At the local show today, had a guy walk by my table with a 617-ND 10-inch barrel. Wanted $800 for it.

Can anybody help me with any "poop" on this gun. 6-shot 617 ND 10-inch. I honestly did not know they made any in 10-inch dress.

Any info on price, collectability, etc. would be appreciated. I can still get he gun. He did not sell it at the show. I think everybody was afraid of it....including me.

According to the SCoSW, none were ever made - production or special-order.

Ed

There was no reference in the "Bible" as to a 10-inch either. Me and my table-mate put a ruler on it....it is 10-inches. The guy said it was a custom gun and Smith only made a few. Everything about the gun looked like it belonged and it all had the same degree of surface wear, which was not very much. It was in great shape. I seriously do believe it came from S&W with that barrel. I promise you it was not a 8-3/8. Everything looked like it belonged there.

I've never seen one at any show or on the auction sites so it's probably a special order from S&W

i'd have to start doing wrist curls just to hold it up and shoot it......buy a rifle instead.

Or.....add a forearm grip.

I may wind-up with this thing, if nothing else....just to have one of some kind not many others have....but got to do a little more research first. So far.....I have not heard from anybody that has heard of, or knows about, or owns one of these thingy's.

i'd say if it factory lettered, it would be worth 800 easy.No lock of course.Did it have the box etc ?

The guy still has the gun and plans to pull it back out of his safe and call me tonight with the dash and SN. I will be able to find out more about it then. But, he did purchase it new and has the box and papers. I'll know more later on.

If the 10 inch is worth 800.00- what would a 6inch- no lock-6 shot be worth. Does the 10 inch brl. add that much to the price ? I'm surprised as to what the 617 -6 shot-no lock guns are going for.
SM1357

In my opinion....the 10-inch is not worth more than my 6-inch ND either and somebody would have to "pry" it out of may hands for $700, but I may take $800.

This gun being a 10-inch will make it special to the collector (again...JMHO). I would not be purchasing it to shoot it. The gun was purchased new at a Big Buck sporing goods store here in the area where I live. The owner told me they sometimes appear on GB in the $900-$1,000 range, but I have not bothered to go look for one and would not go out-of-my-way to buy one. I had just never seen one and apparently there are a few more of us here that haven't either.

removed PC

I am beginning to think my table-buddy can't measure any better than the guy that has the gun. When I talk to this guy tonight...I plan to have him pull out his ruler and measure from the muzzle to the cylinder face and if he comes up with 10-inches....plus-or-minus an 1/8th.....I am going to have to look at it again myself. Smith tells me they never produced a 10-inch, but bumble bees are not suppose to fly either.

Sure it wasn't 8 3/8th's? I've seen those.

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Sure you did

Me too. I am sure it could be a mis-measured 8 3/8ths. My table mate measured it and confirmed it was a 10-inch like the guy said, but my table mate is a lot older than even I am . I plan to put the ruler back on it myself.

The barrel length for International Handgun Metallic Silhouette Association shooting is (or was) ten and a fraction inches. I had a Freedom Arms 252 with ten inch barrel that was a wonderful shooter and was made for that type of competition.
I never understood why Smith & Wesson didn't make a similar revolver during the period when IHMSA was so popular. Dan Wesson did make one, but most of them were junk.
I'd buy a 617 with ten inch barrel if I saw one, but never have.
- - - - Buckspen

buck.....by this time tomorrow, I may be able to tell you that I DEFINITELY know where one is hanging on the frame of a 617 ND.....we'll see.

If he still has the box then ask him to snap a pic of the end label .

What about the ruler you used? Maybe there was 2" broken off the end?

I actually saw Army (civilian) post engineers do this very thing when measuring up a building for an air-conditioning job.

removed PC

Now that is a good trick I haven't thought of. Until I get this guy to take a measurement just like I tell him to...I am going to be suspect of my buddies ruler that was suppose to have measured it.

I could say something here about using "modified rulers" to measure certain parts of the male anatomy.....but...I'll keep it clean.

I think Speedo2 has the right answer to this drummed-up mystery I created.

I refuse to let this thread die without offering the opportunity for the posters to heap generous amounts of abuse on the OP.....which is me.

The owner was suppose to call me back with the correct measurement last night...and I have heard nothing tonight either. I think he realized he did not have a gun with a 10-inch barrel after I explained to him that S&W, as well as most of you, were very doubtful. I also asked my table-buddy who had it in his hand while I was talking to the guy and told me it was 10-inches what he was "playing with" at the time. He has not produced a satisfactory answer (LOL).

We learn something every day guys and to be perfectly honest, for all I knew at the time Smith may have made some in 10-inch dress....I didn't know. At least it gave us something new to discuss and some to drool over the possibility of finding one. If the guy shows up here at my house with a 10-inch barrel on it....I plan to look for stretch marks.

So the trick is to measure not only what is on the outside but on the inside(of the frame that is) as well. Got it

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Forum consigliere

That's the trick. You may have some guns in your safe that have longer barrels than you thought they had.

I'd pay $800. w/ box if the box label verifies the barrel length and serial number AND the gun has NO LOCK. I DOUBT that's the case as neither The Catalog of S&W, nor The Blue Book of Gun Values lists a 10 inch barrel. A search of past Gun Broker auctions doesn't show any being sold , despite the seller's statements at the gun shop. Sooo, I must conclude it's a fabrication, not a factory revolver......

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'Nam 1968-69.DAV,VFW,NRA Inst.

I'm assuming you didn't ask what the end label stated for bbl. length.
If the box (& label) is legit, that should give your answer. I'd call him back & see what he says.

I'm with Speedo2. simple measuring error.
Or maybe he used a fisherman's ruler....like the one i have.

snubbiefan:

Are you sure it isn't a Performance Center Model 647?

Bob

Rad.....not that far gone ....yet. I had my hands on it. It was a 617 NL, but I do not recall the dash number. The guy told us it had a 10-inch barrel and I handed it to my buddy to look at while I STS with this guy. My buddy told me it was a 10-inch.

I called this guy back the next day and he was suppose to pull the gun out of his safe and give me the SN, dash number, box info, etc. I told him that as far as we (meaning us on the forum and S&W telling me) were concerned or knew about, that Smith never made one with a 10-inch barrel. He NEVER called back, so I figure that he figured out he has an 8-3/8.

I MUST AGREE. BTW, the 8 3/8" version is a wonderful revolver. It shoots like a rifle.

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'Nam 1968-69.DAV,VFW,NRA Inst.

I read this thread a few days ago and thought right off that the owner of the 617 10" didn't know how to measure a revolver barrel length.

Today I went to a gun show here. And there on a table was a 17 with a correctly measured 10 1/8th inch barrel!!!! I checked because of this thread I read.
It had the correct S&W stampings on both sides of the barrel. They were in the middle of the barrel. Everything looked correct. The ejector latch was correct looking. The only thing that didn't look "Smith" was the barrel was round, no rib. The guy knew nothing about it. It had been used and had a fair amount of bluing wear. He wanted $800.

I am in doubt that is is a factory job. BUT the barrel stampings is what made me look at it closely. Did anyone have barrel stamps and make it look like a factory job?

Waiting for the experts say so here.

John

I am delighted to hear that someone got some use from this semi-stupid thread I started. I was going to make that guy an offer on it based on his word, because as far as I knew...Smith could have made a 10-inch....(Ya'll know my handle is "snubbiefan"....what do I know about long-barreled guns ). I had never asked or seen one before, but I let it pass so I could do some investigating. I think in my case, I would have went home with a 8-7/8" barrel had I took his word for it.

Since S&W tells me they never made one (for what that is worth) and none of you fellow posters had ever seen one, I came down on the side of one does not exist. But, that certainly does not mean some clever gunsmith could not produce one. Now....I will say that I specifically asked Smith about a "617" and not a model 17.

Sounds like somebody made a target gun, or a novelty to me.

It always struck me as incorrect that semi-autos' barrels are measured from the breech-face .... but it's the only practical way, for semi-autos.
The same kind of measurement in revolvers would be muzzle to back of cylinder .... .... just an observation.