My 14-24 zooms smoothly to about 15mm, then sticks briefly, and with a little more twist snaps to 14mm - as if it is catching on something. Is it usual for the zoom to not be smooth at that point - or am I sending it to Nikon for service?
According to lensrentals.com, the 14-24 has a relatively high failure rate ("relatively" being the key term), mainly due to (you guessed it) the zoom ring.
yup mine is smooth (for now). I would send it in if it starts acting funny. Yours might have something to do with uneven distribution of grease, but it sounds to me the factory just used too tight a tolerance. And not in the zoom ring but in the internal extension of the glasswork.
I don't want to frighten you but I had this recently with my 17-35/2.8
I send it in and they repaired it (€ 565,00 ouch), luckily my insurance covered it.