Mystery Smith ?

[chriske]

Has anyone ever heard of a Smith & Wesson mod. 17-4 in .22 LR with a 4" SLIM barrel & Baughman "quick-draw" front sight ?

I haven't but my shooting buddy has one.

I haven't seen it, so I don't know the serial n° as yet.

I confess to very limited knowledge about such things, but I can't recall the mod. 17 ever being made in that configuration.

Can anyone here ?

 

[OFT]

I've heard of some model 17s with a 4" barrel but have never personally seen one. It could have been rebarreled with a model 18 barrel. You might want to try the S&W forum and ask some of the experts there.

 

[Jim Watson]

I have seen 4" model 14s but not a 4" model 17. Sounds like a 17 with an 18 barrel. It might be a replacement for a damaged 6", it might be a change for personal preference, or somebody at the factory just didn't match the model designation with the barrel length.

 

[Jim K]

IIRC, the Model 17 with a 4" barrel was introduced when the Model 18 .22 Combat Masterpiece was discontinued, and was really the same as the latter gun. I don't know why the change, possibly just a desire by S&W to reduce the number of models in the catalog.

Both guns were popular as training guns for police armed with the Combat Masterpiece or Combat Magnum, but faded when police went to auto pistols.

Jim