Model 617-4 Plus SS 10 shooter .22

[RonJon]

I bought this 6" S&W 617-4 Plus yesterday. It came with the original box and papers. It was Mfd. on Apr 28, 1999 and has MIM parts but no lock. It has a 10 shot stainless steel cylinder (not aluminum alloy as in the earlier 'dash' models). It also came with a 4x32 Simmons scope mounted, but thankfully the box still included the original rear iron sight so the scope was the first thing to come off.

I cleaned and inspected it and my son and I headed to the range this morning. We put 525 rounds through it without a hiccup (although the accuracy started to falter as the lead built up in the barrel with that many rounds fired w/o cleaning in between!) But other than that, it was as accurate a handgun as I've ever shot at the range. The first rounds were shot at paper to set the sight, then moved on to the falling plates for the bulk of the session.

I paid $349 +tx for it and it looks like new - how good a deal is that in today's market?.

The pix below were just taken after the shooting this morning and an extensive clean/polish job:

Ron

 

[Majic]

although the accuracy started to falter as the lead built up in the barrel with that many rounds fired w/o cleaning in between!)

I shoot .22s (various revolvers and semi-autos) all the time and never clean the bore unless I'm going to shoot different ammo. I may find powder fouling, but no leading.

 

[RonJon]

Majic wrote - "I shoot .22s (various revolvers and semi-autos) all the time and never clean the bore unless I'm going to shoot different ammo. I may find powder fouling, but no leading."

Well, when I cleaned the bore I let Hoppe's #9 soak for a few hours first then pushed a bronze .22 bore brush thru the bore from the muzzle back to the breach. Long (up to 1") slivers of lead were pushed out ahead of the brush and the brush itself trapped a lot more lead.

I guess that when you shoot a .22 rapidly enough and that it gets almost too hot to touch for 525 rounds then some lead is bound to accumulate. Have you ever tried this before? I have shot .22s for over 50 years and own 13 .22s (handguns and rifles) at present and never did it with that many rounds in that short a time without cleaning and I've never saw this much lead build up before either.

But I don't think this revolver has anything wrong with it either - The timing and cylinder chamber to bore alignment are both excellent; and the barrel to cylinder gap is .008".

The barrel was not hard to clean - the lead just pushed out with the brush, then a few patches and everything was very clean.

Ron

 

[Joe45acp]

That is a great price for you Model 617. I have a 10 shot one also and love it.

Joe

 

[Tom C.]

I just got a 6 shot 6" 617. So far, so good.

 

[trickyasafox]

im not big into cleaning my 22 barrels either. that being said i'll patch them with hoppes just no brushes. i'll do the patch deal every k or so.

other guns get cleaned far more often, but i shoot an easy 500-700 22's a week, so i let her run a little longer.

 

[Onmilo]

$350 and you got a scope and mount tells me you bought a bargain.
I notice that your revolver doesn't have the goofy key lock either and that is a good thing.
Enjoy.

 

[Abner]

$350 sounds like an outright steel . I paid $600+ for my new one. I love mine and I'm not really a revolver person. Cheap DA practice!!!

Anyway, I will say that I had SIGNIFICANT leading with Winchester PowerPoint bulk from Walmart. Like, it really leaded up after less than 150 rounds. I can't tell for sure but I am guessing that the bullet isn't properly lubricated. I have never had that issue with Remington Golden Bullet.

Haven't put a scope on it yet and my eyes aren't what they used to be but I kind of expected better than 3.5" 10 groups at 25 yards from the bench. I only tried 4 different rounds though.
Adam

 

[DS-10-SPEED]

S&W 617's

Here's my 617's, they are my most used Smiths. Great revolvers.

These make loading them a lot faster.
email: [email protected]

 

[RonJon]

Abner wrote:

I will say that I had SIGNIFICANT leading with Winchester PowerPoint bulk from Walmart. Like, it really leaded up after less than 150 rounds. I can't tell for sure but I am guessing that the bullet isn't properly lubricated.

I did shoot one 50 round box of Winchester during the 525 round session. It seems that the accuracy began to falter about after firing those too.

Ron

 

[Abner]

Ron, I don't know if the powerpoints come in 50rnd boxes or not. I wouldn't want to rule out all Winchester ammo though and you may have a better experience than I did.

I haven't tried any other type of Winchester .22 just b/c Remingon, CCI etc are more prevalent at my local shops.

Adam