Rough Bore on Compact .22?

What is actually sad in my opinion is that neither Jeff Whitehouse, my contact at S&W or I could get them to repair the frame or replace the pistol. We still have it, the pistol functions fine but it certainly has no resale value due to this and an owner can certainly have no enthusiasm in owning it. S&W makes some excellent firearms......but, why not apologize for something this poorly made and replace it. In the meantime I've posted this picture and more photos of the rough and unacceptable work 100 times here and there. I bet that does more damage to the bottom line than simply replacing the frame, the barrel and a few other parts that looked equally bad would have cost.

Photos of the pistol were sent to the Chief Engineer of Walther Small Arms, Daniel Rieger and his comments were professional but right on target regarding their concerns with what they were seeing out of Houlton. M1911

With regard to the compact .22 made by S&W....the pistol seems well made, is largely a copy of the Walther made full size version. I found moving parts function to be 100%. Takedown for cleaning much easier than the P22. Fit and finish, excellent. But with three different barrels that threw five round groups as wide as 9" at 21' and that with the pistol locked in a mechanical rest....what can you say but totally unacceptable...even for a plinker. A training pistol, yes it might be ok but only barely so. Who wants a pistol that won't group?

It sure looked possible to machine the pistol to receive a 3.4" or 5" Walther P22 barrel. But, I no longer have the pistol. I've looked at about six others but they all have the same bad rifling. So this pistol is off my list until something is done about the barrels. M1911

This is a VERY old thread....but since the pistol is still in production and I just purchased one....re-reading this thread, and after shooting a friend's Compact 22, I think S&W has corrected all of the very valid complaints. Both my friend's and mine are well made, and the accuracy/reliability show it. Here are my comments on the gun, that picked up on March 1st of 2022.

The barrel looks just fine...good sharp rifling and the accuracy is there as well....~2-3" @ 25 yds from a rest with Mini-Mags or Federal Auto-Match. Winchester yellow box Super-X wouldn't group and leaded up like crazy...but a cpl passes with an old bore brush wrapped with several All Copper Chore Boy strands cleaned it right up...no problems in that regard with CCI MM or Fed AM.

I shot 20 rounds of Mini-Mags, at first, just to try the trigger and learn the gun. Lousy trigger!!! ...but the gun still put 10 shots under a dime at 7 yds, slow fire. With a decent trigger, mine would be a bona fide tack driver. I'm looking fwd to further improvement as the gun breaks in over the next few months. The weight is amazing as well....15 oz. and it sits on the hip like a pocket knife...but I'd agree, that light weight requires a steady hand to wring out the gun's accuracy potential.

Initially, the trigger was abominable...lots of crunchy take up and a mushy release...like Glock with a spoonful of Cheerios thrown in. We thoroughly cleaned both guns then re-greased them with military weapons grease and some Kroil where oil was needed. Much better afterward...but remember both of these were new guns, & fresh out of the box. Now after ~ 200 rounds the trigger on mine is much better; usable but could still use some improvement.

Reliability: Zero malfunctions of any sort to date. Remarkable, in my view, and I own half a dozen .22 cal. autos...none are this reliable. I've been carrying it for the past several days while walking out with my pointer here on our farm...lots of thistle tops and pine cones to snipe...and good for the dog too...gunfire and all that....

Here's a a pic with the OWB holster I made for it. Best regards, Rod

Perhaps in the 6 years that have transpired since this thread was started, they (S&W) finally figured it out. Doesn't change the fact that they didn't care one bit about all the people who got screwed with the earlier versions, like me. What they did was nothing more than insult everyone by telling them they were using the wrong ammo or not cleaning it correctly, not replacing bad barrels that were sent in, or replacing those bad barrels with ones that were just as bad or worse.
I still have that same gun I referenced 6 years ago, but rarely use it anymore. I also have bought nothing newly made from Smith and Wesson since the 2 Victories I got shortly after the M&Pc debacle. They lost me as a new product customer forever after this fiasco. One shouldn't have to go through everything I did, on a new gun, just to get it to be a mediocre plinker at best. When I want to shoot accurate rimfire pistols, I use my Ruger MK series. The only S&W items I buy now are older revolvers. Their new model 41's intrigued me but as stated earlier, I will not buy anything new from them again.