Garys4598 1,065 Posted January 26, 2009 Report Share Posted January 26, 2009 (edited) Purchased a brand new Smith & Wesson Model 617 revolver with 6 inch barrel last week. I've been getting into rimfire shooting a great deal lately (definitely can't beat the price of rimfire cartridges!).... and all the reading and online web articles I could find on this particular revolver indicated that many consider it to be "the Cadillac" of rimfire revolvers. Additionally, I simply wanted to ad a revolver to my personal collection and what better than a Smith & Wesson? (Okay, that's rhetorical; no need to flame me if you think Smith's suck! ) I swapped out the OEM mainspring and rebound spring with Wolff aftermarket spring products, and boy did that make one hell of a difference with the gun's trigger pull and break! Like night and day! I also replaced the front sight with a SDM green fiber optic sight.... installed a Hogue extended cylinder release lever.... swapped the OEM rubber grip with a Hogue Monogrip in rosewood laminate.... and finished her up by bringing her to a high shine using Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish. I fired 400 rounds through her on Saturday, then another 300 rounds on Sunday while I was "dialing in" the pre-load tension on the Wolff reduced power mainspring (while using a hardware store purchased head socket #8-32 x .5" set screw in place of the OEM strain screw). She's now one heck of a fun plinker and shooter, and a pure joy to fire at the range. Edited January 26, 2009 by Gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
eadodd 0 Posted January 26, 2009 Report Share Posted January 26, 2009 (edited) Gary, what's the price on a smith 617? And how much do you have into it now? Edited January 26, 2009 by eadodd Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Garys4598 1,065 Posted January 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2009 (edited) Gary, what's the price on a smith 617? And how much do you have into it now? eadodd -- With shipping, I paid approximately $620+ for her from Buds Gunshop.com.... Buds was listing them for $600 less than a month ago (excluding shipping)... but they have already raised their price to $633 sans shipping. Go here: http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product...oducts_id/26304 At the time (approx. three weeks ago), this was the cheapest I could find this particular revolver anywhere. As is readily apparent, Smith & Wessons in general are not inexpensive. All the other little "ad ons" I've either installed or put on her in total run just over $200 (the Hogue Monogrip rosewood ran me $109.95... purchased it from here: http://www.hogueinc.com/getgrip/merchant.i...=220&step=4). Not factored into this $200+, the DS-10-Speed loaders run approx. $25.00 each, and the 40 rnd loading block was $10 (of which I purchased two of the blocks; the photo only shows one). To thoroughly enjoy the revolver I strongly recommend these speedloaders.... but if I had to do it all over again, I would purchase only two; one to use and the other to keep as a back-up. Having four is way-over kill in my opinion for target shooting. They can be purchased only from here: http://groups.msn.com/Speedloader/ds10speed.msnw Hope this info helps you with making your decision. Edited January 26, 2009 by Gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
eadodd 0 Posted January 26, 2009 Report Share Posted January 26, 2009 Thanks for fast response. You have a great looking firearm. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jrance@iacwds.com 716 Posted January 26, 2009 Report Share Posted January 26, 2009 That's about the cutest thing I've seen today. Very cool addition to your collection Gary. I didn't even know they made a 10 rd revolver; of course I haven't looked in quite a few years. Great fun and like you say the ammo price is right. 1911 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Garys4598 1,065 Posted January 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 That's about the cutest thing I've seen today. Very cool addition to your collection Gary. I didn't even know they made a 10 rd revolver; of course I haven't looked in quite a few years. Great fun and like you say the ammo price is right. 1911 Cute? Cute???!!!! That's a cotton pick'n standard sized K frame S&W revolver with a full lug 6" barrel your looking at. Other than the size caliber she shoots, there ain't noth'n really "cute" about it. . . . . . . . . . . . . Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jrance@iacwds.com 716 Posted January 27, 2009 Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 That's about the cutest thing I've seen today. Very cool addition to your collection Gary. I didn't even know they made a 10 rd revolver; of course I haven't looked in quite a few years. Great fun and like you say the ammo price is right. 1911 Cute? Cute???!!!! That's a cotton pick'n standard sized K frame S&W revolver with a full lug 6" barrel your looking at. Other than the size caliber she shoots, there ain't noth'n really "cute" about it. . . . . . . . . . . . . Sorry Gary. That is the finest looking "Hellboy" revolver I have ever seen!!! I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that!! There's nothing cute about that bad mo-fo!! 1911 better? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Garys4598 1,065 Posted January 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 (edited) Sorry Gary. That is the finest looking "Hellboy" revolver I have ever seen!!! I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that!! There's nothing cute about that bad mo-fo!! 1911 better? Jeff isn't it? Ummmm.... what we have here is a prime example of 'failure to communicate.' Dude, I polished her up real purty and shit. If you think she looks "cute".... who am I really to say otherwise? Edited January 27, 2009 by Gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Garys4598 1,065 Posted January 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 (edited) For anyone that may be interested in performing a Wolff spring set upgrade to their K frame Smith & Wesson to significantly improve their revolver's trigger break (and my apologies if this has been conveyed by another forum member previously in some other thread), it is relatively simple to do and I very strongly recommend it! You can find a video clip tutorial here, from the Brownells website: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YWDK3OS7IA...feature=related I can convey upfront that if you purchase the Wolff reduced power mainspring set, you will experience many FTFs with your revolver. To correct that situation you will simply need to replace the mainspring's strain screw with a hardware store purchased socket head #8-32 x .5" SS hardened set screw. They come two in a small packet for .56 cents. To better depict what I am conveying, the below image shows my S&W Model 617 with the Wolff reduced power mainspring inserted, using the S&W OEM strain screw. The strain screw does not provide enough pre-load on the mainspring, partly due to the fact that it lines up directly into the tunnel-backed power rib of the Wolff product. Here, the screw is tighted as far as she will go.... and I received approximately 20% FTFs in double action. This next photo reflects the same Wolff reduced power mainspring, but with the OEM strain screw having been swapped-out with the socket head #8-32 x .5" set screw. As you can clearly see, a heck of a lot more pre-load can be achieved. For visual comparison purposes, immediately to the right of the revolver's frame is the second #8-32 x .5" set screw next to the S&W OEM strain screw. You will need to "dial in" your Wolff reduced power mainspring with this hardware store purchased set screw at the firing range. Because the Model 617 is a rimfire, the firing pin and hammer strike needs to consistently impart adequate energy for rimfire ignition. It is my understanding that such is not the case with centerfire revolvers (but I wouldn't know because I don't own one nor have I ever replaced a centerfire revolver's springs). When dialing-in the mainspring's pre-load tension, via tightening and/or backing out the set/strain screw, you will need to find that "sweet spot" when you achieve zero FTFs. Once you find that ideal tension setting, screw in the set/strain screw approximately 1/4 to 1/2 turn tighter, just to be sure. Additionally, you should have applied a drop of blue loctite to your hardware store purchased set screw, just prior to performing this process. I can enthusiastically report that my revolver's trigger pull and break with the Wolff mainspring, both in SA and DA, is greatly improved. The Wolff spring set (I didn't mention how I replaced my revolver's OEM rebound spring with the Wolff's 13 lb. rebound spring) is a product that I believe every S&W revolver shooter should strongly consider. Happy shooting to ya!!! Edited January 27, 2009 by Gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Garys4598 1,065 Posted February 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 I've finally completed my S&W Model 617 revolver. I replaced its hammer with a .500 wide spur hammer (some people I think refer to it as the target hammer), and swapped out the rear sight blade for a taller one with a white box outline. During this last and hopefully final disassembly, I fully removed the trigger from the frame and was able to better polish it with my dremel and Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish. Naturally, prior to installing the new hammer I thoroughly polished it as well. I cannot adequately convey how incredibly improved the ergonomics are when cocking the hammer back for SA shooting with this wider spur. Here are some comparison photos: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MD_Willington 11 Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 617's Rock ! I borrowed a 617 and was able to do this: Not sure if it is good or not, but that was at 30 feet, the ones on the outer rings were rapid fire. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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