New 617 (disappointing quality)

[jimbo728]

Good eye on catching the ejector burrs. Im glad it is otherwise OK.
Jim

 

[catadjuster]

When I first got my 4" 617-6, it was pretty unreliable with most ammo brands other than CCI SV. I was getting about one failure out of 10, which was clearly not acceptable. At approximately 1700 round count, I sent it back to the factory for attention. It also had a problem with the sights in that I couldn't adjust the rear sight low enough for it to shoot to the aiming point. When it came back, I was able to get the aim point correct, but it was still (and still is) unreliable with certain ammo brands. Can't use Remington, Federal or any of the premium target brands. Magtech and CCI never fail to go off though.

I am now at over 11,500 rounds downrange according to my log book and this is a very smooth action and one of my favorite, all time revolvers.

 

[misswired]

First, (assuming you didn't change out the main spring), check the main spring strain screw to assure it's fully seated. If it's backed off, even a bit, it can cause light strikes. (If you did change out the spring, put the old one back in.)

Second, clean the cylinder chambers WELL. If they are dirty they can cause the round to not seat fully. Then when the firing pin strikes, the round moves forward slightly and absorbs some of the energy.

If that doesn't cure it, It should go back to the mothership for warranty rework.

Changed out mainspring with the wilsons and the 13# rebound spring.... major light strikes both SA &DA
Re-installed factory mainspring... better but still light strikes

Changed rebound spring to Wilson 14# ... better yet, but still occasional light strikes

Mopped up excessive oil under the hood...reassembled.... still occasional light strikes

Reinstalling factory rebound spring.... oops, bubba lost it.... substituted a 638 factory spring.... best yet but still occasional light strikes

Next???

Ps did mail off warranty card today.

COVERED!!!!!

 

[AlwaysArmed]

Hope you don't go through what I did with my 63. Countless times back until I bought another new one and told S&W that I knew what it was supposed to do. Then they finally fixed it.
Good luck.
AA

 

[Protocall_Design]

Sounds like the firing pin my be too short.

 

[misswired]

Sounds like the firing pin my be too short.

Looks like it's striking plenty hard to me.

Took four strikes for this one

Happens with different Ammo brands.

Willing to try different suggested remedies before returning the pistol...

 

[Ashlander]

I had light strikes with my 4" 617 back when I bought it 2 years or so ago. I sent in back and it was returned in a bit less than 2 weeks. Perfect ever since. Truthfully, I had forgotten about it until reading this thread. I suppose since it wasn't a self defense gun I had to rely on, it was only a minor inconvenience sending it in for the fix. The customer service people were nice, so it was a pain free experience.

 

[AzShooter]

I've done a lot of work on my 617 and corrected all the problems. My trigger pull is now a smooth 6 and a half pound Double Action. That took a lot of work.

I had sticky extraction and reamed the cylinders out to specks. I had burrs under the star and fixed that. Now after thousands of rounds it works perfectly with a wide variety of ammo. It like CCI SV the most for accuracy.

 

[misswired]

Looks like it's going back ... will call home Monday for a label....

Meanwhile..... I've got tomorrow and a handful of main and rebound springs if anyone has a suggestion to try.... not looking to crucify anyone for a suggestion that doesn't work ... just a possible solution....I'm betting it's a simple fix!

 

[Lon C.]

Now go shooting![/QUOTE]

Dave,

What company's grips are on your 6" 617? They really look great. How well do they feel? Have you had them for some time?

Lon C.

 

[9mmsubgun-m11]

For the light strikes you can take a spent primer and pick the anvil out and put the primer over the strain screw as this will add a little more tension to the spring.

 

[Wee Hooker]

Changed out mainspring with the wilsons and the 13# rebound spring.... major light strikes both SA &DA
Re-installed factory mainspring... better but still light strikes

Changed rebound spring to Wilson 14# ... better yet, but still occasional light strikes

Mopped up excessive oil under the hood...reassembled.... still occasional light strikes

Reinstalling factory rebound spring.... oops, bubba lost it.... substituted a 638 factory spring.... best yet but still occasional light strikes

Next???

Ps did mail off warranty card today.

COVERED!!!!!

It takes a bit of skill and to get a K22 to shoot reliably with a light main spring. It can be done, but it's far from a drop in venture. Personally, I keep the factory main springs and change out just the rebound spring for these revolvers as .22LR requires a good solid smack to ignite reliably. The rebound spring weight does not affect the striking force of the hammer. Only the trigger pull. Again , on my K 22's I generally don't push the limits and use 14# (or occasionally 13# if the action is slick enough to support it.)
If I were you, I'd retry different ammo with the factory main spring and see if there is ANY that it will run near 100%. IF not, there is no point playing around further. Make it stock and send it in for repair.

 

[misswired]

For the light strikes you can take a spent primer and pick the anvil out and put the primer over the strain screw as this will add a little more tension to the spring.

The spent primer is a little above my pay grade ....shimming under the strain screw I can probably handle... .010 or .020 thousands or maybe .005

I have no idea how sensitive the strain screw and mainspring are...I do have different thicknesses of shim stock available though.

 

[Wee Hooker]

You can shim with almost anything. Soda can skin, match books, primers etc. Shimming is a good tool for diagnostics (particularly on older guns which may have weakened mainsprings) but should not be considered a fix IMHO. It's a new gun, S&W will make it right without band-aides.

 

[misswired]

You can shim with almost anything. Soda can skin, match books, primers etc. Shimming is a good tool for diagnostics (particularly on older guns which may have weakened mainsprings) but should not be considered a fix IMHO. It's a new gun, S&W will make it right without band-aides.

Plus one on this sound thinking!!!!

Is there anyway I installed that mainspring housing stirrup on the hammer wrong? The older models are pinned.... this one fell out without me seeing how it went???? It seems it would only work one way though.

 

[AzShooter]

It does only work one way. You will see that when you put it back in.

As for rebound springs I use an 11 lb in all of my revolvers. You just have to get your finger off the trigger to reset it when shooting fast.

 

[jstanfield103]

When I bought my S&W 617 approx. 6 months ago (built 12-2016) it was spitting lead and very uncomfortable to shoot. I feel blessed because I bought it used for $575. The lead spitting was probably why. But when reading up on the revolver after purchase, it seems some (really quite a few ) were having light strikes reported on the internet. Even Patrick Kelly on YouTube (out of the box to the Match series) was having like strikes straight out of the box first trip to the range (several)( Here is the video [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVebh06cF7o&t=596s&index=29&list=PLozplULUkPJu1L58S3KByZXRu5qEPVsfl[/ame] ) . It seems the best fix for this is to buy a replacement firing pin. All were seemed fixed by this. This revolver seems to have just a tad short firing pin. S&W fixed mine under warranty and I have not shot a 1000 rounds through it but is seem very reliable to me. No lead spitting and fixed the point of aim also with a shorter rear sight blade. They also all seem to shoot high a 25 yards.

Anyway, I do not remember where everyone was getting their replacement firing pins at but I am sure a quick Google search that can be found out and may save you the hassle about sending it back.

Good Luck, I am definitely not a S&W revolver expert though.

 

[AzShooter]

Apex Tactical.com makes the best firing pin. It will last the longest. C&S also makes an extended firing pin. You can get them from Brownells.com.

 

[misswired]

After sleeping on the problem, I had the wrong mainspring installed....although a factory spring, it wasn't the original to the pistol.
Cleaned out the firing pin channel and components while I was at it. Just finished running 50 DA rounds without a light strike!

Thanks for all of the replies... y'all never fail to help....THANKS!

Now back to install that lighter rebound spring
BUBBA rides again

 

[nachogrande]

YOU HEARD THE OLD SAYING...

Play with it long enough & you will break it for sure, maybe even void the warranty while you are at it. Be patient & let S&W deal with it. My final answer.