Fortunately the price on this 617 is high enough to preclude any risk to my wallet so I'm just curious.

The seller claims that 23 of these 617 no-dashes were made which could explain why I haven't heard of them. It's no suprise to learn of another small batch of S&W revolvers but some of the parts on this one appear to be from different time periods.

This 617 no-dash has the older square butt frame with serrated tangs and the old style sight that you expect on a no-dash but it has a .265" case hardening colored serrated trigger that predates the 617 no-dashes and a 10 shot alluminum cylider which is a feature that was introduced with an increase in dash numbers from dash 2 to dash 3 or there abouts. I'm not sure about it's hammer but it appears to be the same vintage as the cylinder or mid 90's pre MIM. It also has a MIM cylinder release and those were introduced after 617s aquired dash numbers. The most appealing feature of this 617 is its 4" satandard weight barrel without ejector rod shroud, the profile used on pre-full lug 17s. Other members have posted that there were approximately 200 617 no-dashes manufactured with these barrels and posted pictures of them but they are otherwise standard 6 shot guns.

I just have to know every detail of K22s. Anyone know anything about this 617? Its GB number is 210877210.

Gil

One I'd definitely want an accompanying letter with before buying. No expert here, just makes my nose itch on the "smell test" . . . .

A parts gun is a parts gun, not a collectible, even if assemblied by S&W? I'm completely underwhelmed.

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S&WHF 366

This one may be right, I am no expert, but per the 3rd edition of the Standard Catalog, there were versions of 617's without the full lug some in 1991, and 17 with round butt and 23 with square butt in 1998 .

The most likely here is Product code 103597, described as a 4" stovepipe barrel with Patridge sight, square butt with glass bead finish, ten shot alloy cylinder with 23 made. If it is a round butt, product code was 103595.

Paul

If I were interested-I would rty to get a serial # from the seller and then run it past Roy. At tha price he is asking, I would doubt it will sell-that is unless it IS real and bdgreen is going to snatch it at the end
HE is the expert regarding the K frame .22's and I hope he weighs in on this one.

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Forum consigliere

I have a 6" no-dash 617 with the full-underlug barrel I bought new but couldn't tell you when. It had a standard color case-hardened trigger and hammer, but I had them replaced with a target set that came through in forged stainless before I picked the gun up at the dealer's. It still wears its undamaged Goncalo Alves combat grips. It has a square butt and grooved backstrap.

If it helps, that's how my no-dash 617 came from the factory. Its serial number is BES35XX.

Ed

CAJUNLAWYER was right. It did not sell. The opening bid was $1600 so that's no suprise. Hopefully this bump will keep the thread up long enough for bdgreen to notice it.

Engineer1911,
By long standing gun collector customs a gun the factory assembled out of odd ball left over parts counts as a rare collectabe, even if it was assembled from lost parts the janitor swept up in seldom cleaned places.

I can see some logic in this gun. A person wanting its lighter barrel might also want to take weight off the cylinder to get the weight down near that of a kit gun while retaining the better ergonomics of a K frame. However, I'd much prefer a stainless steel cylinder in an aluminum K frame so I could clean the cylinder the same way as my other 617s, with bronze bore brushes and bronze wool.

Now that I can see all the pictures on the auction site I am having some problem not crying foul on this one.

The 23 guns that were manufactured with the four inch stovepipe barrel and ten shot aluminum cylinder were made in 1998.
Now, here is where it gets tricky.
A 1998 manufactured Model 617 would have a prefix of CCK, CCm, CCN, CCR, and CCW.
I have taken one of the images from the auction site and enhanced the serial number. The photo isn't that stellar so there is room for interpretation.
This is mine.
I see the first character as being a 'B'. The second one also looks like a 'B' or maybe an 'R'. The 3rd character appears to be an 'A'.
I currently own one Model 617 with the prefix 'BRA'.
If I am correct then this frame appears to be earlier than the stated 1998 production of those 23 guns.
This is all speculation. I don't have access to a proof-positive serial number. Someone could have taken a six shot Model 617 and modified it because they wanted a ten shot and maybe the aluminum cylinder was available for that mod.

Just my interpretation. And it's worth what you paid for it.

It's a nice gun. Can't wrap my head around it with the standard barrel and all. If I am correct on the serial number then the rest is questionable.

Let the flames begin, or just a pleasant discussion.

bdGreen

bdGreen,

Thanks for responding. Without a look at another one of the 23 for comparison it would be a gamble buying this one without a factory letter. A shooter at my local range had S&W replace his aluminum cylinder with a stainless steel one. I think it was free. My guess is others have switched theirs also and the left over aluminum cylinders are around.

While I have your attention, do you know how many standard weight 8 3/8" 617s were made?

Gil

Don't forget that for a LOOONG time when you took the S&W armorers course the final was assembling a revolver in a configuration that suited you. Many took the opportunity to create something not currently available. I don't know how collectors view these firearms but they were made at S&W and are not lunch box guns.

Bdgreen has it right, Curosity got the best of me so I did the same thing and this is the result. It is BRA.... and you can read the rest for yourself.

First, All I know about Smith 22-s is I like them. That is unusual, to say the least. While I do not personally know this seller,I have friends who do and he is an accomplished smith collector and has collected registered magnums,among other interesting varieties. I do not believe he would misrepresent anything,intentionally.

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J. Mark McCarver

I actually have one of these. I bought it around 98 and it came in styrofoam and cardboard box, no S&W case. I'll see if I can't dig up a pic of it & the box. I love this little gun and have shot it a lot over the years. When I bought it I was told it was part of a guns made for international sale but we all know the kind of bs salesmen tell. I'll see if I can dig up the email I got from a forum member who gave me some good info on it.

O2B

Well I finally got to take some pictures but could not find our digital camera so I had to use my phone so hopefully you can see details enough.

Now lets see if I can post them:

If this doesn't work I'll just upload the pics.
O2B
Couldn't upload the link to the host so here are the pics.

Attached Images

	Box 1.jpg (101.3 KB, 123 views)
	Box 2.jpg (63.1 KB, 133 views)
	G1.jpg (65.4 KB, 133 views)
	G2.jpg (107.4 KB, 158 views)
	G3.jpg (71.5 KB, 122 views)

Here's another pic.

Sorry they aren't the best and apparently I forgot to clean this one after the last trip to the range.

O2B

Attached Images

G4.jpg (77.0 KB, 53 views)

WOW, I learn something new all the time here. I love the half lug 617 and would just love to find one, but I do not think I would want a aluminum cylinder with all the problems I have heard about them.

Awesome, just awesome,

John

The comment that it was an EXPORT gun would make sense. And the packaging would tend to make me believe it was made for export.

I have a digital someplace of a 6", 6 shot 617 exported to Germany with a non underlug barrel. Instead ....an angled type underlug similar to the new PC 627's currently available.

So these may have been export guns?

What an interesting evening for M-617 lore!

FN in MT

Below is part of an email I received from a forum member who was very knowledgable about S&W products. As I have said I love this little 617 and have shot many thousands and thousands of rounds through it with no problems except for one bad round but that was an ammo issue not gun issue. Never one problem w/ the alloy cylinder.

"The M617 units with no underlug barrel are extremely scarce units in any configuration. With steel cylinders (6 shot), the total production is estimated at 116 for the 6" barrels, and somewhere between 24 and 200 for the 4" barrels. Sorry for the wide estimate, but there are so many pieces of data that I've seen, it is just too hard to pinpoint.

The ones with 10 shot alloy cylinder that I saw in 1998 were the ones referenced in your email. These were being sold at the annual S&W Collectors meeting in Portland, OR. They were on a members table for $900 and they didn't last very long.

It's hard to put an estimate on your gun, what we know is that the total production was extremely limited. These with alloy cylinders are obviously "parts guns", meaning that they put these together with left over parts (frames, cylinders and barrels) from several other production models, and subsequently represent models that were never catalog'd (nor will EVER be cataloged)."

Don't know if this helps or hurts the debate on these little guns.
O2B