Sometimes you just have to make your Smith into a model S&W should have made and not look back. Larry
5" bbl 617?
- Thread starter kimber 22
- Start date
I have to agree , its not the Holy Grail, they are not rare, however you can buy stnls barrels at Brownells, they are the newer version, printing is different. And then have the dickens chopped off it. For a pure shooting gun the Weigand sight works great and is alot cheaper than refitting a S/W ramp and patridge or Baumann like Bowen does, although his work is beautiful. I am going another route, I have several blued guns that Im gonna have shortened and such for shooting, when I retire ,but Im gonna have them hard chromed after, then put the sights back on.
Let me know if you need a spare hacksaw blade or file.
Just kidding usually those jobs do turn out pretty bad and alot of time. Good luck Bob
Let me know if you need a spare hacksaw blade or file.
Just kidding usually those jobs do turn out pretty bad and alot of time. Good luck Bob
OP
kimber 22
Member
I'm working on it. I like to keep my business local and face to face when I can, so I have to do some driving. I'm also checking some of the well known shops. I'll keep y'all posted, though like I said before, it could take a while.
Amen Brother!
Midway, too. Brownell's isn't stocking the 6" at this point, and the 8 3/8" is a lot more expensive. After the input from you guys, that may be part of the solution. In fact, the 8" bbl could get quite costly, because after you cut it down to 5", you have a little stub left over with a front sight and all - what are you going to do with that? Can't let it got to waste, right???
I like the looks of the Weigand, and that the blades are interchangeable. Based on his website, I didn't think Bowen wanted this kind of work. I should probably contact them for an estimate.
You mean I can't do it with my Sawzall and Dremel?
I have a friend who recently joined the 1000 taxpayers a day partaking in the Commiefornia diaspora. Good luck - maybe you can get out as well!
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kimber 22
Member
It looks pretty much like the factory sight. Thanks for the visual Larry!
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kimber 22
Member
Finally!
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!
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!
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Kernel Crittenden
US Veteran, Absent Comrade
Looks nice. I can see a TANZER influence.
Great looking gun. Perhaps the rest of us will get lucky and the factory will make it for us.
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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
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
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kimber 22
Member
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.
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.
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...
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!
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kimber 22
Member
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.
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Kernel Crittenden
US Veteran, Absent Comrade
The factory full-lug crown profile is very unique, with lots of subtleties. I've never seen an aftermarket barrel shortening duplicate it perfectly.
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
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.
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.
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kimber 22
Member
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.
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.
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