Smith and Wesson 617

J

jackknife

Joined
Oct 2, 2004
Messages
17,489
I traded in my S&W model 63 for a 617.

About 20 years ago I had a K frame model 18, witch is a 4 inch version of the K22. I traded it off like an idiot, and for the last 15 years have been kicking myself for it. I finally deceided to bite the 600 dollar bullet and get anothr K frame .22 revolver. I was never wild about the medium accuracy of the model 63, so when the dealer offered me half the value of the new 617 on a trade, I bit. That was more than I paid for the 63.

I've had the gun out five times now( I shoot about twice a week on the range) and its a great gun. Yes, heavier than the smaller J frame but WAY more accurite. Single action trigger is very crisp, like the proverbial glass rod. The double action is smooth, but with a slow pull staging as I feel the second click, the cyclinder bolt stop click in, there is a bit of a rough spot just after that. Its a flaw in an exquisite gun. With two 550 round bulk packs of Federals through it, its still got that rough spot right before it goes off.

Should I just keep shooting it for a few months and see if it smoothes out?

Other than the little rough spot on the double action this is about as good a Smith as I've ever had. Clay birds on the 50 yard berm are sitting ducks, and a plastic milk jug at 100 is bounced pretty regularly. I could never hit like that with the 63. The only other handgun I have that is this accurite is my Ruger MK2 bull barrel target.

I'm wondering if I should have a gunsmith familier with Smith and Wesson revolvers give it a very carefull polishing on the trigger and hammer .
 
Any GOOD gunsmith should be able to do a nice action job on that for you, that not only lessens double action pull weight, but removes the area of creep and stack that's so annoying.
Where I used to work we did a lot of S&W's every week. Just make sure the gunsmith is familiar with S&W actions.

A good place will smooth all the internal parts at the same time. They're pretty easy when you've done a few, but there are hack smiths that can screw up anything. Just use your judgement and ask around if you don't already know a good gunsmith.
 
jackknife, if you aren't a patient person then go for it. Otherwise, the DA pull on my 617 has smoothed out a bit since I first got it. I've got somewhere near 2000 rounds through it. You can still feel the different stages of the pull, not sure if a gun smith will be able to reduce that or not.
Adam
 
I have heard good things about S & W's own custom shop for action jobs. Just a thought.
 
APS said:
jackknife, if you aren't a patient person then go for it. Otherwise, the DA pull on my 617 has smoothed out a bit since I first got it. I've got somewhere near 2000 rounds through it. You can still feel the different stages of the pull, not sure if a gun smith will be able to reduce that or not.
Adam
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I'm not out to eliminate the stages, just the one rough spot at the very end of the double action pull. Its like a sour note at the end of a nice piece of music.

knzn may be right. I was on the factory website and they offer a action job there at Smiths own custom shop. I'll give it another couple of range sessions and if its still got the rough spot in it with no sign of it getting better, it will go to Smith. Where else to get it worked on but where it was built?
 
Congrats on your new pistol Jackknife! Which barrel length do you have? My S&W catalogue shows 3 variations, and apparently two lengths. One of the two 6" models has a 6 rd capacity, the other a 10 rd capacity.

The S&W I am lusting after is the model 460V.... purt near leaves me speechless!
 
Mongo said:
Congrats on your new pistol Jackknife! Which barrel length do you have? My S&W catalogue shows 3 variations, and apparently two lengths. One of the two 6" models has a 6 rd capacity, the other a 10 rd capacity.

The S&W I am lusting after is the model 460V.... purt near leaves me speechless!
Click to expand...

I got the 4 inch 10 shot.

So far I've been very impressed with this gun. Inch and a half groups at 25 yards, breaks clay birds at 50 yards, and able to hit plastic 1 gallon milk jugs at 100 yards from a rest. (I'm not near that good, but the gun is.) I love it, but it bugs me that there is that little spot of roughness just before it goes off with a slow double action pull.

I love Smith and Wesson revolvers.
 
I have never been as fond of my 617 as I am of the older 17. The blue gun is more accurate and the trigger is better(I guess from thousands of rounds). The biggest turnoff is the big underlug on mine. It makes the pistol way to heavy for me at the frontside. My 617 has bgeen back in the box for a number of years and my 17 just continues to serve.

I have to add that a machinist friend looked at both guns and without being a "gunperson" picked the 617 as the better made gun. "The tolerances are better and the quality is overall better" was his opinion.
 
If I could have found a good condition model 18 like I had, I'd have bought it. But the owners of the old ones arn't parting with them too often, and then want more money for them than the new ones. Plus the new ones have the Smith lifetime factory warenttee, a 10 shot cylinder, and with the underlug they hold on target sooo much better than the old ones.

By co-incidence I am a retired machinist, and once I examined the gun at the gunshop, I was impressed enough to buy it. Having been shooting Smith and Wesson revolvers for 40 years now, I think the ones they are making today are some of the best yet. :thumbup:
 
jackknife said:
I traded it off like an idiot, and for the last 15 years have been kicking myself for it.
Click to expand...

Hope you don't feel like this later for trading off your M63.
 
I have a Smith model 18. I probably should look into trading it for a newer version. While I like the gun, I like Stainless and I think someone else would probably cherish it more than I.
 
InsuranceGuy said:
I have a Smith model 18. I probably should look into trading it for a newer version. While I like the gun, I like Stainless and I think someone else would probably cherish it more than I.
Click to expand...


OH MAN! Where were you a couple of weeks ago!
 
InsuranceGuy said:
I have a Smith model 18. I probably should look into trading it for a newer version. While I like the gun, I like Stainless and I think someone else would probably cherish it more than I.
Click to expand...

Okay, just out of curiosity, what is the year of manufacture of your 18, and what kind of shape is it in? Does it have the pined barrel?
 
It is a model 18-3 with a pinned barrel. I am having trouble finding online a chart showing serial numbers and manufacturing dates. The serial number is K888XXX so if you can find out, please tell me what year that was made. Thanks.
 
InsuranceGuy said:
It is a model 18-3 with a pinned barrel. I am having trouble finding online a chart showing serial numbers and manufacturing dates. The serial number is K888XXX so if you can find out, please tell me what year that was made. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Now I'm having a battle with myself to offer to buy it from you or not. If you were to sell it, what do you want for it? And how the heck would I get it to Maryland?
 
I'm really not interested in a sale. I would consider a trade for a new S&W .22 revolver.
The way it would work would be I transfer it to my dealer and he would send it to an FFL of your choosing. The other half of the trade would work the same way in reverse.

Still researching the date of manufacture.
 
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