A Perfect Practice Day With My 617

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AzShooter1

AzShooter1

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FO Sight Small.jpg

Getting ready for this Sunday's Steel Challenge Match I decided to use my S&W 617 Revolver instead of my Volquarten Black Mamba for a while.

I started sighting in at 7 yards and was 2 inches low. That should have put me right on out to 25 but when I set the target at 20 yards I was hitting high. I resighted in at 20 until I was hitting an 8 inch Shoot & See target consistently. I then moved back to 10 yards to confirm my settings and had to adjust my windage a bit and lower my elevation.

After all was said and done I managed to get the right sight settings.

I was using Remington Bucket Of Bullets. I find them to be really clean in my gun. I ran 400 rounds without having to clean the cylinders and extraction was easy till the end. Now I take a cordless drill with a brass brush and run for 30 seconds on each cylinder so that I'll be ready for Sunday.

My times at 10 yard drills for first shot were better and more consistent then with my auto. When I went back to 20 to simulate Pendulum I was dead on so I think I'm ready for the match.

My 617 has iron sighs on it this week. A green fiber optic front sight from Dawson Precision that I installed, and an LPA rear sight. I like the green, it's easy for me to see and the LPA is serrated so that there will be no glare and is large enough to get a great sight picture.

Next week I'll be shooting the same gun but with a C-More Railway red dot sight on it. My mount didn't come in until after I got home today and I don't have a chance to get to the range to re sight it in.

I used my DS-10 Speed Loaders to help speed up my shooting time today. Without them it would have taken much longer.

The DS-10s let me put all 10 shots back in the cylinder quickly and they do not lose the bullets when taking them out of the loading rack. They are very secure but release as soon as I push the back of the loader.
 
ontarget said:
I tried to buy a 4 inch 617 a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately someone beat me to it. Good luck at your match. Sounds like you got it dialed in.
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In my experience, the 4" versions (especially used) seem to sell twice as fast as the 6". People just like the "handiness" of the shorter length a little better. Personally, I think they both have their strong points. Problem solved!
IMG-20170425-164849-zpspnrwxab6.jpg

p.s. I have a rail ready to go on. Soon as I get motivated, the 6" is going to get an optic.
 
My M617 likes these too.
AzShooter1 said:
I was using Remington Bucket Of Bullets
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You could sign up for alerts. I get this alert one once or twice a month, but you gotta move fast. I got mine over a year ago, but I'm still curious on its availability.
ontarget said:
I tried to buy a 4 inch 617 a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately someone beat me to it. Good luck at your match. Sounds like you got it dialed in.
Click to expand...
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sparkyv said:
My M617 likes these too.




You could sign up for alerts. I get this alert one once or twice a month, but you gotta move fast. I got mine over a year ago, but I'm still curious on its availability.

View attachment 1064953
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There are usually a few on gunbroker. Mostly new but every now and then you'll find a used one at a fair price. Sometimes you can go directly to the vendors and strike a better deal too. That said, I think the days of buying any 617 for $600 are behind us :-(
 
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Back in 2016 a local shop had their 617’s on sale at Christmas time at $70 off the regular price, and their regular price wasn’t too bad. As soon as the sale was announced, I knew I was getting one, but which one. The shop had plenty of of both on hand. After a week or two of deliberation, I decided on the 4 inch. It was $659.99 plus 6% sales tax. I really like it. I shot it more last year than usual and the way ammo prices and availability are, I’ll be shooting it a lot this year
I find the bulk pack Federal 38gr run accurate and clean, so I bought a bunch when Walmart had 550 round bulk packs for $20.
7A098E49-D59D-49E7-9567-D18A6F908232.jpeg
 
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Nice gun. Our Walmart stopped selling ammo. I bought 2 cases of CCI Blazer from them before they stopped and I only have one box left.

Fortunately I've been able to buy a bunch of Federal direct from the factory along with CCI Mini Mags, Blazers and Stardard Velocity when they are in stock at CCI.

I've asked the mangers of our local Walmarts if they are going to get any ammo and they said no so I'm out of luck on that part.
 
AzShooter1 said:
Nice gun. Our Walmart stopped selling ammo. I bought 2 cases of CCI Blazer from them before they stopped and I only have one box left.

Fortunately I've been able to buy a bunch of Federal direct from the factory along with CCI Mini Mags, Blazers and Stardard Velocity when they are in stock at CCI.

I've asked the mangers of our local Walmarts if they are going to get any ammo and they said no so I'm out of luck on that part.
Click to expand...

I've been able to get Federal Automatch 325rnd boxes ($21.16 ea) at my local Walmart, I just bought another 3 box limit yesterday. They also had some higher priced Winchester. Walmart still has the best price around here.
 
When you mentioned using a revolver for steel challenge I thought of an older guy who shot our club matches with a 5 shot Jfram in 38spl. When asked he would say "run what your brung. I shoot his for practice, not to beat everyone at the hardware game." We used to shoot against each other I would use my old colt police positive him his j frame. Now we have a carry revolver class.
 
jak67429 said:
When you mentioned using a revolver for steel challenge I thought of an older guy who shot our club matches with a 5 shot Jfram in 38spl. When asked he would say "run what your brung. I shoot his for practice, not to beat everyone at the hardware game." We used to shoot against each other I would use my old colt police positive him his j frame. Now we have a carry revolver class.
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"Beware the old guy who has one gun, chances are he's learned how to shoot it well over the years." ;)
 
DS-10-SPEED said:
I've been able to get Federal Automatch 325rnd boxes ($21.16 ea) at my local Walmart, I just bought another 3 box limit yesterday. They also had some higher priced Winchester. Walmart still has the best price around here.
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That's an excellent price on some pretty decent ammo. ( It's the only bulk ammo I'll shoot, really). I had bought cases of it (pre-pandemic) so haven't been looking. Good to know it's back on the shelves though. Your Da#$!'d speed loaders help me to go through ammo in my 617's pretty quickly!
 
CMON if you like the 4 and the 6inch you got to like the 8in especially when it is converted from 6 shot to 10shot. only thing I hate about it is it took S&W 10months to do the conversion :what:
Does anyone know the difference between the DS-10 and Speedbeez Speed loaders?
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The DS-10s hold the ammo a bit tighter while at times the Speed Beez will release some ammo when you are pulling it out of your loading block.

Plus the DS-10s are only $25. I have 19 and they have never failed me. I think Seed Beez are $35.
 
AzShooter1 said:
The DS-10s hold the ammo a bit tighter while at times the Speed Beez will release some ammo when you are pulling it out of your loading block.

Plus the DS-10s are only $25. I have 19 and they have never failed me. I think Seed Beez are $35.
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Not to mention the DS was the original idea and first on he market. I have 10, DS-10's and 1 speedbeez. (that came with a used .22 revolver ) I prefer the DS. Great customer support too!
 
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