Wee Hooker
Member
Some 20 years back I was a BIG SW revolver collector. ( Some here may even remember me from those days.) Within my collection I had an special fondness for K frame Rim fire revolvers. You name one and I likely had it. pre 17's, 17's 18's 617s...... In the case of the 17's and 617's, every length, every dash number... I had it bad! Allot of those handguns got sold off in the late 2000's when it came time to put my son through college. ( No regrets. I was cured of collecting and he is a great kid). Of all those owned, I liked the balance of a 4" model 17's and 18's the best. They just pointed and handled so well.
Moving forward, I've thinned the collection to a half dozen or so. Still, I always felt that a 10 shot, half lug, 617 in 4 or 5" would be the ultimate rim fire revolver. ( Something Ruger seems to have figured out with their GP100 and SP101 lines BTW) . Upgraded sights and a factory action job would have been sweet too. I even wrote SW a few times to see if something like that could be had out of their Performance Center. I got crickets sounds in return.
So long story short, I'm browsing in a small mom and pop shop today and see a very odd duck laying in the glass case. Looks like a SW 67 but the bore looks .......22?? WHAT??? Could it be?? The shop's owner ( and long time friend) smiles and says he wondered how long it would take me to spot that. "It's a SW Mountain Gun. Just came in"... Me not being current with new SW offerings and being long done with collecting for the sake of collecting.... was completely unaware that such a beast existed. I was "Giggl'n like a school girl" when he handed it over. He then goes on to tell me that SW did a limited and special run of these for Lipsey's just in the last month or so. He said he was allotted just the one as they were in short supply at the distributors. Anyway, "This is it!", I'm thinking. "This is what I wanted all those years.!" 617 frame ... 10 shot cyl..... 4.1", half lug tapered barrel,.....gold bead front sight,… smooth , fancy grips...., dehorned cylinder,... chromed hammer and trigger…. AND as icing on the cake, NO LOCK. Handling the gun was a pure joy. I think it pointed and balanced better than any rim fire revolver I've ever handled. Action and mechanics were super smooth. Maybe better than any other new SW revolver I've handled in recent years. Timing was perfect, trigger smooth and not overly heavy. Tight cyl gap....Perfect fit and finish.....Heck, there wasn't even a turn line (yet)..... I was in a place between lust and love that a new SW offering had not sent me in quite a while.
Admittedly, I had NO intention to spend that kind of cash on a gun today but I had no doubt that if I handed it back, I'd likely never get a chance at another. Beyond that, there was little reasoning with my frugal side anyway. I've been waiting for this gun for 20+ years, my kids are grown, I'm retired and about to have a birthday that makes me 10 years older than any other male has made it in my family in the last 3 generations . Happy Birthday too me!
Moving forward, I've thinned the collection to a half dozen or so. Still, I always felt that a 10 shot, half lug, 617 in 4 or 5" would be the ultimate rim fire revolver. ( Something Ruger seems to have figured out with their GP100 and SP101 lines BTW) . Upgraded sights and a factory action job would have been sweet too. I even wrote SW a few times to see if something like that could be had out of their Performance Center. I got crickets sounds in return.
So long story short, I'm browsing in a small mom and pop shop today and see a very odd duck laying in the glass case. Looks like a SW 67 but the bore looks .......22?? WHAT??? Could it be?? The shop's owner ( and long time friend) smiles and says he wondered how long it would take me to spot that. "It's a SW Mountain Gun. Just came in"... Me not being current with new SW offerings and being long done with collecting for the sake of collecting.... was completely unaware that such a beast existed. I was "Giggl'n like a school girl" when he handed it over. He then goes on to tell me that SW did a limited and special run of these for Lipsey's just in the last month or so. He said he was allotted just the one as they were in short supply at the distributors. Anyway, "This is it!", I'm thinking. "This is what I wanted all those years.!" 617 frame ... 10 shot cyl..... 4.1", half lug tapered barrel,.....gold bead front sight,… smooth , fancy grips...., dehorned cylinder,... chromed hammer and trigger…. AND as icing on the cake, NO LOCK. Handling the gun was a pure joy. I think it pointed and balanced better than any rim fire revolver I've ever handled. Action and mechanics were super smooth. Maybe better than any other new SW revolver I've handled in recent years. Timing was perfect, trigger smooth and not overly heavy. Tight cyl gap....Perfect fit and finish.....Heck, there wasn't even a turn line (yet)..... I was in a place between lust and love that a new SW offering had not sent me in quite a while.
Admittedly, I had NO intention to spend that kind of cash on a gun today but I had no doubt that if I handed it back, I'd likely never get a chance at another. Beyond that, there was little reasoning with my frugal side anyway. I've been waiting for this gun for 20+ years, my kids are grown, I'm retired and about to have a birthday that makes me 10 years older than any other male has made it in my family in the last 3 generations . Happy Birthday too me!
