617 Light strike warranty repair, round 2....

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Guitarmageddon

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Hey all.

A couple months back I took my brand new 617 to its first range trip and had about 50% light strikes. I shot about close to a dozen types of ammo through it. Off to S&W it went....

It took about 7 weeks to get the gun back which I guess is about on par for their current backlog. First range trip out, seemed to fire flawlessly. However, in pretty much every range trip thereafter, I get roughly 1-3 light strikes in every 100-150 rounds I fire when I go out.

i have decided to send the gun back to them for a second time. Am I expecting more reliability than 22 ammo can provide? I sent my r8 back to them for light strikes years ago and to be honest, I dont think Ive seen a light strike since. Crazy... This has happened with CCI, Federal, Geco, aguila, remington, SK, and probably a couple other brands, so I dont think its brand specific.

When the gun first came back, its paperwork said "sideplate repair" and that was it, nothing more descriptive. Is it time to suggest to them that maybe a longer firing pin is in order? Not sure if they will necessarily heed customer advice but I guess its worth a shot.

But this gun...kind of disappointing. A joy to shoot though, love the thing.
 
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I would first make sure the space under the extractor was extremely well cleaned as well as the chambers themselves. Then when test firing make sure to extract fired cases briskly with the muzzle pointed up. The 22 RF round is infamous for dropping unnerved powder kernels in there and first causing dragging or poor ignition, then as the fouling gets worse,tying up the cylinder completely.

Failing to gain satisfaction in this way, I would assume there was a firing pin problem and send it back to the factory.

Froggie
 
I doubt if they would put in a longer firing pin, especially in a rimfire. They probably don't even have longer ones.

I would do everything Green Frog says, plus lightly chamfer the chamber holes where it transitions from the rim to the case. A sharp corner here can hold the rim of the case away from the cylinder if the case doesn't have a dead sharp bend there. Do not overdo the chamfer. You still need most of the flat part for the rim to get crushed against.

If it sets off all but a few out of 100 or more, it's probably not a firing pin problem. Endshake can cause light hits also, with rimfire or centerfire.
 
How is it so hard to get a rimfire revolver to work properly?
I have a used 617-2 10 shot that has never had a problem with CCI SV or Federal Automatch, pretty much all that I shoot. Same for my 17-2.
I dearly wanted to buy a new 686 for competition but Smtih & Wesson's lack of quality control held my back.
I did relent and buy a new Shield EZ, and it was recalled almost immediately. Although it is a dandy gun and works very well otherwise.
 
pittpa said:
How is it so hard to get a rimfire revolver to work properly?
I have a used 617-2 10 shot that has never had a problem with CCI SV or Federal Automatch, pretty much all that I shoot. Same for my 17-2.
I dearly wanted to buy a new 686 for competition but Smtih & Wesson's lack of quality control held my back.
I did relent and buy a new Shield EZ, and it was recalled almost immediately. Although it is a dandy gun and works very well otherwise.
Click to expand...

Haha its funny you mention that because on the same call asking for a shipping label, I asked them for an update on my shield EZ performance center that I sent back last week for recall. Was my daily carry but now....hmmm.

Come on smith. I am so brand loyal and cant see myself such a devoted user of another brand. But this is just annoying. Its funny when I think about it that every S&W Ive ever owned has gone back to them for some kind of work. Granted, my R8 was a used gun and the previous owner messed with it, but a funny observation no less.
 
So initially, this K-frame 22LR worked flawlessly, then it began to have light strikes after several uses. To me, that says that there may be residue or debris under the extractor, which will lift the case rim off of the cylinder just a bit, or there is gummy lubricant in the action, slightly slowing the fall of the hammer, or the strain screw located in the front of the grip frame is backing out just a bit.
 
stansdds said:
So initially, this K-frame 22LR worked flawlessly, then it began to have light strikes after several uses. To me, that says that there may be residue or debris under the extractor, which will lift the case rim off of the cylinder just a bit, or there is gummy lubricant in the action, slightly slowing the fall of the hammer, or the strain screw located in the front of the grip frame is backing out just a bit.
Click to expand...

Good point, I need to make a habit of marking strain screw location with a paint pen or taking a reading of it somehow, so I can confirm or deny thats happening.
 
If you are only getting one or two misfires out of 100, then I would seriously consider it an ammo problem more than a gun problem. I have been shooting a lot of .22 ammo this fall, through a number of Smith revolvers and my model 41 and have had issues with all guns and different ammo. I had a box of Federal bulk of some kind and had a lot of misfires, and failure to feed in the 41. I could tell that several rounds were underpowered. Yesterday, I had a Winchester round that would not fire, tried double and single action, out of three different guns, no go!! The rim was beat up by the time we tossed it!
Also, if you have a good solid indention in the case head, it is probably not the gun. My limited experience these days with Smith guns, is that the main spring is very stiff and has a strong hammer strike. Just saying.....
 
Use blue Loctite on your strain screw and it won't back out.

I've had real good luck with Federal HV ammo in my 617. I can go hundreds of rounds, as in shooting a Steel Challenge Match, without a misfire.

It's lead ammo but is clean. Again, I don't have to brush out the cylinders during a match.

A plated .22 may even work better but I'm getting good service with what I'm using so I'll stick to it. Hope you have good luck with Smith.
 
I have had some 22s fail to fire. Have pulled bullet on most of them and always found a light colored powder mixed in with the regular dark powder. I suspect it is primer compound. I think maybe they had bad primer compound. Maybe this is where we get some of our fail to fires.
When I load my 617s I always press each round down into thr cylinder.
 
could be a powder soot build up in the firing pin channel. making the pin not move as well as it should.

based this on the ran fine when it came back then started light strikes again.

not good strike misfires which would point to an ammo issue for sure.

worth a shot to pull the pin and clean the area real good. may take care of the issue
 
My 617 has never failed to shoot anything I put in it. Federal HV and SV, all CCI's, all Blazers, all Aquila's. Even every Remington. I used it to burn through all my dirty Golden Bullet rounds and dispose of them. 300+ rounds in one target shooting session, 10 at a time. Had to run a brush through the cylinder after every 50 or so rounds because they gummed it up, but every round fired. It was a mess to clean afterwards.

I have four Rugers - a Single-Six, a Wrangler, a Single-Ten, and a MkII, and none have ever failed to fire. Guess I'm just lucky?
 
pasound said:
My 617 has never failed to shoot anything I put in it. Federal HV and SV, all CCI's, all Blazers, all Aquila's. Even every Remington. I used it to burn through all my dirty Golden Bullet rounds and dispose of them. 300+ rounds in one target shooting session, 10 at a time. Had to run a brush through the cylinder after every 50 or so rounds because they gummed it up, but every round fired. It was a mess to clean afterwards.

I have four Rugers - a Single-Six, a Wrangler, a Single-Ten, and a MkII, and none have ever failed to fire. Guess I'm just lucky?
Click to expand...

Funny you bring up the golden bullet. I had a pile of that stuff the gun burned through. I sat on that box of golden bullets for literally 12 years before ever buying a 22. Got it on a trade from someone years ago. Didnt crack it open til this year haha. I really do love the 617 though.

Although I have an itch for the model 41 performance center lately...
 
I'm sorry if this was already stated, I tend to skim through postings. Did you confirm that there is no end-shake? I have been lucky with my 617-1 and my Ruger Single-six, I can't remember a FTF with either. Having said that, I would be hesitant to return your 617 to Smith & Wesson the second time. Personally, I would probably live with it. I hate sending guns back.
 
wproct said:
I'm sorry if this was already stated, I tend to skim through postings. Did you confirm that there is no end-shake? I have been lucky with my 617-1 and my Ruger Single-six, I can't remember a FTF with either. Having said that, I would be hesitant to return your 617 to Smith & Wesson the second time. Personally, I would probably live with it. I hate sending guns back.
Click to expand...

Just from my scientific eyeball it didnt seem like any, but I have no proper gauges to check that sort of thing. Im hoping they will/already have. yes I really hate sending my guns back too.
 
Since the first range trip you said it shot fine then misfires developed again, my bet is the strain screw. Make sure it stays fully tightened.
 
i Read all these stories of misfires and don’t doubt people are having problems but my wife and I shoot a variety of new and vintage 22 revolvers, pistols and rifles including a 617 and almost never have a misfire. We shoot pretty much whatever we can get in bulk and between the two of us over the last theee years probably haven’t had 4 or 5 failures to fire. If I have a failure I take the cartridge out and rechamber it where the firing pin hits another spot and all but one time it’s gone off. I’d guess we’ve shot in excess of 15,000 rounds over this period. We keep our firearms very clean which I think plays a big part in reliability and don’t monkey with springs and adjustments.
 
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I'm like 38SuperMan, I routinely shoot a 617-6, a K22 masterpiece from 52 and 53, a 63-1, and a 34-1. I previously had a 17-4 and a K22 Outdoorsman. The only problem I had with any of these over tha past 35+ years was tight sticky chambers which was resolved with a Finishing Reamer. I have seldom messed with the strain screw, and always make sure it is "tight". I have had misfire problems but always with Remington Target, which is an ammo I refuse to any longer purchase.

Getting used to a 10 lb double action trigger or consistently using them in Single action only.
 
I have never had a light strike problem with a new S&W, but a couple of prewar S&Ws and a 1909 Colt had internal pinch or bind issues that I am pretty sure impeded the hammer fall. At any rate after serious cleaning and some light stoning of rub points on the frame interior, the Smiths are fine. The Colt still needs some attention, but after a small part replacement, I can see the hammer is not the problem. The DA trigger pull is flat out stiff and horrible, but the hammer doesn't seem to trip or drag after release. I'm pretty sure I know where the problem lies, but other things have been happening that take precedence. I'll get to the Colt eventually.

As to the 617, consider the possibility of fouling in the frame-mounted firing pin channel. You might take the cylinder out and put a small strip of soft wood up against the recoil shield and dry fire the gun a couple of dozen times as you slide the strip past the impact point. If the strike depth is the same on all of the firing pin strike holes, your problem probably has nothing to do with possible fouling in the firing pin channel. If you see punches of differing depths, you might want to take the assembly apart for a cleaning, or even just flood it with some light lubricant to see if the problem goes away. You might even be able to diagnose this by pushing against the back end of the firing pin multiple times with a small punch or stout toothpick.
 
Guitarmageddon said:
Good point, I need to make a habit of marking strain screw location with a paint pen or taking a reading of it somehow, so I can confirm or deny thats happening.
Click to expand...

The strain screw is tight or it ain't, check it with a screw driver. I have a new 617, had one misfire (double action) on an old bulk Federal, fired on the second try. It's fired on everything else. We'll see. S&W quality ain't what it used to be.
 
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