I bought a NIB Model 617 10 shot revolver. My 1st revolver I've ever owned. I've heard of S&W's 'Quality Control' issues, how do I find problems. What do I look for? I've shot it 6 times into bags of sand to just see. (It is too frigid in NY to really give it a work out) There were no obvious issues. No FTF's. What do I look for. Thanks Joe

I say dont go looking for problems. If something happens then address the issue. The only thing i do with a new gun is give it a good cleaning to make sure theres nothing left over from the machining process at the factory. I say shoot the heck out of it and have fun!

Bill

I think you are unnecessarily concerned --- shoot lots, then evaluate, if any unlikely problems appear.

I just bought a nib 617. It has the lock. I took the key and locked and unlocked the gun several times.

I shot it some. Single action was very nice, double action a bit stiff. I shoot a cylinder and leave the empties in the gun as snap caps. Dry fired it a bit.

I have been home gun smithing for a few years on my own guns. I have a shop manual for the S&Ws. I have taken a bunch of them apart. I have the right tools, including good screw drivers for the screws so I don't bugger up the slots.

I tore mine apart. Took out many of the pieces. I didn't see any manufacturing defects. That being said I did stone and polish a few places where that is appropriate. I did install a Wolff full power and 14 pound rebound spring. I did change out the grips. Mine shoots like it's been fired thousands of times without shooting it much.

We are having a bit of nice weather here in Western Oregon. I took mine out on Sunday and Monday. I've put about 1,000 rounds through it. It is very accurate. The lock did not engage itself.

I'm very happy with mine.

i like this^^^^

First, about the "quality issues". One thing that you need to keep in mind is the revolver shooters are a rather select bunch and they won't hesitate to express their feelings when they get a gun that isn't up to snuff. It happens, these are hand assembled guns and sometimes the assemblers screw up. However, I suspect that the screw ups are actually much rarer than they were back in the "golden times" whenever that was. The truth is that Quality systems are far better than they were 50 years ago and so are the machines that make the parts for these guns. Basically, some clunkers do get out but that actual percentage is probably lower than it ever has been, what's different is that today you can read about every single one. Odds are excellent that there is absolutely nothing wrong with your new 617 and if by some small chance you did get a clunker S&W will fix it quickly.

As for the most predominate issue for the steel revolvers, that is that the barrel may not be perfectly aligned with the frame. Since the 617 has adjustable sights it's not really an issue unless the barrel is so far out of alignment that the sights cannot be properly zeroed. In the past 2 years there has been one single report of a new 617 with this problem where the mis-alignement wouldn't permist the sights to be zeroed. There have also been a couple reports of this problem concerning the 629 and maybe 3 incidents with the 686.

However, I'll also note that a small mis-alignment is pretty normal and if the sights can be zeroed S&W will not correct it. Quite simply, a small amount of mis-alignment is normal and within tolerance, it's only when it's way off in rotation that it's an issue.

Now, what to do with a brand new gun.

First, take it home and clean the barrel and the chambers just in case something got lodged where it didn't belong. I once saw a post about a used K-22 that had spiders nests for the full length of the barrel, shooting a gun in that condition isn't safe for the shooter or good for the gun. Any newly acquired gun, whether new or used, should have the barrel cleaned and checked for obstructions, in a revolver the chambers should also be checked.

Next step is to do some shooting from a bench rest to adjust or confirm the sighting. This really needs to be done from a rest because any of us can have an unknown flinch issue and shooting from a rest will normally reveal a flinch. With your 617 you can also use a sandbag to support the barrel because it's a very light caliber. However, with the heavier calibers that feature a one piece barrel the barrel should NOT be supported because doing this will degrade the accuracy. As for group size, the 22 calibers can be "fussy" concerning ammunition, my 617 will group just under 2 inches at 100 feet with Winchester Xpert HV and around 3.5 inches with Federal bulk.

As for sighting the gun, I find that 75 to 100 feet works well for the 6 inch 617, for the 4 inch version 50 to 75 feet should work well. One Tip, do NOT "chase" your groups when checking the sighting, aim at the exact same point for each shot. If the group result is high and right, move the rear sight down and to the left. I would also suggest using a sighting target or pasting up a new sticker for each group test, when sighting you want to see every single hit. It's also helpful to start close and then work the target back once you're consistently on paper. I'll also note that your eyesight can be an issue at long ranges, if so you can either set your gun up for shorter ranges or just resign yourself to using Optics.

what QC issues ? shoot the dam thing