cslinger
Member
Well gentle readers it is that time again for another boring range report. Today's range report is brought to you by the letters S and W.
Before I begin I want to say a few things about shooting. People shoot for all kinds of reasons. Some people practice, some people shoot professionally, some for self defense, some for sport, some shoot to hunt and some to prepare for some yet unknown event. All of these are as good a reason as any to go shooting.
I,however, am here to talk about shooting for fun. Shooting to have senseless wanton enjoyment. The kind of shooting that has nothing to do with the 2nd amendment so to speak. The kind that tugs on your inner child or that person who simply appreciates caressing a fine work of industrial art while making some noise and poking some holes. You know those most dangerous of folks that surely are the cause of all the worlds ills and the abject hate of antis from here to Chicago. I am here to talk about the plinkers.
I have a goal with my firearm collection to have a centerfire and rimfire version of all the action types that interest me. I have up to this point been missing a double action .22. I had flirted with a Ruger SP101 a while back but it just didn't scratch the itch. I wanted something with some class, something with a little personality so to speak. No disrespect to the Rugers of the world, but that SP101 just wasn't doing it for me.
So last weekend I come across a pristine Smith and Wesson model 17/K22. Probably a late 70s model. She simply called to me and I knew she was the double action .22 that needed to be part of my collection. The bluing was deep and intoxicating, the target grips gave her a classic big revolver look while the short underlug gave her graceful lines. Upon inspection and removal of the grips I found that this gun could not have had more then a couple hundred rounds through her, as even the cylinder line was faint. A small sonic boom and some melted plastic later I brought her home.
After cleaning her up it was off to the range to get a feel for the new lady of the house. As always scores are out of 10 rounds with 10 being the best and 1 being the worst. I brought alone another fine .22 with a bit of history as well. The legendary Ruger Mark II, this one a Government competition model.
ERGONOMICS 5/10 ROUNDS - Let's start of with ergos. I gave this a score of 5 or 10 rounds. My reasoning is as follows. For me personally the target/coke bottle grips have never fit my small hands and they tend to make me pull to the right. The fact is though, part of my enjoyment of a firearm such as this the classic look, so the grips stay. So the gun gets 5 Rounds in its current configuration due to the way it fits me. It, does however get 10 rounds due to the fact that I can put any grip I could possibly imagine on this gun, not to mention that the target grips work for a great many people. I just don't have the heart to change the ole' girl's stocks and to be honest shooting one hole groups is not the only allure to shooting a gun such as this.
TRIGGER 7 ROUNDS - Let's talk about the ole days shall we. You know the days when every gun came off the assembly line with a buttery smooth 1.5 pound, telepathic trigger, that could never be done today because of the lawyers? Or could it be that many of these old school guns have been shot quite a lot and had their triggers smoothed out over years of shooting. I tend to lean towards the latter, myself. This K22, like I said earlier, had been fired very little and frankly the double action was a bit stiff. Smooth, and very easy to stage but a bit stiff none the less. The single action broke like a glass rod, however. So all I am trying to say is that this gun has an excellent trigger but it is not as good as my newer production Smith and Wesson 681PC. At the end of the day I am a firm believer that shooting and shooting lots is what most triggers need to make them buttery smooth. The double action pull was able to be staged perfectly and made for some good shooting when I paid attention to my grip.
ACCURACY 8 ROUNDS - I did not do any mechanical accuracy test and did not shoot from a rest. All shots were fired offhand from 10 yards double action. The results, I feel are very good. I had two flyers to the right, due to the grips and my grip on said grips. The paper is folded over to hide those two flyers, as they were shooter error. I am more then pleased with the accuracy for my first time out and the fact that the grips are not made for my small hands.
FIT AND FINISH 10 ROUNDS - Deep blue, no tool marks, pinned barrel, everything moving part as smooth as velvet. The gun locks up like a bank vault and looks like a limo. The case hardening is beautifully done on the trigger and hammer and overall the gun is just made spectacularly well. It puts something like my newer 442 to shame and when looked at side by side with a new 617 there is simply no contest. Not that the newer Smiths are garbage, as they are not. It is just the attention to detail on this gun is just so evident.
RELIABILITY 10 ROUNDS - No malfunctions, no excessive leading, no spitting, no problems what so ever through 300 rounds of .22.
COOL FACTOR 9 ROUNDS - The only reason I cannot give this a 10 is because it is not an earlier model. The gun however just ooozes cool. It feels and looks like a big, beautiful full caliber revolver. The gun has lots of history behind it and is quite frankly a useable, industrial work of art. You can buy .22 pistols that are just as accurate and probably just as well made but they just don't have that certain something that an old Smith or Colt does.
BANG FOR THE BUCK 9 ROUNDS - I bought a finely crafted, finely blued revolver with lots of history, little to no use for less money then I could by a new 617. If this gun were produced today in the same way with the same bluing and attention to detail it would list for close to 1000 dollars. I personally think I got a lot of gun for my dollar. All that and no hole in the side. Now I don't have a dog in the Hillary hole fight so to speak and I even think it would make a nice OPTIONAL feature for some folks who might want the ability to lock the gun. I do, however think they could not have picked a worse way to implement this and I think forcing it on the buyer is wrong. So when it is all said and done this gun with a hole in the side would simply be wrong.
So I finally scratched my double action .22 revolver itch. It is a gun that is just so fun to own and shooting it is so much more then mechanical accuracy, speed, handling or any practical point to a firearm. Shooting it is almost like enjoying a fine cigar or a good bourbon. Something to be savored and enjoyed as much for the intangibles as for the tangibles.
This one is a keeper two thumbs up and it gets 10 ROUNDS overall from me not only for its tangible attributes but largely for its intangibles that deserve savoring.
Before I begin I want to say a few things about shooting. People shoot for all kinds of reasons. Some people practice, some people shoot professionally, some for self defense, some for sport, some shoot to hunt and some to prepare for some yet unknown event. All of these are as good a reason as any to go shooting.
I,however, am here to talk about shooting for fun. Shooting to have senseless wanton enjoyment. The kind of shooting that has nothing to do with the 2nd amendment so to speak. The kind that tugs on your inner child or that person who simply appreciates caressing a fine work of industrial art while making some noise and poking some holes. You know those most dangerous of folks that surely are the cause of all the worlds ills and the abject hate of antis from here to Chicago. I am here to talk about the plinkers.
I have a goal with my firearm collection to have a centerfire and rimfire version of all the action types that interest me. I have up to this point been missing a double action .22. I had flirted with a Ruger SP101 a while back but it just didn't scratch the itch. I wanted something with some class, something with a little personality so to speak. No disrespect to the Rugers of the world, but that SP101 just wasn't doing it for me.
So last weekend I come across a pristine Smith and Wesson model 17/K22. Probably a late 70s model. She simply called to me and I knew she was the double action .22 that needed to be part of my collection. The bluing was deep and intoxicating, the target grips gave her a classic big revolver look while the short underlug gave her graceful lines. Upon inspection and removal of the grips I found that this gun could not have had more then a couple hundred rounds through her, as even the cylinder line was faint. A small sonic boom and some melted plastic later I brought her home.
After cleaning her up it was off to the range to get a feel for the new lady of the house. As always scores are out of 10 rounds with 10 being the best and 1 being the worst. I brought alone another fine .22 with a bit of history as well. The legendary Ruger Mark II, this one a Government competition model.
ERGONOMICS 5/10 ROUNDS - Let's start of with ergos. I gave this a score of 5 or 10 rounds. My reasoning is as follows. For me personally the target/coke bottle grips have never fit my small hands and they tend to make me pull to the right. The fact is though, part of my enjoyment of a firearm such as this the classic look, so the grips stay. So the gun gets 5 Rounds in its current configuration due to the way it fits me. It, does however get 10 rounds due to the fact that I can put any grip I could possibly imagine on this gun, not to mention that the target grips work for a great many people. I just don't have the heart to change the ole' girl's stocks and to be honest shooting one hole groups is not the only allure to shooting a gun such as this.
TRIGGER 7 ROUNDS - Let's talk about the ole days shall we. You know the days when every gun came off the assembly line with a buttery smooth 1.5 pound, telepathic trigger, that could never be done today because of the lawyers? Or could it be that many of these old school guns have been shot quite a lot and had their triggers smoothed out over years of shooting. I tend to lean towards the latter, myself. This K22, like I said earlier, had been fired very little and frankly the double action was a bit stiff. Smooth, and very easy to stage but a bit stiff none the less. The single action broke like a glass rod, however. So all I am trying to say is that this gun has an excellent trigger but it is not as good as my newer production Smith and Wesson 681PC. At the end of the day I am a firm believer that shooting and shooting lots is what most triggers need to make them buttery smooth. The double action pull was able to be staged perfectly and made for some good shooting when I paid attention to my grip.
ACCURACY 8 ROUNDS - I did not do any mechanical accuracy test and did not shoot from a rest. All shots were fired offhand from 10 yards double action. The results, I feel are very good. I had two flyers to the right, due to the grips and my grip on said grips. The paper is folded over to hide those two flyers, as they were shooter error. I am more then pleased with the accuracy for my first time out and the fact that the grips are not made for my small hands.
FIT AND FINISH 10 ROUNDS - Deep blue, no tool marks, pinned barrel, everything moving part as smooth as velvet. The gun locks up like a bank vault and looks like a limo. The case hardening is beautifully done on the trigger and hammer and overall the gun is just made spectacularly well. It puts something like my newer 442 to shame and when looked at side by side with a new 617 there is simply no contest. Not that the newer Smiths are garbage, as they are not. It is just the attention to detail on this gun is just so evident.
RELIABILITY 10 ROUNDS - No malfunctions, no excessive leading, no spitting, no problems what so ever through 300 rounds of .22.
COOL FACTOR 9 ROUNDS - The only reason I cannot give this a 10 is because it is not an earlier model. The gun however just ooozes cool. It feels and looks like a big, beautiful full caliber revolver. The gun has lots of history behind it and is quite frankly a useable, industrial work of art. You can buy .22 pistols that are just as accurate and probably just as well made but they just don't have that certain something that an old Smith or Colt does.
BANG FOR THE BUCK 9 ROUNDS - I bought a finely crafted, finely blued revolver with lots of history, little to no use for less money then I could by a new 617. If this gun were produced today in the same way with the same bluing and attention to detail it would list for close to 1000 dollars. I personally think I got a lot of gun for my dollar. All that and no hole in the side. Now I don't have a dog in the Hillary hole fight so to speak and I even think it would make a nice OPTIONAL feature for some folks who might want the ability to lock the gun. I do, however think they could not have picked a worse way to implement this and I think forcing it on the buyer is wrong. So when it is all said and done this gun with a hole in the side would simply be wrong.
So I finally scratched my double action .22 revolver itch. It is a gun that is just so fun to own and shooting it is so much more then mechanical accuracy, speed, handling or any practical point to a firearm. Shooting it is almost like enjoying a fine cigar or a good bourbon. Something to be savored and enjoyed as much for the intangibles as for the tangibles.
This one is a keeper two thumbs up and it gets 10 ROUNDS overall from me not only for its tangible attributes but largely for its intangibles that deserve savoring.
