I have had to send a couple revolvers back to S&W for repair, over the years. Neither one was a 617, but S&W's customer service was second to none. I'm not saying that they never make a mistake, but my experience is very good.
One 627 revolver I send back after I bought it used and Bubba had done a trigger job on it. S&W fixed it for free. The trigger felt great when I bought it and after about 200 rounds the hammer wouldn't go all the way back on double action.
The second one was an older (1970s) model 17 that was binding up. I sent it in on one of their shipping labels and they said it had a bent crane. The revolver was bought new and never used for decades. It had been out of warranty for a long time. S&W charged $50 to repair it including shipping both ways. I couldn't ship it both ways for $50.
Needless to say, I would never worry about them standing behind their product, just in case I received a revolver with an issue.

 

A percentage of my new Smiths,that I consider too high,have gone back for warranty work.All resolved properly and quickly.
I wouldn't hesitate to buy a new one,not to mention that there is nothing else out there like a 617,(or their other K frame .22 offerings)

 

Just got a new 617...It's been real good to me

I just picked up a new 617 6".

Zero issues here. I ran various 22lr ammo through it and all went bang.

I saw that youtube video where that guy was having that cylinder lock-up problem (I think he posted a few). I was a little aprehensive about purchasing a 617 but went for it anyhow. Who hasn't taken a Cadillac back to the shop?

Keep your old brass to use as snap caps cause you will be wanting to dry-fire that puppy when you're not at the range.

HotPistol

 

617 Blues



I had a 617 that locked up after a few rounds. Sent it back to S&W. The term they used was, "the cylinder was cramping". Replaced the cylinder. The gun now shot patterns rather than groups. Back to Smith.
Long story, short, the gun is now someone else's pride and joy. I have had K-22s for 40+ years. This was the only one I have ever gotten rid of because it would not perform as a K-22 should. BTW, I found the tolerences to be on the sloppy side.

Best,
Gary

 

Over $700 for a rimfire revolver and there seem to be a plethora of problems. It used to be made in america meant better quality..........are those days gone?

 

Over $700 for a rimfire revolver and there seem to be a plethora of problems. It used to be made in america meant better quality..........are those days gone?

You will hear folks complain about problems, but how often do you hear them scream about what they like.

 

I think that Smith made some 617s with aluminum cylinders. There were several problems with those.

I have had a 617 for about ten years. I had to send mine back to Smith after about 15,000 rounds of double action shooting because it went out of time. Smith repaired it under warranty and paid shipping both ways. Its been fine since.

 

Really? I purchased an aluminum cylinder model used, called S&W to see what it would cost to replace it with a stainless steel one. The boss of the repair shop asked me why, I said I'd heard they gave trouble, he replied he'd been there 30 plus years and and he'd never seen one replaced because of a problem, said they'd be happy to do it for something like 150 bucks but he had no reason to think it was needed. I left it alone.

 

Outsourced to China? Really? Wow, I never knew that. And all from youtube. What a stunning disclosure. You need to post that every place you can. Think of the outcry. Unbelivable what you can learn here.

 

The comment about outsourcing quality control to China was posed as a question...not a statement of fact. It was a half-hearted question at that. It just baffles me that in a time when manufacturing tolerances are measured in the 10,000ths of an inch a quality gun company can be letting these products out the door with the same problems over and over again. Even less experienced, lower quality companies are generally putting out quality firearms these days...............

 

I own 48 handguns, everything from .22 to .45. 18 of mine turn out to have that S&W on them. I have always considered H&K to be about as good as it gets for semi-autos, (I have 5, including one I bet my life on almost daily) Berettas are a joy to shoot, (I own 3), SiG, great guns, (I have 4) and a smattering of other makers. At the end of the day, my CCW is a S&W M&P. Is it perfect?, no but it's close. Perhaps it's that S&W makes such a variety of handguns. My obscure point to this ramble is that IMHO, S&W is about the best overall manufacturer of this incredible variety of guns. Every maker will produce "swine" among their "pearls" but for the wide variety of guns S&W produces, services and warranties, they have no manufacturer of volume in the world that can approach their overall quality output. Springfield Armory,(I own 4 SAI 1911s), has a warranty that rivals even S&W but their product variety is limited. By purchasing a S&W, I believe that the odds of getting a "pearl", far outweigh the odds of ending up with "swine". I know the comment about China was meant as a dig at S&W but lets face it, China has evolved into a top tier manufacturing entity, both in quality and quantity. Perhaps we can learn from China something about how to educate engineers and how to refuse to allow labor unions to decimate our great manufacturers ability to compete in world markets, but that's a rant for a different place and time.
All opinions expressed are just that, opinions and as always YMMV.

 

I never met anyone in person that had a problem with a 617. Believe about 10% of what you hear on the internet.

Yes, they can break down, go out of time, etc. It happens. Anything mechanical will break eventually. I bought a 617 for myself about 10-12 years ago. Bought my son the same revolver about 6-7 years ago. Both are still perfect.

 

I use my 617 for Steel Challenge matches because it never has a malfunction. I've lightened the trigger and put a C-More sight on it and love it.

Trick to a 617 is to make sure everything is tight. Don't try to just loosen the strain screw and expect it to work.

You can see in the video the guy must have done a poor trigger job because the hammer is pushing back after the shot. It should just stay down with no backlash movement.

If you have any problem it may be the ones with tight cylinders that need to be reamed. Any good gunsmith can do that or send it back to smith so that your cases aren't sticking after firing.

 

I've got two 617's, a 4" and a 6". Both steel cylinders. I use the 4" for steel challenge matches and it has more rounds through it than most. It's got Wolff springs. I got some light strikes after the Wolff mainspring was installed and had to buy a longer strain screw at Lowes for .89 cents. After that, no issues.
I do occasionally shot stroke it when shooting on the clock but that's operator error.
Both of mine shoot great with Federal bulk pack.

The 6" is bone stock and hasn't given me any issues.

I'll admit that the lockup and endshake and DA trigger pull of the 617's isn't anywhere near the K22 models of yesteryear, but they are tighter than the Brazilian brands like Rossi and Taurus.

If you want a 10 shot rimfire wheelgun it's pretty much the only game in town. I've not had any issues with either of mine that weren't self induced.
btw, the speedbeez speedloaders are the cats meow!

 

What about the ammo this guy was using? Remington? If he had used other ammo as a comparison, perhaps there'd be more validity, in my mind anyway. When people say they have a "serious" problem with a certain gun and are quick to say:"Well, it's got to be the gun" with no other consideration loses creditability. If your car quits working, you don't take it to an mechanic and casually say it doesn't work, then wander away.

And yes, I have a virtually NIB -617. Virtually because today is it's second day at the range. Shoots great, but then I used CCI-SV, not some ammo that doesn't enjoy a popular reputation amongst the serious rimfire community. A good revolver will still not make bad ammo be good ammo.