617 question

[10sRin]

Can the cylinder be switched from six to ten? Thx, Joe

 

[one eye joe]

Should be no problem. Send it to S&W for fitting of a 10 shot cylinder, and you'll be sure that it's done right. Save the paperwork in case you ever want to sell the gun, so that you can prove the work was done at the factory and not by some hacker on a kitchen table. My experience with S&W has been positive--reasonable prices and fast turnaround. Good luck.........

 

[duckloads]

make sure you get your old parts back. they are your expensive parts.

 

[hastings]

Would it be possible to have a 22mag cylinder fitted to a 617? I just picked up a 10shot 4" barreled 617 and absolutely love it. I'd also like a 651 or 650, but was wondering if anyone had tried a 6shot 22 magnum cylinder. It seems like it would be a great convertible, but I don't know if the 648's have a different bore dia. for 22 mag ammo. I assume a 6shot cylinder could be drilled out to 22mag, but I also don't know about the case rims.

Anyone have any experience with such a thing?

 

[civil1977]

Actually, the 22 Mag requires a slightly larger bore diameter than 22 LR. I believe it's .224 vs. .223 or something like that. Anyway, it's enough to cause a problem. Some guns are set up to handle both, such as the Ruger Single Six, but they have the larger bore diameter for the 22 Mag and supposedly the accuracy of the smaller diameter 22 LR bullets suffers because of this.

 

[bgrafsr]

I changed my 617 from a 10 shot to a 6 shot. You need to put a regular hand on the trigger and then fit the ratchets to it. I did not have to do anything with the 6 shot cylinder other than fit the ratchets. I think I got the cylinder from Midway or Brownell's.