Model 17-4 Question

[pfitz]

Looking to purchase a 17-4 as a shooter, not a safe queen.

How can I tell if it has the pinned barrel and the year of mfg?

S/N 93K2XXX

It has targer grips, target hammer and target trigger.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[JP@AK]

The K-22 you are looking at probably shipped fairly early in 1981. I would expect it to have a pinned barrel, since that change began to take place the following year.
As for how to tell, here is a photo showing the barrel pin. It goes through the frame just ahead of, but higher than, the cylinder.
Jack

The photo is actually of a K-38, but the pin will look the same on a K-22.

 

[bamabiker]

Welcome to the forum.
Your M17-4 should come from 1981 and should have a pinned barrel. The Standard Catalog of S&W says the pinned barrel went away in 1982 on the M17-4. But not too many things are absolute with S&W.
Look at the frame just behind where the barrel screws into the frame. If it's pinned you should be able to see the end of the pin on each side of the frame where it goes through the frame. It will be near the top of the frame. I don't have a close up picture of one but someone may be along to show one.
The year 1981 is probably the year your gun "shipped" as S&W did not keep up with manufacture year and only a factory letter will nail down the actual ship date.

He beat me my 2 minutes.

 

[JP@AK]

and the year of mfg?

Keep in mind that with S&W, the "birth year" of a revolver is always tracked to when it shipped from the factory to the jobber or dealer. Never the manufacturing date, which is generally unknown.
The revolvers were generally assembled in roughly the serial order, but they were never regularly shipped in serial order; and shipping is the key issue. Even the BATFE uses the shipping date as the birth date of S&W revolvers.
Jack

 

[JP@AK]

He beat me my 2 minutes.

Yes. And while you were posting, I was writing a new post about shipping dates. "Great minds," as they say . . .

Jack

 

[JP@AK]

Here is a photo of a Model 29 without the pinned barrel. I don't have a picture handy of a K frame like this, but, again, the difference doesn't matter on this detail.
Jack

 

[pfitz]

Thanks for the quick response. I will post pictures if I can make a deal. I am considering this 17-4 over a 17-3 unfired, with original box, all paperwork from 1974. However, the 17-3 does not a have the target grips, target hammer and target trigger. Also, the 17-3 is $100 more and I want to shoot this gun.

Thanks again!

 

[JP@AK]

Also, the 17-3 is $100 more and I want to shoot this gun.

Under your particular circumstances, this sounds like the right choice. I have examples of both the dash 3 and the dash 4. No difference in the way they shoot. The only real difference between them is the location of the gas ring. It is not an insignificant engineering change, but it is unlikely you will ever be able to tell the difference.

Jack

 

[pfitz]

Purchased the 17-4 with TT, TH and TG. Hopefully, the condition is as good as the pictures and as described over the phone.

Thanks for the help!