5" bbl 617?

[mtelkhntr]

Desecrating a 617 would be akin to putting clothes on the old Farrah Fawcet poster

 

[Tom C]

The project took a while longer than planned, and changed (of course) after inspiration from the 986. The work was performed by Alex Hamilton of Ten Ring Precision, and the grips are by Kim Ahrends (wood - padauk). The balance is exactly what I desired. I would have posted sooner, but Avast kept blocking this site (along with many other forums)...

I appreciate all of your input along the way, and hope you enjoy the photo!

Great looking gun. Perhaps the rest of us will get lucky and the factory will make it for us.

 

[Nedroe]

My 617

This was a 617-1, round butt, with very few rounds thru it. I didn't care for the 6 inch tube.

I like it much better now.

Ned

 

[kimber 22]

The 617 looks great. How does it feel? Is it muzzle heavy any more?

The balance is perfect, at least in my opinion. Overall weight was reduced by a little more than 6 ounces. I haven't tried any center of gravity estimations, though it feels very close to the hands compared to the full-lug 6" bbl, so it's no longer muzzle heavy. The gun is still heavy enough that the difference in recoil is indiscernible.

Can you also give us an idea how much it cost?

I hesitate to box a gunsmith into a corner on pricing, especially since he spent a lot of time communicating with me to ensure we were both on the same page. Also, I had some other work done unrelated to this job that blurs the cost. I will say the barrel profile probably drove the cost up more than a simple chop and crown would cost. Alex lists some pricing on his website (as do many custom shops):
Ten Ring Precision | Custom Guns Based in San Antonio

This job entailed shortening the barrel, recrowning, cutting the profile, and installing a front sight. Though I did not expect it, the fiber optic front sight was reduced in height so the gun shot to point of aim when it came back. I fully anticipated playing with rear sight heights...

The barrel profile we agreed upon has some risk. I'm not a machinist, though I have used a router and know that narrow pieces of wood are subject to chatter during cutting that may leave the surface imperfect or worse, destroy the wood. Putting this profile on your barrel is a different process than milling a chunk of steel in a CNC machine.

Desecrating a 617 would be akin to putting clothes on the old Farrah Fawcet poster

The purists at the gun club refuse to look at it! Consider it this way - I'm driving up the price of your collectible!

An alternative would be to buy a second barrel and chop that one so if you ever resell, you may reinstall the original barrel.

This was a 617-1, round butt, with very few rounds thru it. I didn't care for the 6 inch tube.

I like it much better now.

Ned

My brother did the same as you to one of his 617's. In my opinion, the radical 5" profile feels much better in the hand the simply chopping the barrel to 3". On the other hand, the 3" job cost significantly less...

Great looking gun. Perhaps the rest of us will get lucky and the factory will make it for us.

I hope so, and have done some campaigning on that directly with S&W, publishers, and others. The consensus seems to be that right now, anybody who makes guns is up to their eyeballs. I would insist on a 6 shot cylinder, too!

 

[kimber 22]

Getting a clear shot of the crown is difficult, so this is the best I have. I had no idea what exactly Alex would do for the crown beyond squaring it. The finished product looks unique to me, and I really like the way it turned out!

 

[Tom C]

Getting a clear shot of the crown is difficult, so this is the best I have. I had no idea what exactly Alex would do for the crown beyond squaring it. The finished product looks unique to me, and I really like the way it turned out!

The profile looks pretty much identical to my 627PC. I would love it if S&W made this configuration, but just cutting my 6" barrel to 5" got me really close to the weight and balance of my 627 and I can live with that.sent

You said it took off 6 oz? As I recall, cutting the barrel from 6" to 5" took off about 3oz.

 

[Kernel Crittenden]

....I had no idea what exactly Alex would do for the crown ....

The factory full-lug crown profile is very unique, with lots of subtleties. I've never seen an aftermarket barrel shortening duplicate it perfectly.

 

[Jebus35745]

Wow,2 yrs later and I still want a 3" bbl K-22. Won a cosmetically challenged 5 screw pre-17 on gunbroker this week to cut down. Have abt 375.00 in it delivered and FFL a fees to receive it. Gonna clean and lube it tomorrow, seems a little stiff. Anyone have pics of a 3" blued K-22 with a tapered bbl?? I may do this myself just to keep the cost down. Need to find a rear sight for it cause the one it has is broken. Larry

 

[Sconnie]

Holy cow! I did not pay attention to the original post date. I have seen photos of the German 617 before and I was going to suggest that you consider shaving off from the sides like the German model versus the underlug. And it would appear you went that direction even without my help. Nice.

Very nice job. Congrats and enjoy. Oh, and the club members who won't look at it are just jealous!

As another alternative I was going to suggest a shooter quality/finish impaired Model 17 and not sweat the finish issues on the one you let your students use. But I do believe you have it covered now.

 

[kimber 22]

You said it took off 6 oz? As I recall, cutting the barrel from 6" to 5" took off about 3oz.

Yes. It weighs 40 oz now. My other 617 with a 6" bbl weighs 46+ oz.

As another alternative I was going to suggest a shooter quality/finish impaired Model 17 and not sweat the finish issues on the one you let your students use.

Try finding a shooter quality at shooter prices! I was fortunate to find all of my 17/617's at reasonable prices, but those days are gone...

 

[Tom C]

Yes. It weighs 40 oz now. My other 617 with a 6" bbl weighs 46+ oz.



Try finding a shooter quality at shooter prices! I was fortunate to find all of my 17/617's at reasonable prices, but those days are gone...

I'm happy with my 3 oz. weight reduction. Now that I am retired, I no longer have the disposable income to play with.

 

[Sconnie]

Try finding a shooter quality at shooter prices! I was fortunate to find all of my 17/617's at reasonable prices, but those days are gone...

Yea, can't disagree with ya there.

I am sure some might chime in about the fantastic deal that they have recently gotten at a local auction or from the "old guy" down the street. But I do not want to start a thread drift on that topic.

Never could understand why S&W made the no lug for such a short time. And I would have thought that German version would have been a hot seller too back then and now. But I suppose it is all about the semi autos these days for volume.