Man, that one got garbled too
Let me start over.
I bought a 617 18 months ago thinking I could duplicate the feel of my Smith model 19. I could only find the 10 shot version, so that is what I bought. Many of the people I talked to advised me to rethink my idea, most of them were sales people at the local gun dealers. They told me I would be unhappy if I wanted a direct substitute for the 19. Being the hard-head I am, I kept asking until I found one guy that said go for it. I bought it, took it out and shot it, and was real happy with it. I had a few minor problems with a rough bore that resulted in keyholes when I used plain lead, but copper plated rounds work fine. After a few hundred rounds of copper plated rounds, the bore smoothed out nicely. Life was good, the little 22 shot great. I was a happy camper. After 3 or 4 months, I started having wierd problems with both the model 19 and the 617. It got so bad that I quit shooting both revolvers for another couple of months. My shots were scattered all over the target, and at 7 yards, I even managed to miss the paper on a few. I'm no Elmer, but I'm no way that bad. Switching over to semi-autos for that few months convinced me that it was a problem with the difference in feel between the 19 and the 617. I can transition from a 1911 to a Ruger Mark II to a Smith and Wesson 22s to a Hi-Power to a Firestar pretty well. It only takes a few shots to get back into the grove if you know what I mean. I can also transition between my Smith N framed Model 29, and a Ruger Blackhawk, and either of my Smith 19's, one 6 inch and one 4 inch. A few shots and life is good. However, the 617, with it's funky indexing and bad ju-ju, just magnified the difference between it and the other Smiths. Maybe it was just a personal thing that applied to me only, but whenever I see someone ask about the Model 617, it brings back some pretty bad memories. There are a lot of other significant differences also in my case. My other Smiths are square frame and wear the oversize target grips. My 617 was a round frame and came with the rubber grips. I replaced the rubber grips with a set of Anerican Tradition wood w/rubber inserts, in the hopes that it was just the grips that caused the problem. Didn't help at all. It may be a different ballgame going from the round frame centerfire to the round frame rimfire than it was going square to round. After rereading my other posts, ugh! I came across as preachy and slam happy against the 617 and the 17. I didn't mean too. The 17 and the 617 were/are great little shooters. I was happy as a clam with my 617 and the way it shot. It did however start to cause me no end of trouble when I went the shoot cheap route.(.22 instead of .38). In my case, I got rid of the one .22 I owned and kept the 2 ( actually 3) .38/.357's. I use the Model 19 with my own reloads and shoot a little less. I would put around 200 rounds a session through the 617, and dollar-wise I figured that was the same as 50 rounds of .38 reloads. For me this has been the way to go. Of course YMMV as always. Sorry to be somewhat unclear in the above, and I hope this explains it a bit better.
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CCW for Ohio action site.
http://www.ofcc.net
Do what you C.A.N.
http://thematrix.acmecity.com/digital/237/cansite/can.html
I have been searching high and low at the local dealers and shows for a pristine K-22 masterpiece for a reasonable amount. Kind of my own personal Holy Grail. I came close a few months ago, but the asking price was over $450.00, way too high for me. I should also add that my 617 was the 10 shot version and not the 6 shot. Really sorry about that omission, it makes a huge difference. I was happy with my 617 as a good little shooter, but 100% dissatisifed with it as a substitue for my 19. If you can find a 17, I would say that would be a better way to go. Sorry to be somewhat unclear in the first post.
-Kframe