Smith and Wesson 617 - basic questions

F

fallen4shell

Inactive
I recently ordered a S&W model 617 4" 10 shot revolver in stainless. I am anxiously awaiting it's arrival and have been reading up in these forums about the intricacies of the gun. I have read alot of posts that mention some models having an aluminum cylinder that apparently didn't go over well....yet no one seems to really know why. Can anyone tell me what the drawbacks would actually be of the aluminum cylinder as opposed to steel?

The product number for the gun I ordered is 160584...is there any way to tell from that whether or not it will have the aluminum cylinder or the steel? Also, being new to revolvers and guns in general, I was wondering how to tell if it has the square or round butt? I know that this model is the K frame and I was thinking (just from looking at the picture) that it has the round butt, but then I found one for sale on gunbroker that looked IDENTICAL and the seller claimed that it had a square butt. Now I am confused...when I think of square butt I think of like OLD single action revolvers, is this just an "option" that some models have and some don't or is it a early model/late model deal?

Also, is there a way that I can know what year my specific gun was manufactured in? It's supposedly NEW, but it could have still been manufactured long ago and sat on a shelf somewhere for 5 years. DO they have a different item number(160584) for each change they make to the model...or just for different barrel lengths and cylinder capacity?

I know that these are all pretty basic questions, but as I said I am pretty new to all this so any information you guys can give me I am sure will be helpful.

Thanks.
 
welcome

Howdy,
I have the same gun. It is a K frame, Round butt, steel cylinder, and they are a blast to shoot. You can purchase grips that will convert the butt to square, but I did not find that to be necessary. That's totally your call.

I guess I am not sure on the drawbacks of the aluminium cylinder but I'm sure some of the other guys and gals on this forum will be able to tell you.

As for the year it was made, I think you can contact S&W with the serial number off of your gun ad get that information, but I strongly suspect that the gun was made in tha last couple years.

Hope it goes well for you, and I think that you are going to really like your new revolver.

Good Luck, Shoot Straight

Reeps

p.s the grips I put on mine are Pachmayr Compac's. I strongly dislike finger grooves on my handguns but again that is totally on you to make that call.
 
Enjoy!

I have the same one, 4" 10 shot. It is great fun, accurate. Pain in the butt to clean all 10 chambers, but what the hell. You can shoot anything in it and never worry about feeding problems or whatever semi's do. I always say, about 1/7 the cost of factory .38 specials, but definitely not 1/7 the fun!
 
Great choice!

I also have the 4", 10-shot 617 - beautiful gun, plenty of fun, and wonderfully inexpensive to shoot. Newer ones do have the steel cylinder, but I don't know how to tell from an id number. They have a round butt to the grip frame, but the standard rubber grips have a squared off end.

I spoke with a rep from Hi-Viz a couple of weeks ago, and he said they will be coming out soon with a fiber front sight for the 617 - he said it's their most requested addition to the product line. I will get one as soon as they are available to help these middle aged eyes. :D
 
Bullet94,

I tried those forums but it won't let me search or post unless I register and it won't let me register without a valid e-mail address OTHER than a free web-mail (such as yahoo, hotmail, etc.). The only problem is that I don't HAVE that type of email address therefore I cannot use the forums. Major bummer if you ask me.

Joe
 
bullet94

Thanks for doing that...it was very helpful. I appreciate you going to that little bit of extra trouble for me. Perhaps one day I will be able to return the favor; if not for you then certainly for someone else. Thanks again and thank you to everyone who posted in this thread...my questions are pretty much answered. I am just READY TO GET MY GUN IN! See you all at the range....

Joe
 
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