Taurus 617 or 817 snubbies?

[Elm Creek Smith]

Does anyone have any experience with the Taurus 617 .357 Magnum snubbies or the 817 .38 Spl Ultra-Lite snubbies? The 817ULs interest me a lot since I have been able to find a decent S&W Model 12 at a reasonable price.

ECS

 

[rich642z]

Taurus 617 or 817 snubbies

If I were you,Stay away from the titaniums and get the steel revolver. I had at one time a 617 Ti gun and shot some reloads that were a tad hotter load and the loads warped and scorced the cylinder face. I have my steel that I carry along with my bug a 642-2 S&W 617 in Stainless and it shoots real well and of course,the 617 is ported. Rich642z,Omaha,Ne.

 

[rantingredneck]

I briefly owned an 817UL. It carried nice and shot well. I'm just not much of a revolver guy. Traded it a couple weeks ago for a Ruger KP97DC. I only put about 75 rounds through mine but I had no complaints.

 

[Elm Creek Smith]

If I were you,Stay away from the titaniums and get the steel revolver.

I wasn't going titanium. If I get the 617, it'll be blued or stainless. I currently carry a blued 3 inch Model 13 Smith. I was really leaning more towards the 817BUL2 or SSUL2 in .38 SPL +P as a backup (New York reload) or for when the ol' arthritis is kicking up and heavy won't do.

I briefly owned an 817UL. It carried nice and shot well. I'm just not much of a revolver guy. Traded it a couple weeks ago for a Ruger KP97DC. I only put about 75 rounds through mine but I had no complaints.

I appreciate it. I had an 85SSUL that I never should have swapped away.

Thanks for your replies!

ECS

 

[rantingredneck]

I will say that the one I had was blued and it had the most highly polished blued finish I've seen on a gun in many a year. Very nicely done.

 

[weregunner]

Light reading time.
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=603.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=693.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=708.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=2343.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=1911.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=2287.msg16437#16437

Hope this helps.

 

[Elm Creek Smith]

Thanks for the links, weregunner.

ECS

 

[weregunner]

Glad to be of service. One of the really nice things about this forum is that members are willing to either get one to a source or give good verifiable info.

Taurus Talk at MSN might have some info as well.

 

[dawei]

My 617 Obsevations

I've had a Taurus® Mdl 617 since May of 2003. I received it as a birthday gift from my wife. Mine is the SS version with a 2¼" barrel. The gun has performed beyond my wildest expectations. It's highly accurate and 100% reliable. I've never had a failure or malfunction of any kind in 10K+ rounds (75% of which were 357Mags).

The gun came with the smoother 'Combat' grips. I did buy a set of the larger 'Ribber' grips for when shooting real stout loads. I feel that it's probably a little heavy (29oz) for pocket carry; but, if that works for you great. If you decide to go with the lighter (21oz) 817 be advised it comes with the 'Ribber' grips. You will have to order a set of the smooth & smaller 'Combat' grips for pocket carry.

You can't go wrong with either gun. If it was me however I'd go with the 617 in 357Mag as you have more options. (Just my $.02)