S&W 642 crane cracked!

[trlcavscout]

After 2 weeks and about 120 rounds of mild ammo I was cleaning it today after going to pawnee yesterday and seen the crack. I shot 50 rounds of american eagle 130gr FMJ and 5 rounds of Hornady 158gr XTP ammo. I googled it and seen quite a few complaints of frames cracking under the barrel but i couldnt find any info on this. Im going on vacation friday and now i have no carry gun! The only other new guns I have had any issues with were Tauras, may have to go to a ruger sp101.

66353

[Big E3]

I have never seen or heard of the yoke cracking there. It would seem that it was stressed at the cylinder causing it to crack. I’m not sure given the location of that crack, your gun may still be relatively safe to shoot. I would not do any range trips with it, but would likely function in an emergency.

If this was the good old days, pre-BGC, I could loan you my 642 to take on vacation.

[earplug]

Take it on vacation, call S&W they will fix you.

[trlcavscout]

I was considering taking it. And maybe wait a month or so until i can pick up a new CCW before i ship it off. After seeing all the cracked frame problems i will probably get something different and sell this when it comes back. Its to bad i really liked this gun! I was just about to order some nice smooth wood grips for it, glad i seen the crack first.

[Doc45]

I wouldn't call it common but it does happen. Make sure you hold on to the ammo you were shooting as S&W will want to know what it was, lot number etc. S&W might even want some/all of the ammo before repairing/replacing the gun.

I know folks that have had their Smiths replaced without much hassle in the past couple of years once it was determined not to be an ammo issue. Good luck, hope it works out, frankly I wouldn't use it or take it. Call S&W Monday, you should be able to get it on it's way before you take off.

Worst case scenario you shoot it and something bad happens to you or the gun you'll be liable as you knowingly used a defective product. Just sayin.

[trlcavscout]

I called Tauras and Wesson this morning, he said it would be 4-5 weeks due to their annual close down and plant cleaning starting next week. As much as I like this 642 I would always be looking for cracks now after this and seeing all the problems with the air weight frames and barrels. So in about 5 weeks i will have a 642 for sale.

[earplug]

Go to Ebay or gunbroker. You can buy a complete yoke and cylinder assembly for about $50.00. Its not rocket science. Get some spare parts while your at it.
Firing pin, screws,

[BPTactical]

Go to Ebay or gunbroker. You can buy a complete yoke and cylinder assembly for about $50.00. Its not rocket science. Get some spare parts while your at it.
Firing pin, screws,

Yeah, but just swapping parts on a wheelgun is bad news. The crane must be aligned (correctly), the cylinder timing is critical often requiring replacement and fitting of the hand as well.

[trlcavscout]

Yeah, but just swapping parts on a wheelgun is bad news. The crane must be aligned (correctly), the cylinder timing is critical often requiring replacement and fitting of the hand as well.

And their are none on gunbroker, and the one on ebay is cracked as wel from the look of the pictures.

[waffles]

I've had 2 frames crack on airweights under the forcing cone

http://i.imgur.com/nxmEJto.jpg?1

On this beauty

http://i.imgur.com/OzLeSx1.jpg

and then this guy

http://i.imgur.com/Fyi8yQY.jpg

And then this guy.

The airweight J frames have a lot of well documented problems with cracking, though I don't hear of the crane cracking often. I love them, but I can't trust them anymore so I bought a Glock 43, fuck it.