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I had read in various posts on the Net regarding the 15T that S&W had decided to take the build process in house. I saw a S&W rep today at a gun show and asked him whether he knew anything about this. He stated that when S&W first introduced the 15, it didn't know what the market reaction would be. It had outside jobbers part and build the rifles. When the reaction was much better than it anticipated, S&W was overwhelmed. This lead to it deciding to do the builds in house from now on.
The rep said he would expect as tight, if not tighter, tolerances from the rifles built in-house as the ones built by the jobbers in the first go-round. On the one hand he said the rifles will be identical now as they were when they were introduced, but in another breath he said S&W could be making some of the parts in-house as well, although they would be to the same specs. He wouldn't/couldn't elaborate on which parts might be made by S&W instead of the other companies. I asked if the lower would change and he said "no."
I don't know this particular rep from adam, so he might have been just telling me what he's heard through the grapevine or he may have actually been reporting company information. I was going to order a 15T from a dealer recently and was told that S&W got behind in its production and is about 3 to 6 weeks out from its newest shipment. This could be consistent with what the rep was saying, assuming the lag is caused by the transition to in-house builds. The rep couldn't report any type of timeline for shipment of the in-house built rifles, or any kind of serial number break-down that would differentiate the pre-in-house vs. the in-house builds. He indicated there wouldn't be any way to tell the rifles apart, as far as he knew.
Has anybody else heard any information that might help us all understand the details of the above? I'm a little concerned about ordering a 15T and having it be one of the first ones off of S&W in-house line. Nothing against S&W, as I assume it will put the same quality control into making these rifles in-house as it does with any other models it builds. Experience has proven though that the first batch of whatever can often have some bugs that need to be worked out simply because it takes some trial and error to get the production up and running as close to perfect as possible. does anyone happen to know whether there's a serial number project on the net for these, or whether S&W has disclosed what the last serial number was of the prior build and what the first serial number is/will be for the in-house? Has anyone heard whether in-house build rifles have already been shipped/sold anywhere in the U.S.?
Thanks,
The rep said he would expect as tight, if not tighter, tolerances from the rifles built in-house as the ones built by the jobbers in the first go-round. On the one hand he said the rifles will be identical now as they were when they were introduced, but in another breath he said S&W could be making some of the parts in-house as well, although they would be to the same specs. He wouldn't/couldn't elaborate on which parts might be made by S&W instead of the other companies. I asked if the lower would change and he said "no."
I don't know this particular rep from adam, so he might have been just telling me what he's heard through the grapevine or he may have actually been reporting company information. I was going to order a 15T from a dealer recently and was told that S&W got behind in its production and is about 3 to 6 weeks out from its newest shipment. This could be consistent with what the rep was saying, assuming the lag is caused by the transition to in-house builds. The rep couldn't report any type of timeline for shipment of the in-house built rifles, or any kind of serial number break-down that would differentiate the pre-in-house vs. the in-house builds. He indicated there wouldn't be any way to tell the rifles apart, as far as he knew.
Has anybody else heard any information that might help us all understand the details of the above? I'm a little concerned about ordering a 15T and having it be one of the first ones off of S&W in-house line. Nothing against S&W, as I assume it will put the same quality control into making these rifles in-house as it does with any other models it builds. Experience has proven though that the first batch of whatever can often have some bugs that need to be worked out simply because it takes some trial and error to get the production up and running as close to perfect as possible. does anyone happen to know whether there's a serial number project on the net for these, or whether S&W has disclosed what the last serial number was of the prior build and what the first serial number is/will be for the in-house? Has anyone heard whether in-house build rifles have already been shipped/sold anywhere in the U.S.?
Thanks,
