split when it happened or for the two rounds I fired through it afterward. I’m not sure exactly why the split occurred, other than that generally barrels rupture due to overpressure, usually from an obstructed bore. My best guess is that a combination of the tight spot “ring” in the barrel possibly in addition to residual water droplets in the barrel combined to spike pressure over what the barrel could handle.
Now on to my dealings with S&W customer service. The first action I took was to call them at their location up in Yankeeland (NH) and ask how much a barrel would cost. I was surprised when the CS rep told me that they don’t sell barrels! I told her that I have a rifle with a ruptured barrel, and that I need a new barrel to get it working again. She told me that while they don’t sell barrels, if I send it in, they might be able to re-barrel it for me. So I got a shipping label from them and sent it off. I heard nothing from them for about 2 months later, when I got a letter that stated that they were not going to warranty the repair because they believed the damage was not due to a defect in workmanship or materials, and that they would sell me a new rifle for $1100 and change. I called the rep whose contact info was on the letter, and told him that it was fine not to warranty it, and that I would pay for the repairs myself. He said he would need to talk to his superiors about that and get back to me. He also confirmed again that they do not sell barrels. After not hearing anything for a couple weeks or so, I called, left messages, and eventually got a call back from one of their senior engineers. He told me that it is their policy not to replace just barrels, so they would be unable to repair my rifle. I confirmed that they do not sell barrels. I asked him, “so you won’t warranty it, you won’t repair it, and you won’t sell me a barrel? I just have an $1100 paperweight?” He seemed embarrassed to have to tell me this, but he said that yes, that is currently their policy as relayed to him by management. He said that if it were up to him, he would just re-barrel the rifle for a small fee, but that he was being told it is against policy to re-barrel rifles.
The M&P 10 has a proprietary barrel extension and bolt carrier group, and S&W is the only company that makes barrels for this rifle. The rifle is currently in production and there is no shortage of them on gun store shelves, so I know they are producing the barrels for them… apparently they can’t be bothered to pull one from production to help a customer in need, and would rather allocate the part to production, so they can sell another rifle to some other sucker. So here is my warning… if you buy a firearm with proprietary parts, you better make absolutely sure the manufacturer is a company with good product support and customer service. If not, you might risk having an expensive paperweight, like me, for want of a couple hundred dollar part.
Also apparently all the M&P 10s out there will be defunct after their owners shoot out the original barrel, if S&W keeps these policies up. It really baffles me why companies purposefully make decisions like this and accept the kind of reputation it earns them. Well, you are warned – buy S&W rifles at your own risk.
