17-5

[RSBH44]

My FFL guy called me this morning and said that my newest revolver had arrived. so, I stopped what I was doing and drove over to pick it up.
This little sweetheart looks better in person than it did in the pics!!
17-5 with the rare-ish heavy 4" barrel. It's definitely in excellent cond. and "Surprise" there was a note in the package saying that they forgot to mention that the gun also came with an extra set of factory grips!!
Now, I can't decide which ones that I like best, the darker ones, or the lighter set.
What do you all think ?

 

[1911 45]

I like the darker grips but the lighter grips look nice to. Just flip a coin thats a hard choice to make.

 

[DR505]

I wasn't aware a 17-5 with a 4" barrel was rare. You have some great stocks on the revolver. I have a 17-4 8 3/8" and a 17-6 4"...both came with magnas, and I have switched out the stocks on the 17-4...see below.

 

[M29since14]

Both look nice. You can alternate!

The 17-5 is a good variation. I like the heavy barrel. I like your 4-inch model too - don't recall ever seeing one of those in person. I ordered the 6-inch version for paper punching. I think it is a little easier to shoot than the lighter barreled guns. Congrats on your new .22.

 

[Engine49guy]

I like the darker grips,

The 4" Model 17-5 with wide rib barrel replaced the tapered barrel Model 18-4,

 

[jack the toad]

I slightly favor the dark ones.
Congrats on a nice find.

 

[growr]

I too like the darker ones....

Randy

 

[wx7b]

I think that 4 in HB is the best combination between the M18 and M17 with lugged barrel. I like the dark grips best. Congrats!

 

[RSBH44]

I wasn't aware a 17-5 with a 4" barrel was rare. You have some great stocks on the revolver. I have a 17-4 8 3/8" and a 17-6 4"...both came with magnas, and I have switched out the stocks on the 17-4...see below.[/IMG]

Sorry, I guess Rare was a poor choice of words. I should have said , hard to come by 4" barrel. You just don't see them very often and It took me awhile to find this one. The serial number prefix places this gun made in the late 80's

 

[RSBH44]

Yeah, I kind of favor the darker stocks myself too. Thanks for the comments guys.

 

[Lou_NC]

I definitely vote for the darker grips on the blued revolver. Save those lighter ones for a stainless gun, that's where they look best (in my humble opinion )!

Lou

 

[Engine49guy]

Sorry, I guess Rare was a poor choice of words. I should have said , hard to come by 4" barrel. You just don't see them very often and It took me awhile to find this one. The serial number prefix places this gun made in the late 80's

Definitely not a common variation as the 4" 17-5 was probably only in production about 1 to 2 years,
The early 17-6 used the same barrel and looks the same before it was changed to the full underlug barrel.

Neat guns, if you want a partner in .38 special look for a 15-5 , dash 6 or dash 7.

On a side note that whole jumbling of barrels and designs is very bizarre, IMO would have made alot more sense to offer the 14 and 17 with the wide rib non underlug barrel in various lengths, Then change the Models 18 and 15 (which had always looked the same) giving them the full underlug barrels in different lengths renaming them the " Distinguished Combat Masterpiece" considering the full underlug L frame was call the "Distinguished Combat Magnum".

 

[RSBH44]

Definitely not a common variation as the 4" 17-5 was probably only in production about 1 to 2 years,
The early 17-6 used the same barrel and looks the same before it was changed to the full underlug barrel.

Neat guns, if you want a partner in .38 special look for a 15-5 , dash 6 or dash 7.

On a side note that whole jumbling of barrels and designs is very bizarre, IMO would have made alot more sense to offer the 14 and 17 with the wide rib non underlug barrel in various lengths, Then change the Models 18 and 15 (which had always looked the same) giving them the full underlug barrels in different lengths renaming them the " Distinguished Combat Masterpiece" considering the full underlug L frame was call the "Distinguished Combat Magnum".

Actually I think that they were produced for just 1 year. 88-89 when they discontinued it in favor of starting production on the 17-6 full underlug barrels. So, I guess in a way being made for only 1 year would make it sort of, rare- ish. I like the way you think regarding the various barrel lengths and model variations. Makes perfect sense to me. I never thought about a companion piece but now that you've mentioned it I'll have to look into the model 15-5. I was originally thinking of looking for a model 18.

 

[DR505]

Actually I think that they were produced for just 1 year. 88-89 when they discontinued it in favor of starting production on the 17-6 full underlug barrels. So, I guess in a way being made for only 1 year would make it sort of, rare- ish. I like the way you think regarding the various barrel lengths and model variations. Makes perfect sense to me. I never thought about a companion piece but now that you've mentioned it I'll have to look into the model 15-5. I was originally thinking of looking for a model 18.

I wonder how many 17-6's, like mine above, were made without the full underlug?

 

[RSBH44]

Good question. Unfortunately there is no indication in the SCSW of how many may have been made before the complete switch over to the full under lug barrels in 1990.

 

[ameridaddy]

The dark ones for me.
Congratulations on a gorgeous find!

 

[Engine49guy]

No way to know how many were made but we can track how long they shipped and their serial prefixes, dont forget that alpha numeric serials were shared by all frame sizes J,K,L,N and began AAA 0001 to AAA 9999 etc then AAB, AAC

Have the following
4" Model 17-5 HB Serial prefix AWN
4" Model 17-6 HB Serial prefix BDE
6" Model 17-6 Full lug Serial prefix BDS
4" Model 17-6 HB Serial prefix BEH
4" Model 17-6 Full Lug Serial prefix BEJ

 

[Kernel Crittenden]

The serial number prefix places this gun made in the late 80's

If you don't mind sharing, what is the s/n?

 

[Goblin]

I like the whole package, but prefer the dark grips. Thanks for sharing.

 

[RSBH44]

If you don't mind sharing, what is the s/n?

The s/n is AYB33xx