I don't see a bad experience with Bud's - they took a transferred gun back and gave you a refund. I've bought a bunch of new S&W's over the last decade - never got a defect - certainly not a canted barrel. If you had followed others early advice and called S&W (free) for an overnite return label (free) they would repair it (free) and return it to your home (free) probably within another week or so. You would soon have a better-than-new 617... a revolver that you can enjoy frugal plinking with for years to come.
I wonder if there was just a bit of 'buyer's remorse' at work here. $700 is a lot to spend on 'just' a .22 rimfire, never mind that it is just as hard to manufacture as the other K-frames - more so because of the ten holes in the cylinder. That's half what a good PC Shop gun would run! I just wonder if that didn't come into play here.
The way I see it, not only did Bud's not fail you, but neither did S&W. Sure, they may have let one make it out the door with a defect - but you didn't give S&W a shot at correcting it, either. I am not trying to be ugly to the OP - just standing up for a couple of decent companies - and a fine revolver. As my bought new 4" 617 approaches it's four year anniversary, I still have but one complaint: Why did I wait until I was sixty to get a 617??
Stainz