Greetings Ashjwilliams;

Don’t overpay for a currently cataloged gun just because the factory didn’t anticipate the increased demand for a model that has become a fad! Just last summer I had a difficult time finding a buyer for my new looking 10 shot 6” M 617. Nobody wanted to pay $600 for a .22! After it laid in the biggest shop in the biggest city an hour away for several months on consignment at $600, I settled for $500, less 15% commission. Over the decades there were several times when I wanted a sporting or target revolver and S & W had let that model sell out of the distribution network. Once again the next production run will be planned to exceed current demand so that M 617s will be in all the stores for awhile. Believe it or not, you can survive a few months with the guns you already have.

Don’t misunderstand me. I have paid too much for a cataloged revolver because I liked an individual gun’s timing and the feel of its DA pull and I probably will again—and discontinued variations are another matter altogether. My “short list” consists mostly of guns I passed on because they were overpriced and now will cost me 2 -3 times the price I refused to pay. Even if they were reintroduced in the catalog, they would not be the same.

You might enjoy owning a M 17 or M 18 in addition to the different feeling 10 shooter and one would hold you over until new M 617s are plentiful again. I enjoy owning all of these variations of K22s--22s built on the K frame—I’m hanging on to one 10 shot, it’s just not my favorite. Most M 17s had 6” or 8 3/8” non-tapered barrels usually with patridge front sights. Older pre-model 17s had tapered barrels. M 18’s had 4” tapered barrels that brought their weight down to 36 oz. M 18s usually had plain ramp front sights. The closest things to a M 18 for a belt gun trainer are the scarce 4” non-tapered barreled M 17s or rare non-lugged 4” M 617s. There have been more would be buyers of M 18s than M18s for sale in my area for at least 10 years. Lots of guys at the ranges have them. We just don’t sell them. The M 18 was discontinued in 1985 because it didn’t sell as well as the M 17, so M 17s are easier to find and can match the sight radius of your .357.

To get the best DA trainer for your full lugged .357, I suggest matching your gun’s weight and barrel length with a 6” M 617, but I would get a 6 shot to match the feel of its action. I sold one of my two 10 shooters only because their DA pulls do not feel like S & Ws. Their cylinder locking bolts pop back up about 1/3 of the way through the DA pull and I’m accustomed to staging the trigger or squeezing the shot off carefully after feeling the cylinder lock up near the end of the pull. Using that technique I got an indoor .22 bullseye NRA expert rating firing my 6 shot 6” M 617 DA only, including the slow fire portion, and with iron sights. I suppose if you always fire DA fast with a straight through pull you would be happy with the feel of a 10 shot, but in the rather unlikely event I’m in an extended fire fight with .22s, I’d just dump the last 4 on my toes and reload after 6 anyway.

I hope this helps you decide.

Gil