617 excessive leading around forcing cone
- Thread starter GT_80
- Start date
SWFan27
Member
Looks exactly like the new 617-6 I bought a couple weeks ago, and am sending back to S&W after shooting maybe 400 rounds through my new thousand dollar 22. Thank God my other S&W''s are problem free out of the box.
Yendor357
Member
For what you pay for a 617, ever one of them should be correct from the start, right out of the box. S&W has had too high of a failure rate with these things for me to ever take a chance on buying another. I’ve recently become a big fan of the new Python and Anaconda. I will never buy a 22 King Cobra Target either. I’ve had MUCH better luck with my Model 41s.
SWFan27
Member
My brand-new 617 is currently at S&W for warranty work for the same reason. It has only been about three weeks and I am praying for great results once they send it back. Cleaning after every 50 rounds is just silly. The thing is a thousand dollar target revolver. Too pricey to be problematic.
Last edited:
We appreciate the time and effort you took to post your experience with your 617 revolver. You were quite patient with Smith & Wesson through the whole process and that is not always easy to do. The 617 is truly a pleasure to own and to shoot and I'm sure you are going to get years of enjoyment out of yours.
SWFan27
Member
Here are pictures of my brand-new 617, and this was after I cleaned all of the lead shavings. Hopefully I will get it back from S&W in few weeks with everything fixed. I shot less than 500 rounds of Federal and Winchester ammo through it. The Federal was lead nose.
SWFan27
Member
I just got my FedEx tracking number from Smith & Wesson. Label was created but no date yet for delivery. Can't wait to get it back and take it to the range. They checked it in for warranty work on 7/3 and I received the return tracking number today 8/9. Not bad for a quick return time.
I used a 10 shot 617 to shoot a six stage Steel Challenge match a bit over a week ago. Rem. Golden Bullet ammo that is at least 10 years old. DS-10 speedloaders. I had a bronze brush on a cleaning rod and a toothbrush in my kit, but they never got used. Is the revolver dirty? Yup. But it never quit and all the misses were the fault of the operator.
FWIW, I ended up in the middle of the .22 entries (all but two of about 17 were semi-autos). Considering the lack of practice and that my last steel match was over a year ago, only slightly disappointed.
My old 4" no dash six shooter purchased slightly used in the mid to late '90s has often been so coated with lead about the barrel shank that it formed a cone flush with the frame. Never affected function nor accuracy, even out to 100 yards. Run hard and put up dirty most of the time and yet, many tens of thousands of rounds later, it still carries up well and is tight as anyone could want. Even with a broken ejector locating pin. (It had two.)
FWIW, I ended up in the middle of the .22 entries (all but two of about 17 were semi-autos). Considering the lack of practice and that my last steel match was over a year ago, only slightly disappointed.
My old 4" no dash six shooter purchased slightly used in the mid to late '90s has often been so coated with lead about the barrel shank that it formed a cone flush with the frame. Never affected function nor accuracy, even out to 100 yards. Run hard and put up dirty most of the time and yet, many tens of thousands of rounds later, it still carries up well and is tight as anyone could want. Even with a broken ejector locating pin. (It had two.)
Last edited:
SWFan27
Member
My 617 is being delivered back from S&W tomorrow 8/12. Hoping FedEx is early and maybe I can slip on down to the range. I am looking forward to seeing the paperwork detailing what work they performed.
Last edited:
SWFan27
Member
So, I just got my 617-6 back from S&W. The only work they performed was cutting the forcing cone and refinishing the gun. Looking forward to taking it to the range.
Last edited:
Possibly a bit off subject:
Way long ago when I was 21 or 22, I bought a pre-WWI 6" .32WCF Smith in nice shape. Bore was (and is) excellent. But it had no forcing cone to speak of. Thought it ought not be that way, so I added one myself using a tapered reamer. Probably some plumber's tool, IIRC. It came out nicely and it shoots well, but it turns out other .32 WCFs from that time period just didn't have much of a forcing cone on purpose. Always wondered about that. Better alignment on all their revolvers back then? Maybe when new. Certainly not after a fair amount of use, given the numbers of "out of time" flogged out examples around today! S&Ws made Post-WWII seem to hold up much better. They certainly aren't as pretty on the inside as those pre-WWI revolvers, though, at least until recently.
Many of the current revolvers have beautiful milling work where you can't see it. Some of the ugliest "guts" I've seen are in those 1970s revolvers....Great polishing and blue on the outside but **** inside.
I've passed on way more revolvers of whatever vintage that I wanted than I ever bought, just because they failed basic inspection. Probably a good thing for my wallet. Will there come a day when you can buy any revolver sight unseen and expect perfection? Possibly. Or "yes" if you pay Freedom Arms or Korth prices....
I enjoy the hunt any more. Kinda like waiting on a trophy buck before you pull the trigger. In this case it is that "perfect" revolver...
Way long ago when I was 21 or 22, I bought a pre-WWI 6" .32WCF Smith in nice shape. Bore was (and is) excellent. But it had no forcing cone to speak of. Thought it ought not be that way, so I added one myself using a tapered reamer. Probably some plumber's tool, IIRC. It came out nicely and it shoots well, but it turns out other .32 WCFs from that time period just didn't have much of a forcing cone on purpose. Always wondered about that. Better alignment on all their revolvers back then? Maybe when new. Certainly not after a fair amount of use, given the numbers of "out of time" flogged out examples around today! S&Ws made Post-WWII seem to hold up much better. They certainly aren't as pretty on the inside as those pre-WWI revolvers, though, at least until recently.
Many of the current revolvers have beautiful milling work where you can't see it. Some of the ugliest "guts" I've seen are in those 1970s revolvers....Great polishing and blue on the outside but **** inside.
I've passed on way more revolvers of whatever vintage that I wanted than I ever bought, just because they failed basic inspection. Probably a good thing for my wallet. Will there come a day when you can buy any revolver sight unseen and expect perfection? Possibly. Or "yes" if you pay Freedom Arms or Korth prices....
I enjoy the hunt any more. Kinda like waiting on a trophy buck before you pull the trigger. In this case it is that "perfect" revolver...
SWFan27
Member
One issue I did not mention to S&W were some factory tooling mark scratches on one side of the barrel of my new stainless 617-6. I was impressed that when I got it back from S&Ws warranty department, the scratches were no longer there. The work performed list noted two issues. 1. Cut forcing cone. 2. Refinish gun complete. S&W checked it in on 7/3 and I got it back yesterday 8/12. Five weeks is pretty quick turnaround time. Kudos to Smith & Wesson.
