Smith & Wesson 17-8

[DC3-CVN-72]

Hi, this is my first post on the internet. I have been surfing this forum for years. I have been shooting for 20+ years. I bought a 6in. S & W model 17-8 in .22lr too teach my 11 year old son to shoot, because it is almost like my 686-5 with a 6in bbl. the 17-8 is like a matt blue with 10 shot cylinder, my question is the cylinder is lighter in weight, I just noticed it. You cant tell by the finish as it matches perfictly with the frame. If you tap on it with your finger you can hear the diference in sound. So I think the cylinder is aluminum or smoe other metal. I have no problem with this, because the gun shoots grate, it is like new, and I got it for $300.00. out the door. also it has the full under lug bbl. Is this a rare gun or a problem gun. No problems yet,just wondering what to expect. My son's first shot with it was just high left of the 10 ring @ 25 yards, so the gun is not going away, just wondering what I have.

 

[Shear_stress]

I don't have the Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson in front of me, but S&W did a run of aluminum cylindered Model 17s and 617s in the late nineties. Sounds like what you've got.

 

[XavierBreath]

Welcome to THR Shipmate!

The cylinder on a Model 17-8 is indeed alloy. I would not be concerned about it's durability.
$300 out the door is a good price, depending on sales tax in your area.

 

[DC3-CVN-72]

thank you for the welcome. I am verry new to this posting thing. I am also verry bad at the typing and spelling thing. most times all of you here say the same things I would to the subjucts addresed here,just faster than I can type it. I learn somthing new here every day. I enjoy this forum and visit it almost every day. I just hope that if I start to post more you can put up with my bad spelling and slow responce time, again thank you for the welcom, as I have felt at home here for quite some time.

 

[BBA]

17-8

That's a great gun to start with. I have one and yes the cylinder is aluminum. S&W did have a few problems with them. I think most of the problems were with sticky extraction. 22's are dirty and crud builds up on the cylinder walls. Just polish the the chambers with a bore mop and some metal polish after a good cleaning, its doesn't take much. If shooting alot, I take a bore brush to the range to clean the carbon out. S&W chambers are pretty tight(not much slop), that's why their accurate. The 10-8 is a good gun, I think it took just a little more maint.

 

[JMusic]

Yep I was going to recomend Fritz to polish the cylinders. You can't go wrong with the 17, they are probably the best 22 revolver made today.

Jim