Thinks of buying a K Frame .22 revolver. Will be a four inch with target grips. What is your favorite/most accurate.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

17-4 6 inch bbl

Model 617 6".

I was just thinking about that very question yesterday. I have four,

Md 34, 2 inch
Md 63, 4 inch
Md 18, 4 inch
Md 17, 6 inch

My favorite is the Model 18 made around 1959. It's probably not more accurate than my Md 17 but it certainly is my favorite one to shoot.

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I'm gonna grow fins.

Over the years I've owned several K-22/Model 17 revolvers. All of them were reliably very accurate. I suppose the best of them was a 5 screw from 1949, but others were nearly as good. I've never owned a .22 Combat Masterpiece (Model 18 or otherwise) so I cannot say anything about those.
I like my Kit Guns, but I'd have to give the consistency edge to the K-22. But, of course, that could be as much about me as it is about the revolver!

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Model 17 no dash 4 screw

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S&W Armorer
Lost in the 50s

Ditto, 17 6"

Of my .22 revolvers, my Colt Officers Model is the most accurate. It was made in 1936 and is a finely made machine. I've got a few Model 17s, with a 17-2 being the most accurate of the Smiths. I really like that gun and it stays close by...

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NRA Life Member

Yup, 17-4 6 inch.

My old pre-M34 1955 Kit Gun with a 4 inch barrel is by far my favorite, and I have them all. Most of them (the M17's and M18's) are too big for the little 22. My M34 with a 2 inch barrel is too small. . .just doesn't feel right. This one is just right. Plus, I won't be finding another for $500 anytime soon.

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Dr. B

My favorite is the 617-1 6" love shooting this one

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My favorite is a Model 63 4" kit gun that I bought back in the early 80's. I carried it on the trapline for over 20 years.

Mine is a 17-4, 8 3/8" smooth a silk, dead on accurate with Federal .22's

Model 18 fits your description. I love my 18-3. More accurate than I am!

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Even older, even crankier....

I have owned a bunch of K frame 22's and one mdl 34. The 34 shot great, but it felt like a cap gun to me. Just never warmed to the small size.
I have had 3 different 617's and all shot very well, two 17's that shot very well. However, I use my 22's away from the range and the 6" bbl's did not suit me. Currently have an 18-2 and it seems "just right". Very accurate balances well for me and it carries easier than the 6" guns did.

This 1955 K-22 is my favorite. Someone thoughtfully re-blued it, right down to the hammer and trigger, but it doesn't matter. It's a satisfying shooter.

This 18-2 is my favorite

I only know of three K-frame 22LR revolvers with a 4" barrel

Model 17
Model 18
Model 617

None are more accurate than the other

I had a model 18 that shot great but switched to a 617 with 6 inch barrel that I love. Shoots excellent groups with Federal AutoMatch and CCI Standard.

I did recrown it and got the groups down even more.

My sentimental favorite .22 revolver is an old Colt Official Police with a 6 inch barrel and wood checkered stocks. My grandfather gave it to my mother about 1948 or 49 for protection and she used it to shoot a Peeping Tom when it looked like he might try to come in her bedroom window.

My favorite to shoot is a S&W Model 18 Rimfire Combat Masterpiece, that name which Jeff Cooper pronounced as the "exaggeration of the century." I bought mine in April, 1977, and screamed so loudly at the cost of $162.23 that Mom thought my girlfriend had left me. I did my first attempt at an action tune on it, as described by Skeeter Skelton, and added a smooth, wide "combat" trigger and white outline rear sight blade to it. A pair of Pachmayr Presentation grips and a Bianchi 5BHL holster and the sixgun is ready to defend me from the ravages of waves of attacking ground squirrels, picket pins and pot guts.

I have bigger ones, smaller ones, stainless ones, lighter ones and Magnum Rimfire ones, but the Model 18 is my favorite and I may have fired more rounds from it than from any other handgun I own.

I really like this '52 Combat Masterpiece.Its far more accurate than I am and I've only used bulk ammo in it so far.

I used to collect K frame rimfires /K22's. I pretty much had one of every model number and bbl length. In my experience, the older 17/18's were a thing of beauty . For that reason I always treated and used them very lightly. The 617's on the other hand, generally give the same accuracy without the worry of finish wear degrading their value. They are built like tanks. Given the relative rarity of the older 6 shot versions of the four inch 17's, 18's and even 617's, I'd coach you towards a modern 617 in 4 ". ( 6" being a close second.) Easy to find, not crazy money and they shoot better than most people can.

p.s. Don't get tempted by the Ruger's price tag, they just don't handle or shoot like a K frame. Been there-Done that too.

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Dave

Like JP@AK I've had the pleasure of shooting several S&W .22 revolvers including a single-line and 4-line K-22 Masterpiece, four iterations of the model 17, and two varieties, Models 34 and 63, of kit guns and they are "reliably very accurate." I am the limiting factor in the accuracy of any of them.

For me personally I best shoot a 17-2 with Magna grips (standard grips) and a Tyler T-grip because that combination best fits my hand. The model 63 fits my wife's hand better and she shoots that very well.

You cannot go wrong with any of them.

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Scoundrel & Ne'er-Do-Well

You will experience greater variations in accuracy due to ammunition brand and type than due to differing K frame models or barrel lengths. The guns tend to be uniformly superb in my experience.

I have never been able to decide between the 17 and the 18. I use them at thee range. I carry my M63 4-inch when bird hunting, using it to take standing or perched grouse. (I won't shoot a stationary grouse with a shotgun; not sporting with a scattergun buy plenty challenging with a .22 revolver).

Whatever you choose, enjoy it.

Oh, and Semper fi, BTW. I was a sailor but did 6 years in the FMF in 2d ANGLICO during my career.

My most precise I believe to be this model 48.
It is still a .22.

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Paul
S&WCA #2726

I own a few K-22's of various ages and barrel lengths, this one shoots as well as any of them 17-6 4"

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Jim
Many K and N Frames

Only one I own is a Pre M-34,4". It came to me with original stocks and a Tyler T adapter. When going to the range or a walk in the woods I put on set of Uncle Mike's from a M60 .357 which fit my small hands nicely. It is more accurate than this shaky old man is.

I have a 6 inch barrel model 53-2 which is pretty slick and accurate with its 22 Long Rifle cylinder.

Unfortunately I sold my 4 inch model 18 (no dash) that I absolutely loved because of its really smooth action.

My Colt Officers Model Special (1950) is also very accurate with its six inch, non tapered, heavy, bull barrel. That is offset by a correspondingly smooth action.

The absolutely smoothest action in any of the several hundred guns that have passed through my hands was a 1940-ish Colt Official Police that I traded for a 1911 in the early 1960's....really dumb as it was super accurate even with its fixed sights.

I have owned at least a dozen Smith & Wesson .22's. I like the looks of the older K-22's. The most accurate .22 revolver I own is a model 17 full lug that I bought back in the 90's with a 6" barrel. The one I carry and use the most is a 4" 617 of new manufacture and my newest acquisition and favorite to just handle and shoot is a 18-3.

I have a Model 17 3T with a 6" barrel that I use in the rimfire stage of the 2700 matches. It is more accurate than I!

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Judge control not gun control!

k22 from the 50's is my favorite but the most accurate by far is a 3rd model 1891 10 inch it's like shooting a rifle.
Mark

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I have a M-617 and a M-63. Both are no dash 4" barrels.
The M-63 is by far my favorite and the M-617 usually lives in the back of the safe. I can agree with all the glowing complements for the K frames but for me they are just too big & heavy for a 22lr. My 617 weighs 41.4 ounces while the 63 is only 26.6 ounces. Just can't see carrying a 22lr that is the same weight as my M-686.

This old K-22 from 1948 and this 617 no dash from 1989...

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but the most accurate by far is a 3rd model 1891 10 inch it's like shooting a rifle.

Mark we should Golf sometime

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Paul
S&WCA #2726

Paul I gots an H&R too. Love the ejector on those things.
Mark

I have a pre war K22 and a model 63. Both are more accurate than I can shoot, but the 63 with target stocks is just plain trouble free fun to shoot.

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Robert
SWCA #2906, SWHF #760

If you want a Smith what you describe in your initial post can only be a couple of things--a 22 CM/Model 18 or a 617. For a short period of time the Model 17 was available with a 4" barrel. The barrel profile was different than the Model 18 and I'm pretty sure it had a Patridge instead of a ramp front sight.

I've got three K22s--a one liner Masterpiece from '47, a 22 CM from '51, and a 17-3 from '73.

I've never "benched" them formally for accuracy so I really don't know which one would shoot tighter groups, but if I really need to put a 22 caliber hole in something I pick up the 22 CM. I just shoot it better.

Having said all that, I don't think you could go wrong with any Smith 22 revolver.

Hard to beat a "K" frame .22

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Vintage M18! I like them so much I have two

It depends on what box of ammo I am using. With the correct box of ammo, they will all shoot nearly the same. I'm really pleased with my 617-6, but I would hesitate to say it is any more accurate than the 17-4 or Outdoorsman, or 63 or 34 or pre18.



I've been looking around for a pair of stocks, finger groove S&W SB combat grips, (that don't cost a fortune). If anyone has a pair that may be a little challenged laying around, I'm open to doing a restoration job if you want to sell, (Or I have a nice pair of Fuzzy Farrant K Frame SB grips with thumb rest for trade).

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

Mine is a pre 17{1955 manufacture} with 6 inch barrel. Accuracy is outstanding. Makes me look good. If I could ever come across a model 18, I would sure invest.

My 1949 vintage K-22 (6") tends to be one of the guns I shoot the most. Always ready and dependable as a freight train. I have no reason to need a 4" version of it, but the 4" K-frame guns don't seem to give up much if anything to their longer brethren.

Froggie

I have an 18 no dash that is my best as in most accurate .22 revolver, but its too nice to shoot all the time so I have a 17-3 range gun that I mostly use. Maybe the next box of 500 will shoot better than the current box.

A couple years ago I acquired this 17-3. It didn't take long for it to become my favorite .22 handgun. It goes to the range with me every time I go!

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Agree totally. My 34-1 is from 1970 and a great shooter for a walk in the woods. I love my 617 too but a bit heavy for any kind of carry.

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Pass it on.
Mark

Smith & Wesson Model 18.

Two that are the most used

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This one shoots like a rifle.
617-2 ten shot prelock with stainless cylinder.



Chuck

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They hold no Quarter

For me it would be the M18 or M17. I would also jump on a K-22 vintage 1948 to 1950.

There were actually two different versions of the 4" Model 17 in the dash 5 HB and dash 6 Full underlug as well as the 617.

Three more 4" K frame .22lr's that come to mind are the :
Model 45 AKA , (Original .22 M&P ).
Model 53 Jet (came with either a spare .22lr cylinder or drop in .22lr conversion inserts).
The original model 65 which was a SS copy of the Model 18 but was discontinued after a dozen or so were made.