Model 17-2

[SaberOne]

I have this Model 17-2, and I can't tell if it's a plain old 17-2 or something more. The barrel measures 5-inches from the front of the cylinder to the barrel end and has a gold color (maybe brass) bead front sight with steep (less taper) blade than others I've seen. I thought these were in 4", 6," and longer. Any thoughts?

 

[rbmac52]

That's a beauty! Quite rare, as well. The Model 17 has been catalogued with 6" and 8-3/8" barrels only, so yours is a custom modification and it looks factory to me, though only a Jinks letter will tell you for sure the original configuration.

That is a thousand dollar gun easily (and probably more)!

 

[thadheth]

SCSW 3rd Edition says 5" is "rare." The gold bead is an option known as a McGivern bead. I agree with rbmac52 - a factory letter is a good idea for this item.

 

[SaberOne]

Thanks for the feedback. That's what I was thinking too. The photos do not do it justice. The darn thing' looks and feels new - no box or docs. May well hold on to it, and submit the initial authenticity letter request to Jinks.

 

[Sevens]

I'm far less qualified to make this suggestion as many others active here, and the factory letter is obviously the way to go but in the mean time...

Is the " {.22 LONG RIFLE CTG} " with wingdings on the right side of the barrel CENTERED on the barrel, length-wise?

Seems to me that it's a fine way to quickly see if you have some kind of altered barrel... a shortened 6-inch or 8-3/8" barrel would not have that centered length-wise.

 

[PALADIN85020]

It's very hard to discern if it's a factory 5" or a cut-down barrel. I have two 17s , and the Smith & Wesson stamp on each barrel is in nearly the same place over the ejector rod locking boss on both, even though the barrel lengths are different. A factory letter should be a must for this baby! It's beautiful.

John

 

[SaberOne]

It's very hard to discern if it's a factory 5" or a cut-down barrel. I have two 17s , and the Smith & Wesson stamp on each barrel is in nearly the same place over the ejector rod locking boss on both, even though the barrel lengths are different. A factory letter should be a must for this baby! It's beautiful.

John

Very nice! As for my 17-2, the 'Wesson' lettering is right above the Ejector catch like yours'. Notice the letter 'O' that aligns with the pin. The Jinks is needed for sure.

 

[SaberOne]

I'm far less qualified to make this suggestion as many others active here, and the factory letter is obviously the way to go but in the mean time...

Is the " {.22 LONG RIFLE CTG} " with wingdings on the right side of the barrel CENTERED on the barrel, length-wise?

Seems to me that it's a fine way to quickly see if you have some kind of altered barrel... a shortened 6-inch or 8-3/8" barrel would not have that centered length-wise.

Well, the left end dot is about 1.0" from the frame, and the right side dot is about 1.25" from the barrel end. If it's a customer mod, it's a darn good one. I also discovered a slight grind mark in the cylinder window (right lower). Seems like if someone was going to retro-mod the revolver, this would have been dressed-off prior to re-bluing the finished product. It's too small to capture with an iPhone camera but large enough that a master gunsmith would have caught it. The smith' would have presumably noticed the slight rough spot on the hammer pull. The minor imperfections seem indicative of <300 dollar Smith of 1961-ish.