622vr gun shop purchase - need info

Ben Cartwright SASS

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I went to my local gun shop today to get some ammo for my new M&P9c and saw this S&W 622. They were asking $279 it was there on consignment. They wouldn't dicker on price, but it looked in really nice shape and I was looking for another 22 for a shooter. I liked the Walnut grips.
I bought it. When I brought it home I looked it up in the S&W book and it turned out that it appears to be a 622VR that was only made for 1 year.
I don't know if they have any more value than a regular 622, but there can't be that many in existance.

Any info anyone can provide me I would appreciate it.

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I thought the VR in 622VR stood for ventilated rib? And that 622 does not seem to have a ventilated rib. Either way that's a great price for a 622 and I would have bought it in a second.
 
I also thought VR was a ribbed gun. If you care for such, there is a guy on Gunbroker that sells an adapter for this gun , for a can. Screw on adapter , no machine shop , 'round $ 45 IIRC.
 
Here is a 622 VR purchased few months ago--factory demo, as new, not fired, only 1 mag, 329.00 out the door. Great shooter but only likes CCI Blazer, mini-mags, and SV. Lots of jams (fail to eject) with other brands.

The VR was only made for 1 year (1996 or 97) and only some that year were with the walnut grips in the picture.

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I have to admit I never heard of a 622 until I bought it today. I thought the price of $279 was high but they wouldn't come down at all. I hoped it was a fair price, I hate to overpay.

I just got back from the range, I am used to my Ruger Single Six and 10/22 as well as my S&W 22A that I can feed whatever cheap 22's I pick up and they eat them fine.

I had a brick of American Eagle High Velocity. I also will admit to not cleaning the gun before shooting. I feed it a bit over 100 rounds in an hour, of course I was also putting 100 rounds of 9mm through my new Signa and about 24 rounds through my 1942 Victory Connecticut State Police 38 SP.
Any how, I had 7 or 8 rounds that didn't eject, they came about halfway out of the chamber. I then dropped the mag and cycled the slide and they popped out.
My feeling is that the chamber is probably a bit dirty.

Anyhow, it is definately not a VR, which is why it doesn't say VR by the model designation :D

I will keep my eyes open for a VR in the future.

I need to find some pictures of the regular 622, from reading the S&W book it sounded like it didn't have adjustable sights and had hard rubber (?) grips not walnut. These are S&W grips, although there is no number on them, they have cutouts inside them for the parts of the gun.
 
I have seen numerous 422's and 622's. Some had fixed sights, some had adjustable, some had black grips, some had wood grips; I think they were several models / options available.

I have recently seen used 422 / 622 Smiths in fair to good condition sell for over $325, so I think $279 was a great price.
 
The 622 came out in 1989 with 2 models, each with a 4.5 or 6 inch barrel. The "Field" model had fixed rear sight and black composite grips. The "Target" model had adjustable sight and walnut grips (like the OP's) From 92 to 95 it came with a 12 shot mag. The 622 VR, produced in 1996 only came with black grips, but a small series had the walnut grips like mine. 10 rnd mag. I also have the walnut grips like the OP's and like them better for plate shooting as the checkering is easier to hold.

Ben, you have the target model and it's a great shooter. I also had failures to eject with American Eagle's. CCI Blazer never had a failure in about 800 rnds so far. Enjoy!
 
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Ben,
You got a nice gun for a very good price.

I keep my eyes open for the 622's around my part of the world, and if I find one in then condition of yours with the adj. sight I pay up to $350 without hesitation.

I personaly like the 4" barrels better than the six. They seem to be better balanced to me.

Make sure the barrrel nut is tight, some times they have a nack for loosening up, and it will cause feeding problems.

PC945
 
The barrel nut takes a spanner wrench kind of thing, like a table fork with the two center tines missing .
 
Don't dry fire it ever. The firing pins are known to chip/break if you dry fire it. I learned the hard way and I did it by accident. For future reference Jack First Gun Shop carries replacements. S&W has stopped supplying service parts for these models.
 
Do they have a website? I would want to get a couple spare pins

What state are they in

and what is the part number for the firing pin?
 
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I think it's jackfirstguns dot com , Google is your friend. He had some custom made in the last 12 months.
 
Yea, what ^ said. Bunch of us over on rimefire central dot com contacted them and they stepped up to the plate. These are not really cheap so be prepared. They made like 200 pins and I ordered 2 which totalled out at $50 which included shipping.

Here is the p/n
102230000 - Firing pin for 422/622/2206

I searched for months looking for a firing pin and had zero luck. There is even a thread in here somewhere I did. I think I may have gotten 1 reply....
 
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I've got two guns in this series.

One is a 622, 6", that I've had for over 15 years. It's been a great little gun and it's not one I'm liable to get rid of any time soon.

The 622s have stainless slides with aluminum alloy frames. Came in the 4" and 6" versions with both fixed and adjustable sights. The 622VR is one of the rarest models.

The 422s have blued steel slides, with blued aluminum alloy frames. Again, came in 4" and 6" with both fixed and adjustable sights.

Then you have the 2213 and 2214 versions. Stainless and blued, 3" barrel, and, if my memory hasn't failed me, 8-round magazines with a short grip. All with fixed sights.

Then there's my other one, the 2206. These are 6" barreled models in full stainless, adjustable sights, 12-rd mags, and wood grips. Again, one of the rarer ones as I think they were only made for a couple of years, right at the end of the production.

I just got mine just last week. I bought it, "new/old stock". I contacted S&W to register it and asked if it was covered by any factory warranty. They said it was fully covered as I am the original owner. Not bad for a gun that's been out of production for around 14 years.

That's what I know, or think I know, about these guns. They're all good shooters, and reliable as blazes if you take care of them.

SgtSam
 
SgtSam the 2206 was standard with checkered plastic grips, and fixed sights. The wood & smooth plastic thumb rest grips were available as special order from S&W if you wanted them, some wholesale places ordered a few that way, some dealers bought those and some dealers ordered direct from factory with optional grips. As so often is, nothing from S&W is cast in stone as the old saying goes. Lot of 6" standard guns with optional adjustable sight like mine were often discribed as Target models either by mistake or in an effort to jack up value or price.

Then there was the 2206 Target model was standard with Herrett Walnut grips, Millit 100 rear sights and they were also factory D&T for scope mounts.

107010 is product code for 6" Target model.
107006 is product code for 6" Standard with adj sights.
 
Thanks! I learn something new everyday. And I'm glad I'm still alive to learn it.:D

I didn't know about the real target sight models. I always thought that was just as you said, some "yahoo" trying jack up the price. So, they were for real, huh! Cool!:cool:

SgtSam
 
Thanks! I learn something new everyday. And I'm glad I'm still alive to learn it.:D

I didn't know about the real target sight models. I always thought that was just as you said, some "yahoo" trying jack up the price. So, they were for real, huh! Cool!:cool:

SgtSam
Yes sir there was a true target model, I have a local friend with one.

When I traded for mine the guy I traded with reassured me several times it was a target model, but I really didn't think it was and actually had hope it would not be the Target model as I didn't care for the Millet 100 sights. Also I had no intention of ever putting optics on the gun.

After talking to a friend and big S&W collector, he says the standard model shipped with AS (Adjustable Sight) is actually fewer in number then the Target model. His comment about the Target model was that very few were ever sold to competitive shooters, most went to just people who wanted sights on their woods gun or plinker.

PS: The 622 VR is a "rare" model and just manufactured in the last few months of 622 production. Probably in the 300-500 range produced. Also it was rumored that a few (2 or 3 at most) 2206 VR's made, but that's typical S&W for you. Always some odd ball that went out undocumented as to special feature or some such. Just like Redwing's 622 VR, not shipped with checkered Walnut grips as was "standard" for the model. If a couple true S&W collectors with deep pockets saw it at auction his VR with box and papers would probably bring $800 to $1000 range, not sure if a few rounds fired would make any price difference but who knows these days. I will say he got hell of a deal on the gun, wish I could have that kind of luck on the 610-2 3'' Lew Horton model.
 
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I know what you mean about S&W's odd ball models. I used to have a 2nd and half Generation .45 ACP Pistol. It was a transition model between the 2nd and 3rd generation models. I can't for the life of me remember it's exact model number, but I called S&W to find out when I couldn't find a reference to it anywhere. They were the ones that told me what it was. Rare, yes. But not such that I got a premium price for it when I sold it. Nice price, but not a rare price. I don't know if the other manufacturers do this as much as S&W does, but it's crazy, and fun.

SgtSam
 
I will say he got hell of a deal on the gun, wish I could have that kind of luck on the 610-2 3'' Lew Horton model.

In this thread I realize that this is not a VR model as the earlier letter pictured a VR (vent rib), I read the description about AS (adjustible sights) and jumped to conclusions.

However, I think it is a neat gun and like the sights, and feel I got a good fair price on it. I also ordered 2 extra firing pins, I had to say ouch when they told me the price, I guess it will be the dollar menu at McDonalds the next time I take my wife out for dinner :D
 
Guys there is a machinest that made some barrel nut removing tools for Dan Wessons and after contacting him he is going to make some for our 422, 622, 2206,2213 and 2214 models, not sure of price so don't ask. :D With my luck if I said $25 range and it turned out $30 some here would raise heck with me and then it could be $50 and someone here would come looking for me. :eek:

I have no connection with the guy other then wanting to buy a wrench for the 2206, got them for the Dan Wessons. Here is picture of the DW wrench and 2206 would look pretty much the same.

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Here is what it will look like. This is for the S&W TRR8, he made two for a couple guys that also have Dan Wessons.

TRR8Wrench.jpg
 
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