I posted earlier about my new 617 with 4" bbl shooting high and left.
Just received it back after less than 3 weeks. They mentioned it might take 6 to 8 weeks at this time of year.
Upon opening the box, I noticed a complete rear sight sitting next to the pistol. They replaced and sent back the original rear. The new rear has a slightly lower height blade in the site. Seems like that should take care of the shooting high.
As to the shooting left, they tightened the bbl to the left just a little, so the front sight is canted. I guess I'm ok with that as it is not really noticeable.
I am happy for S&W's customer service.
This weekend I'll get to shoot it to see how the "fix" works.
Thanks again for the previous replies
Porter

Years ago I had a M617 4" that didn't shoot very well. I had bought a 4" and 6" at nearly the same time. The 6" was a 10 shooter and was, and still is, very accurate. I cleaned the 4" boxed it up, and took it to a local gun show and sold it. Several months ago, I bought another no dash M617 4" and it shot 8 inches high at 25 yards. I installed a higher factory ramp sight and that corrected the problem. Now, with a 6 o'clock hold at 25 yards I can keep them all in the black. A little later I bought another 6" no dash, and it was a tack driver right out of the box, just like my 10 shot M617-2. I don't know why I had trouble with both my 4" M617 no dash revolvers. I recently bought a M63 4" and it shoots really well. I hope you have better luck this time as I consider the M617's to be the cream of the stainless 22 crop. Big Larry

I'm glad they got it straigtened out in a short time.

I've a 617 no dash that does best with 'Cyclone' ammo by Remington...

I had heard that the 617 plays favorites with ammo, and everyone I heard from seemed to report something different. So, I went to the local fun store, bought some of each flavor they had, and had some fun myself.

The Cyclones gave me the best groups - and at Point Of Aim.

I have a 617 4" - 6 shot that is a great shooter but it has a tendency to lead up in the barrel. I just got a 617 6" 6 shot that is a tack driver as is. (My son shot it to prove that! ). I am thinking of shooting some fire-lap ammo in the 4" in hopes of fixing the leading problem. i have a 10 shot 617 in 6" version and it shot good and functioned well but I just wasn't enthuised with it, so I sold it.

John

I have two no-dash 617s, a 6" and a 4". The 6" shoots tiny groups with the Federal Game-Shok 38-grain copper-plated hollow-point (Federal load #712) and the 4" likes that load and the Federal Lightning 40-grain solid (load #510) equally well. Neither gun shoots well with Remington, Federal or Winchester target loads and the 6" shot its worst groups with the Remington target ammo. I've never tried any of the "good" imported target ammo as the Federal 712s shoot better than I'm able to and will work great for the occasional small game hunt.

John, you might want to try ammo with copper-plated bullets in your 4" to see if the leading clears any.

Ed

Forgot to add that the deposits left on the cylinder face by the Federal ammo wash right off with bore solvent and an old toothbrush. Most ammo requires a brass brush and an abrasive cleaner like Iosso GunBrite.

AveragEd,

The leading happens with plated ammo too. All kinds. I used a bore scope and the rifling is a little rough in spots but nothing that stands out to me.

John

It was a thought, John.

Back to the OP's gun, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be happy with a repair like that. To relate it to my former field of 38 years, that's kind of like correcting a car's pulling condition by intentionally misaligning the front suspension instead of replacing the tire that is actually causing the pull. Smith & Wessons are supposed to be high-quality guns and for the most part, they are just that. In my opinion, that's not a high-quality repair.

Ed

I was hoping for a little more in the repair department. The letter stated the revolver performed within factory specs!!
The proof will be in the shooting though. I will pick up a bunch of different ammo to find this guns preference and report back the details.
Thanks again.
Porter