Hi all, I'm new to handgunning and shooting in general and this is my first post. I bought a new S&W model 617 (.22lr) with the 10 round cylinder and 6" barrel. Took it out to the range last Sat. and it kept jamming on me. When it jammed, I couldn't pull the trigger back or get the cylinder out. Also, I had to push really hard on the ejector rod to get the cartridges out. I was using Blazer .22 lr munition rounds. Any thoughts on what might be causing this? I haven't taken it back to the shop I bought it from. Any advice would be greatly appreciated since I am a novice.
Dan

Could be dirty ammo fouling the revolover. Give the gun a good cleaning, with attention to the front of the cylinder, the back of the barrel, behind the extractor, and the "hand window" (the part of the revolver that rotates the cylinder).

Try some cleaner ammo, like CCI Minimags with copper plated bullets and see if it helps. Since .22 is cheap, try several different brands and find the one that will shoot out of your 617 reliably and accurately.

Welcome to the forum, to S&W ownership, and to shooting!

The most likely cause is a fouled cylinder. You didn't state how many rounds you had fired when this started but I'll guess that it was 50 or more. The problem is that you are shooting a cartridge designed for a 16 inch barrel in a much shorter barrel. As a result there is a lot of unspent powder being thrown around.

I have an older 6 shot 617 no dash and when shooting Winchester Xpert HV or Wildcat I'll have problems fully seating fresh rounds at around the 50 shot range. If I don't scrub out the chambers with a dry brush it just gets progressively worse until the freshly loaded casings stand so high I can't close the cylinder. I also take a toothbrush to the range to clean under the extractor. As for why I keep shooting with this particular ammo, it's simple, it's the most accurate I've found for my 617.

If I'm not shooting for presision, I've found the copper washed Federal bulk pak is much cleaner shooting, so clean that I don't have to do anything for more than 100 rounds downrange. Cleanup is also about 1/2 the work required with the Winchester. Unfortunately, it groups about 50% larger than the Winchester.

Bottomline, you either need to find a cleaner shooting ammo or clean the gun during your range session.

I have a 617-4, 4 inch. I have only shot 550 round bulk. Remington is lousy, Winchester is better, Federal is best. But I have never had a problem with binding, etc, with any of them. I clean mine occasionally, when I think of it.

Well I just bought a new 617 and mine is jamming with 4 different types of ammo. We are not alone .. I wish I had known it was a common problem.
I just found this video ... **** !!!!

Smith and Wesson 617: Jam Session - YouTube

Frankly, this is the first I've heard of this condition but both of my 617s are no-dash versions. One thing the guy in the video didn't do was mark the chamber(s) in which the cases were "bulging" - it seemed to happen for him with both brands of ammo, so I would be trying to narrow down the possible causes.

Ed

I would send it back. More than likely you need a new cylinder.

kinda worthless vid since there is little to no info regarding purchase, rounds fired, nothing, just a staged video of what the shooter knew was going to happen. My point is it has no value or credibility. I've seen lots of vids and threads on malfunctions with just about any gun I want to look for, these blanket statements are annoying. If you have a problem, researched it and found others having it, can't fix it yourself, send it back to S&W, get it fixed and enjoy it...

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Jack C

May I suggest this thread, skip to the last post on the second page.

Ejection should be an easy one finger operation, try a different brand of ammo, but if that doesn't fix it the answers are here.

SW 317 .22 Jamming Problems