Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns S&W 617 22 cal.

Idaho1945: I have shot a "LOT" of rounds through many many dozens of pistols over the last 55 years and I am in TOTAL agreement with you.
I know "I" shoot better with a heavier pistol and I am sure 99% of pistol shooters would as well!
Ditto's with longer barrels aiding my pistol accuracy.
"Full lugs" are fine (preferable!) with me.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Heavy yes, sold a 4" years back...$285...preferred the 17-5 Heavy barrel, no lug, target hammer, sights, trigger......and regret letting that one go. It was VERY effective in the field.....easier to shoot than a 34 that it replaced. Yes, sounds like a decent buy for today's valuation.

A heavy barrel can be a good thing, sometimes...

Nice old PPC revolver! Who's the gunsmith who made it? Bet it shoots great.

LAPD Armory put that together for John Hurst, probably the best pistol shot the LAPD ever had. It wears his grips.
Bob

A friend of mine has one. It's a 4" and there is no shroud around the ejector rod. I remember shooting it, but I don't remember if it was a 6 shot or a 10 shot. He had quite the collection of K-22's and we looked at pretty much all of them that day. He had one with an aluminum cylinder too.

Not a hard fix, send it back to S&W. I have well over 50K rounds through my 617 10 shot and it still thinks it's a Puppy!

I find the under lug barrels are very nice for shooting, and sucks for carry. I don't carry my 617 much, but it's just fine for carry when I'm out squirrel hunting. I like the balance during rapid DA fire, so it works for me. I would like a S&W M18 much better for my squirrel hunting, but the 10 shot 617 is just a whole lot of fun. No mine isn't nearly as accurate as the old school K-22's, but it's not like it's an inaccurate revolver at all. Mine does minute of a squirrel's head at any range that could be practical. Mine will shoot about 1.25" at 25 yards with good loads, and that's more than enough for what I want out of it. If I want to shoot serious bullseye, I have other guns for that.

All in all, I have to say my 617 is my favorite handgun to shoot. It ALWAYS goes to the range. Its the one gun I own that ALWAYS goes shooting with me.

While I'm a fan of the 4" and 6" 17, 18, and 48, I don't like the 6" 617 6-shot that I have at all. If given a choice of .22 LR handguns to carry afield, I'm much more likely to carry a 2206 than any make or model of revolver, as long as shooting CCI snake-shot loads isn't a consideration. I bought the 617 in 2001, shot it a little, decided that I didn't like it as much as the 1982 vintage 18 that I'd been regularly carrying, and put it away somewhere. The catch being the last time that I looked for it, I didn't find it. Oh well, maybe it'll show up in 2020.

Agreed. Like I said, I squirrel hunt with my 617 but it's not the most "carry friendly" .22 in the world. When I think of a light .22 for carry, the fist handgun I think of is the old Beretta Model 70 & 71. They're very accurate, reliable, small, very light, and just a joy to carry. One of these days I'm going to get one to go with my Model 76.

One of my favorites...17-3, purchased from a pawn shop outside Ft Bragg in 1978. It went back to S&W in the early 80's for a taller front sight and to correct endshake after thousands of rounds.
Bob

Very nice. We didn't build them that "pretty" at Davis, but ours were just as accurate and nice to shoot. I saw a few we did with slab cuts on the side of the barrel. We didn't do the added ejector rod shroud.

The alloy frame S&W 422/622 are lighter versions of the stainless 2206, so they are more "carry friendly", but I seem to be able to hold the 2206 steadier and shoot them more accurately than the comparable 422/622s. I think that I have tried all of the aftermarket grips for the 422/622/2206 and found that the least expensive nylon target style grips from GPC fit my hand better than any of the others. GPC part # 728720 for around $15.

The .22 MAG revolvers that I carry most of the time are Rossi 515s with larger Rossi target style grips.

I have a 6” 617 with a Leupold Delta Point on it and a 8 3/8” 617 with a 2x7 Weaver on it. Awesome guns.
Love the PPC gun, I still have mine from the early nineties.

If you posted pics of your guns, I sure wouldn't object!

8 3/8" Model 617 on the Silhouette range. Wonderfully accurate at 100 yards.

I have the same model as you....17-3. Traded into it several years ago. Had a Springfield "Fully Loaded" 1911 that he wanted, so we made the swap. He stated it had been his father's handgun, but he had no use for it. Couldn't help myself but think what a damn fool he was. He thought the same of me for getting rid of a 1911 for a .22.....

The other k-frame I have is a S&W model 48 "No Dash" that I won in an auction. It was an Estate clearance and some third party company was conducting the on-line auction. Got it for a decent price as well as I recall.....Both are very accurate revolvers!

I have owned 2 - 1) 6" & 1) 4". Very nice revolvers but in the end I ended up selling them both. They were just too big and heavy for a .22 for me.

I’ve got a 4” and 6” 617. Love both. The 6” never gets carried but is a pleasure to shoot. The 4” gets carried some while in the hills and is a ton of fun to shoot. I’d jump on that one if still available.