S&W 317 back in the fold!

[Legionnaire]

I bought one of the first run 317 AirLites back in 1997. Three-inch barrel, traditional sights ... it was a sweat shooter. Foolishly, I sold it off some years later, thinking it would be easy enough to replace should I ever so desire. Shortly thereafter, S&W added a "HiViz" fiber optic front sight and a V-notched rear in place of the original target sights, as well as the stupid internal lock--and pre-lock specimens became more and more rare.

Well, today, I picked up a mint condition 317-1 that feels just like my original. Welcome home, baby!

 

[ClemY]

I got one of the 3" 317's with the V rear. I quickly changed the front sight to a black, serrated ramp and a square notch rear.

I then had a problem with gas cutting and ablation of the cylinder face. They eventually replaced the barrel and fitted a stainless cylinder. It picked up a couple of oz. in weight, but it feels better to me. It is more accurate than my 3" 63.