617???

[bowzette]

I want a descent .22. I was looking at Ruger MK III and Buck Mark. A friend who is a Grand Masters highly recommended the 617. Price appears to be around $700! I can buy a blued MK III for $300 and if I spent up to $150 in after market goodies it is still only $450. I'm trying to justify such a large difference in cost. I realize it is more expensive to produce a quality revolver than pistol. And I unfortunately purchased a Taurus .22 revolver which has been a total disaster

 

[scott625b]

You can find several semi-auto .22's for under $500 if price is your only concern. However, if you would like a great shooter, that will last, the 617 is a better choice. I have a Buckmark, a Colt Woodsman and a Beretta Neos 22 autos. I also have a Colt Officer's model 22 revolver. As good as they all are, none of them will out shoot my 17-3.

 

[Bullseye Smith]

I want a descent .22. I was looking at Ruger MK III and Buck Mark. A friend who is a Grand Masters highly recommended the 617. Price appears to be around $700! I can buy a blued MK III for $300 and if I spent up to $150 in after market goodies it is still only $450. I'm trying to justify such a large difference in cost. I realize it is more expensive to produce a quality revolver than pistol. And I unfortunately purchased a Taurus .22 revolver which has been a total disaster

Sounds like you answered it yourself, buy cheap and you get cheap,cheap gun .

 

[scooter123]

If you're wondering if they are worth the cost, spend some time reading the various forums on the semi auto 22's. You'll quickly find numerous recomendations for ammunitions that don't jam as frequently. You'll also find many posts about which spring to use with what ammo. Fact is that the semi auto 22's can be rather fussy about what they shoot well without causing jams.

That won't happen with a revolver, if it fits in the chamber it won't cause a jam. You can also mix shotshells, low velocity target ammo, and hot HV game rounds in the same load and every shot will be on target without one single jam. About the only issue with the revolver is that it's necessary to clean out the cylinder if it get fouled enough by shooting to make loading difficult because an improperly seated round will often misfire on the first try.

Another benefit of a revolver is that time spent practicing the use of a double action trigger pays off in superior trigger control skills. This means that once you master that long and "heavy" trigger, you'll shoot better with any trigger made.

Finally, you can probably put somewhere between 3000 and 5000 dollars worth of 22LR through a 617 before you even start to wear it out. To be honest, I don't think you'll ever find a semi auto that can come close to lasting as long as a 617. Treat it properly, train you children, then your grandchildren, to maintain it, and you're great grand children will still be able to use it.

In summary, you'll have to look very long and hard to find ANY consumer product made today with the longevity of a good revolver. Yeah, the buy in cost is a bit high, however in 30 or 40 years it will probably the most economical purchase that you have ever made.

PS; if you look around, you'll find that used 22 caliber S&W revolvers cost nearly as much as brand new guns. The reason for that is that most won't ever sell their used 22 revolvers, they are too much fun to shoot and also very cheap to feed. As a result they are not widely available on the used market and good old supply and demand commands a high price.

 

[cowboy117]

I have a 617-6 4" and love it!Great shooter,great trigger.Have 20,000+ rounds thru it.Get one.

 

[bowzette]

I know Scooter, I know-now where did I put that extra $300?
My GM friend practiced so much with his working on getting the GM that he wore out the barrel. He sent it to Smith for a new barrel and they sent him a new gun!

 

[willydd]

I just purchased a 617 "4 inch barrel" for $660 online at Buds Guns. The "6" inch version is a few dollars more. I pick it up tomorrow and am looking forward to shooting it. I gave up on my Ruger Mark 3 - for me, to many issues.

 

[Mule88]

Another nice thing about the revolver is that you can shoot shorts in it if you choose too. You cant go wrong with the 617.

 

[fyimo]

The great thing about a revolver like the 617 is you won't get jams or failures to feed and they are not as ammo sensitive as semi auto's. All 22's shoot some ammo better then others but with a semi auto some ammo can also cause feeding issues where the revolver doesn't have that problem. The 617 will last forever as I doubt you could ever shoot one out where semi pistols have a whole lot of movement going on and will require more maintenance and a few spring changes long term.

I also have three semi auto pistols that are excellent and they are two S&W Model 41's and a Ruger Mark II. These three have funtioned flawlessly and are extremely accurate. The Ruger Mark II has some custom parts installed by my gunsmith that made it an even better pistol.

617

S&W Model 41

Ruger mark II

 

[jpwhel]

Sometimes it is hard to justify paying more for what would normally be a gun range plinking gun. I have 22LR in a Ruger MKII, Browning Buckmark and a Walther P22. All of mine have been good guns and I don't think any of them ran more than $300 at the time of purchase.

I also have S&W in Mod 34 and 18 in 22LR. I don't have the 617 since I prefer the half lug of the Mod 18 rather than the full lug of the Mod 617 but that is just personal preference.

The revolvers get more range time than the semis. If you have other revolvers then the 22s offer you the same platform for pratice at a lower cost. I use the revolvers when shooting with the grandkids. The GKs at this point can't do the DA pull so the shooting becomes single shot practice.

 

[K1500]

I have a 617 and it is a great gun, especially if you shoot centerfire revolvers and use it as a training gun. I balked at the price, but then realized that I shoot my .22's more than all my centerfire guns combined.

As far as accuracy goes, I have to give it to my Ruger MKII government target model. Most of the good .22 autos are really accurate due to the fixed barrel and lack of a BC gap. I bought mine new over 20 years ago, and it is still one of my favorite guns. I have no experience with the new Rugers. Mine has also been super reliable with anything I care to shoot in it.

For me, it comes down to what you shoot in the centerfire world. Match your rimfire up to your centerfire. If the pennies are tight, don't be afraid of a good .22 auto.

 

[PMRet]

I have a 617 and it is a great gun, especially if you shoot centerfire revolvers and use it as a training gun. Match your rimfire up to your centerfire.

As K1500 said, the 617 makes a great companion gun to larger caliber revolvers such as the 686. You can do the same if you go the semi auto route, as I do with the 2206 and 3906.

I need a photography lesson from Fyimo, who always provides top notch pictures.

 

[timbo813]

I have a Ruger Mark II that I love. I wasn't a big fan until I put a new sear and sights on it. But, I would also love to have a 617. Anybody want to trade for a great Ruger Mark II?

 

[tlr16]

Not the best pic but everyone always leaves out one of these. My 617 no dash 6inch and the 8in that I just picked up

 

[bowzette]

Well I bit the bullet so to speak and ordered a 617 with 6" barrel. It will be two months before I get it, but my right arm is in a sling. Rotator cuff surgery so I'm not in a hurry. Paid $610+tax which looks like a good price. I'll pick up a MK III next year. Always have liked .22s. My CCW is a Glock 19 which is a double action design. A DA revolver is somewhat similar.

 

[stantheman86]

I have a 10-shot 617 6" and couldn't be happier with it. Just bought it this past July and it's already got thousands of rounds on it. I mounted a 2x Leupold M8 optic and it's an absolute tackdriver even with the cheap stuff like Blazer and Cyclone. If I could find a rimfire handgun match, and they allowed mounted optics I wouldn't hesitate to use it. Also have a K-22 6", but the 617 does most of the .22 plinking duty.

The best part of a .22 revolver is that it will fire any .22 LR,L or S I can stuff in the chambers, from Shorts for quiet backyard plinking, CB caps, to hot stuff like Aguila Interceptor and Remington Velocitor. I even bought some steel case Chinese crap at a gun shop, burned so dirty I thought it was blackpowder, and ran it through the 617, probably would have gagged a semi-auto but the revolver digested it with glee.

I like it so much I am on the hunt for a 4" 617 to keep with iron sights, to use as a "trainer" for my various 4" .357's like my GP100.

 

[easyrider604]

The primary purpose of my 17-3 is to maintain my DA revolver shooting, economically and effectively. It excels in that job.

If you want to use a .22 semi-auto to practice for your centerfire pistols, that is fine. But get one with controls laid out similar to your centerfires, or get the .22 version of your centerfire pistol.

 

[gr7070]

For the next person who might have this same decision:

As great as my S&W 617 is, it is not $350 more awesome than my Ruger MkIII.

If money is a significant factor in the decision (which is understandable) I'd recommend MkIII instead; the MkIII is a very good gun. I do like my 617 better and shoot it more often, but one won't be disappointed in the MkIII.

 

[aedavis]

I didn't even know I wanted a 617 until I saw this picture. That is absolutely gorgeous. So much for my savings account.

617

 

[GF]

Eventually, you'll need a revolver AND semi-auto .22!

GF