617 extraction

KYGlock

Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2019
Messages
54
Reaction score
12
Hello everyone,
I have a new 617 that I just shot. Love the gun, and am an experienced revolver shooter, but had a really hard time ejecting spent cases with this new one. Out of the box, I could see faint lines inside the cylinders as if there is residual powder, but thought this was part of the machining. I have now run a brush through the chambers and will retry shooting it on Monday. Any advice or sharing of experience would be most appreciated.
 
Register to hide this ad
My 10 round 617 extracts easier than my old K22. Always do a good cleaning and try different ammo. I've had good results on the 617 with Federal Automatch. And welcome to the forum!
 
Last edited:
I keep a .22 tornado brush in my range bag and on my shop bench. When it gets hard to extract I run the brush through and it fixes the issue for a few hundred rounds or so. You don't need a rod...just push the brush through with your fingers.
 
Thanks very much, I will give it a really good cleaning and shoot it again. I read several threads last night where people either had to team the chambers or send the gun back to Smith, will do that if needed, but hopefully not. I have a 625 that was a little sticky with ejection, but cleaning and shooting it smoothed it out.
 
A COMMON ISSUE.

Very close tolerances & dirty 22 ammo result in common ISSUES, not a serious problem if you keep it clean. Do a search on the 617 & find volumes on it. You are not alone.
 
I had a little trouble with CCI Blaser. Evan after a good cleaning, the Blaser's are still a little stubborn. I have had good luck with CCI SV, Mini Mags and Federal Auto Match so far. I have 12 22 pistols and this is my favorite. Now I need a model 18. Good luck and happy shooting!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
This is a topic that has been discussed many times here. Options suggested have included cleaning, polishing and in some cases, reaming the cylinder.
 
I have had many .22 S&W revolvers, and most of them have had similar problems. Some to the extent of having to tap the extractor rod on the shooting bench to get the empties to move. The only permanent answer is a Standard Chamber finishing reamer. I have now reamed all of my .22's and cylinders for a few others. I now extract using only my thumb pressure on all my revolvers.
 
This is a topic that has been discussed many times here. Options suggested have included cleaning, polishing and in some cases, reaming the cylinder.

After a good cleaning use good quality ammo..

All my revolvers stick with certain brands, I have found the cases swell and get stuck in the extractor area.

The best luck I have had is with Federal 36gr Copper coated HP's..any Federal is good, but I have found the AutoMatch to foul heavily around the forcing cone, Copper coated will run cleaner longer..
 
1 FINE GUN

My 6" 617 had no problems at all. The 4", I have no issues with the cylinders but it accumulates crud around both ends of the top strap & throat. A brass brush is a must have at the range beyond 250- 350 rounds. :)
 
I would hesitate before going the route of reaming the chambers. It sounds like you bought it used, so it may just have a problem with the ammo that you are using. I started a thread a bit back regarding a 617 that I have used a lot that started to have extraction issues. I tried cleaning the chambers very well between range sessions and found that the extraction was fine for the next 25 or 30 rounds and then became difficult again. I had always used the same ammo - CCI SV - there turned out to be an issue with the lot of ammo that I had started to use. Here is that thread:

CCI 22 Standard Velocity

pjk
 
Every new revolver I bought in 22lr has had extraction problems, S&W, Ruger, Uberti, 6-8-10 shot. I don't think it went away after 1 outing and cleaning either, but it did go away for the most part. If I use the junk ammo it's much worse, but I have so much of it I want to use it up. I just kept a small rod with me to push them out, I was scared of cutting myself with a knife.
 
I had to ream a 63 to get it to eject. Clean it it really well and try different brands of ammo. If it it still sticks then get a finish reamer and go to work.
 
Thanks so much for all the great information! I forgot to mention, the gun was brand new from the factory, so I've got the option of sending it back in. I've had only the first outing with it. Dad's 17-5 (now mine) is smooth as silk, so I was surprised at this. Time to get it really clean and try again.
 
I did a thorough cleaning, and noticed that there is a circle about 1/3 of the way into every chamber of the cylinder. Looks like a powder ring, but is not something that cleans out. Looks like a machining issue, maybe a leftover ring from the reaming process? Does anyone else see this on their 617s?

Also, two prongs of the extractor star look like they are raised ever so slightly, not really bent, but different than the other 8.

I have pics, but don't know how to post them yet. Further help is appreciated, trying to decide if this new gun needs to go back to Smith. I will shoot it again today and report back, appreciate any comments in the meantime.
 
Last edited:
I wanted to update this post to say the issue appears to be resolved. I cleaned the chambers fairly aggressively with an aluminum brush - multiple passes in each chamber, removed all solvent, and took it back to the range. Happy to say that my new 617 seems to be ejecting now using a couple of different types of .22. I will repost again it I note any issues, but a really good cleaning seems to have done the trick.
 
I had the same problem and the same lines. Rather than buying a special reamer, I used a wooden dowel of slightly less diameter than a 22 casing and super glued some 320 grit wet-dry around it the length of a 22 casing. It snugged in and I turned it by hand a couple minutes in each chamber. Then I turned a cleaning patch with a bit of Mothers Mag polish to the same length for another couple minutes in each.

After another range session, the casings came out mucgh easier, but they were still a bit of a burden after 4 or 5 reloads, so I repeated the process.
It turned out a complete success. And I didn't screw anything up!
 
Maybe I am just lucky but I have a 617 and an early 63 and have never had extraction problems at all. And I'm not particularly OCD on cleaning either. Maybe change the oil around the extractor star now and then, and run an oil soaked Q tip down the chambers on a rare occasion.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top