My Smith and Wesson 617 .22lr revolver is back from the factory! Will it perform or will it flop?

[@johnorourke5444]

Hate to say it, but I had a similair experience. I have owned three S&W guns, but this one has been very disappointing. First the cylinder timing was terrible out of the box. Shaving lots of lead to the point where you could feel it on you face when shooting. I sent it in and they corrected the timing, but changed some other portion of it so now it light strikes consistantly on three cylinders. Gave up a perfect single six for this! Very reluctant to buy S&W again.

[@crankygunreviews]

Mine is way better. I’m sad the QC on some seems to have gone down hill. I agree the older ones are way better, but I’m glad they fixed mine. You can tighten up the main screw a tad and see if light strikes improve

[@aldo-228]

My absolutely favorite revolver! I'm so glad that they took care of your issue. What's concerning is how and why it would have a frame crack like that. It's so over-engineered it had to be a bad forging.

[@crankygunreviews]

Bad forging or bad threads and they over torques it assembling…. I’m glad it got fixed too, I love shooting it

[@tinman1955]

@@crankygunreviews Do you know if the revolver was ever dropped or abused? Turns out that the hammer on a revolver is not meant for driving nails. 🤣🤣

[@crankygunreviews]

@@tinman1955 I don’t know I bought it used. It looks like the barrel was over torqued or the threads weren’t cut correctly and it was forced to me, but I cannot say either way

[@roberthansen9047]

FYI - The Mod 686 is a L frame...not a K frame

[@crankygunreviews]

Thanks

[@MAG-li5jo]

My new 617 is currently back ay S&W for something very similar as far as lead buildup at the forcing cone. My thousand dollar cheese grader. My S&W 357 Mag 66-8 and 686+ function flawlessly when I get it back. Lord willing that will be the case.

[@crankygunreviews]

@@MAG-li5jo good luck, let me know what happens!

[@WonderDean]

Smith and Wesson has an excellent reputation for quality. I’m sure they never want to lose that.

[@crankygunreviews]

I have had great luck with them

[@timba1868]

The quality from Smith has suffered in a big way with regards to revolvers

[@ga-gz1bo]

Too bad Smith and Wesson quality control ever let it leave the factory in that condition to begin with.

[@crankygunreviews]

It could have been dropped, no idea. It was only a year old when I bought it though

[@joeclifford9242]

I have been following and I'm glad it's back and you're happy with it! I recently bought a "Factory New in Box " 617 on GunBroker that turned out to be "A used gun in a box"! Very disappointed! No cracks! But I've touched it up, cleaned it up, reblued and painted the sights and will soon take it out to shoot!

[@crankygunreviews]

Stinks when stuff is misrepresented, hopefully you got it for a good price at least.

[@joeclifford9242]

@@crankygunreviews I paid $760 + tax + shipping so I pretty much paid for a new gun! GunBroker only covers $500 - 100 deductible and the seller wouldn't take it back, his auction said " you win it, you own it" I learned Alot about GunBroker! I'll keep it, lesson learned!

[@crankygunreviews]

@@joeclifford9242 yeah that’s not a deal- I paid $700 for mine used, new they’re around $800

[@joeclifford9242]

@@crankygunreviews Well, that's about what I paid! I'm not so upset with the price, just the way it was misrepresented and the seller was a liar! Brick and mortar gun store in Massachusetts!

[@crankygunreviews]

@@joeclifford9242 interesting... I bought mine from a shop in Mass too. Where’d you buy it from? Sometimes they’re fired at the factory and not cleaned too..

[@alexshuster2448]

By the way, only Flobert 4,5 caliber revolver is allowed in our country, and Smith Wesson is not allowed 22 lr caliber , but I love 22 lr recoil, it's cool to hit 15 meters .

[@crankygunreviews]

They think .22lr is an assassin caliber

[@kenhughes4715]

Glad it got straighten out

[@crankygunreviews]

Me too!

[@brettcatterall7761]

Today with my lcrx 22lr the m22 Winchester had a 100% fire rate with one underpowered one. 160 shots. Most other 22s I get like a 40% firing rate. Like you said that hammer hits hard

[@crankygunreviews]

The LCR has a stiff spring, I don’t have an LCRX. The M22 I had was garbage, I sent it back to Winchester and they refunded me.

[@brettcatterall7761]

@@crankygunreviews I saw your video. Grad they gave you more than what you paid

[@crankygunreviews]

@@brettcatterall7761 pleasantly surprised

[@refugiosilva6060]

Thx much for posting this video; I shot my used 617 this weekend for the second time and noticed the excessive amount of leading around the forcing cone as well... after giving it a really good cleaning I see that the frame is cracked. Reaching out to S&W as I've saved up to get this model & it's too late to return it to the private seller. The trigger on this model just breaks like crystal glass, I'm sure they'll fix it but I have to wonder if they over torqued the barrel causing the frame to crack?

[@crankygunreviews]

Just don’t tell them you’re not the first owner- I didn’t, some guys said they had claims denied because they bought it second hand, mine was still very new when I got it

[@johnkellmer5133]

Good deal. Odd problem for a .22. (?)

[@crankygunreviews]

It was a factory defect

[@brettcatterall7761]

I looked at the 617 and the ruger lcrx. I went with the lcrx 22lr. Was a toss up

[@crankygunreviews]

I have a 22 and 22 WMR LCR, and an SP 101 in 22, the 617 is more gun than all the others

[@brettcatterall7761]

@@crankygunreviews that lcrx trigger is heavy and cost more than it should. It works well, nice tight lock up and can hit steel plates easily at 85 yards with the hammer back. It isn't my favorite 22 but I'm keeping it

[@Motorman-dl1sc]

Good they took care of you Still puzzled how that frame got cracked .They replaced the frame with o new one with new serial number.So you had to get it transfered? I had to get that done 2 times with my replace of my 2 guns

[@crankygunreviews]

Yes, new SN so I had to have it transferred, had to pay, but S&W is supposed to reimburse me.

[@Motorman-dl1sc]

@@crankygunreviews Ok Ruger sent me a check for the transfer when they had to make me a new receiver for my SR-22 rifle

[@armedfarm3429]

Bet it got dropped on cement.

[@Gieszkanne]

Expensive for a .22lr revolver? Where is the logic? Its a S&W with the same material and working progress like with any bigger caliber revolvers from them. So why should it be cheaper?

[@crankygunreviews]

It’s more expensive than a .38 or 357 magnum revolver. I bought a 4” K frame .38 special revolver for $100-200 less than this gun. In my area, .22 revolvers routinely are $100-300 more than larger calibers even in the same manufacturer. Even the Ruger LCR, .38 special around $350-400, .22lr is $600. Even used…

[@Gieszkanne]

@@crankygunreviews S&W MSRP for the 617 is 893$ and the also K frame revolver 66 in .357 is 914$

[@crankygunreviews]

@@Gieszkanne I was speaking of what is available locally, used and new- MSRP doesn’t matter, they never sell for that. I’m also looking at used prices on revolvers, not new. I rarely buy new.

[@Gieszkanne]

@@crankygunreviews But this shows that you cant blame S&W for it. In Germany the .22 S&W arent more expensive also not compared on the used market. So this is a special situation for the US market.

[@crankygunreviews]

@@Gieszkanne I don’t think I was blaming smith and Wesson- I’d have to watch again, but I thought I said I don’t know why 22 revolvers are more expensive than 38’s and larger calibers… I don’t think blamed s&w

[@joeclifford9242]

Have you had any "canted barrel" problems with your Smith and Wesson's?

[@crankygunreviews]

Not that I’m aware of, most of mine I bought used and have been great. I typically buy the older ones too, they’re usually better quality.

[@josefernandoayalacarvajal7872]

Qué precio tiene????

[@crankygunreviews]

I think they’re about $800 US new, maybe more

[@zerpblerd5966]

woo!

[@crankygunreviews]

You’ve been offline a while huh?

[@zerpblerd5966]

@@crankygunreviews ya, moved to ME ~2 months ago and have been doing nothing but getting situated and working the land to get it prepped for fall work (homesteading stuff) thought I'd have set up a shooting spot by now and haven't even had the time to do that!

[@crankygunreviews]

@@zerpblerd5966 that’s awesome! I’d move to Maine too, maybe for retirement…

[@zerpblerd5966]

@@crankygunreviews it's so great here! I'm at the top of a medium sized hill with a bunch of acres in the woods. One of the clearings on the hill has wild blueberries, I must have picked 3 gallons over the past 2 months. I grew up in rural PA but lived in the eastern corridor around philadelphia for the past 20years - now it feels like I've returned home to the sort of place my heart has always called for I went looking at used tractors today/met a dealer who is going to keep an eye out for what I need. (backhoe+grip for digging and moving logs and giant rocks, mainly) The place I bought came with a worn down International Harvester 444 (w/ bushhog, dirt plow, snow plow, and front end loader) that has been sitting unused for ~15 years with a rusted wheel that I probably need to get replaced before we can really see if the mechanic can get it working, but also talked to a tractor guy the other day who gave this tractor a look 5 years ago and said it worked fine 5 years ago (hydraulics and all), so I'm hopeful. I know you are into tractors too ( :

[@zerpblerd5966]

@@crankygunreviews here's a nice property for sale in ME : 68 Brown Road, Mercer ME -