Site issue on brand new S&W Performance Center M&P 380 EZ

Icarus2020

Hi all, I'm a bit new to handgun ownership. I've been hunting with shotguns in years past. I decided to get a handgun and wanted something the wife could handle easy enough. Both of us have arthritis issues, so the new S&W EZ line looked like a good option. I had originally wanted the 9mm in the Performance Center version, because I liked the sites better on the PC version. With all that's going on in 2020, we quickly determined we would never get a 9mm so we opted for the 380 EZ in the PC version. It took 2 weeks to find ammo. I bought the gun thru this Gunbroker site, and had noticed the rear site was sitting a bit to the left of center. I had assumed the sites should be centered but wanted to check accuracy at the range. We just went to the indoor range and on the 3rd shot the gun ever fired, the front site flew off. Luckily I found it on the floor behind us. I guess my question is this. Considering the Performance Center version is touted as being the souped up version of a supposedly good gun, why would the rear site be out of center and the front site fly off after only 3 rounds? The seller was a gun shop in another state. Could they have taken the sites off for some reason and did not properly re-install, or does S&W normally do this type of shoddy work? I contacted S&W and they sent me a return ship label to send it to them for warranty repairs, but it upsets me a bit to pay nearly $100 ABOVE full retail for something that died out of the box. Thank you in advance for any thoughts.

Ricci.Wright

S&W products are usually high quality. Return the gun and I'm sure they will make you happy. I assume the sights are dovetailed on the slide and if this is the case the front sight dovetail may have been cut oversize. If this is the case they may have to replace the slide. I would prefer this over peening the slide or front sight in order to tighten things up. You might request they call you when they start looking at your pistol.

rufe-snow

Unfortunately because of whats been happening in our country, over the last 6 months. You might be better off, keeping the .380 in your possession, rather than sending it back to S & W. 

If both the front and rear sites are dovetailed into the slide? It's a easy fix, that doesn't require a trip back to Smith. Only if the front sight, is supposed to be permanently attached to the slide would I send it back. 

Tightening dovetailed sights to prevent movement. Is a simple matter of creating "BURRS",  on the under side of the sight.  This will tighten the tolerance's, between the bottom of the site and the dovetail. Hopefully preventing the sight loosening in the dovetail.

Icarus2020

rufe-snow, the front site is not dove tailed like the rear site is. It did look like it would be a bit more difficult to reattach the front site and expect it to stay in place. Now it simply sits in the hole, but not tight. I'm kind of thinking they may have to replace the slide to properly correct the issue...like Ricci.Wright mentioned. Thank you both for your comments. They were helpful. I will send it back and hopefully they will make necessary repairs in short order. 

nmyers

Traditionally semi-autos have a front sight that has a projection (called a tenon) that extends through a hole in the slide; it is then peened from the inside. 

When your model first came out, the tenon was secured by sliding a C-clip around a groove in the tenon inside the slide; this would have enabled unskilled owners to change the sight without special tools.  There have been problems with loose (or lost) front sights.  I'm sure that S&W has made changes to prevent this, so I would NOT let a local gunsmith repair this; returning it to S&W assures you that this will be repaired properly (& without charge).

Neal