RussB

It now has new Heinie sights and a Ti-Rant suppressor!

In that price range, it's hard to beat the Springfield Armory Range Officer. They also have stellar customer service if you ever need it

Me too. Smooth and shiny

If I had to do it again, I would go with the .200" tall sight...

I put a Dawson F/O sight on my 617,

I was also thinking about a more consistent way to measure actual hammer power, that is getting a reading on JUST the hammer. That would eliminate the extra power needed to compress the rebound spring, rotate the cylinder and all the other things that occur. with the trigger held back, I measure 4# of hammer spring, which means I have almost 4# of "other" stuff going on at the same time

After I made this thread, I did a search and came up with a lot of info regarding the 617. First off was that you cannot alter/lighten the hammer and expect reliability. Seems a rimfire round needs all the mass a hammer can deliver. The Apex hammer works because more weight is at the top in the area that contacts the firing pin...the thing actually LOOKS like a hammer! That makes me wonder how a .500" target hammer would work? It has a larger thumbpiece, which would add mass up towards the top of the hammer... The other info I gathered that a reliable 617 pull at 8# is the norm with factory parts and a reduced power rebound spring and trimmed strain screw. 7# is getting near the lowest possible but you often need aftermarket parts from mainsprings, extended FP's and the Apex hammer

Looks like the Apex hammer is an important ingredient to get a sub 7 pound pull...

I'm talking about trigger pull weight. With the innards smoothed up and a 12# rebound spring I have it set at 8#. My particular strain screw is trimmed to .335" from the shoulder to the tip. I'm using the factory mainspring. I have no ignition issues with 2 different Federal 22's or CCI Mini-Mags. I made another strain screw today (.320" long) which gives me a 7# pull, but I have to try it out... How low can you go with the factory parts? How about with the Miculek mainspring? How about with that cool looking Apex hammer?

I was lucky that the awol pin was right there on the floor even after several days.

OH BOY! do I feel stupid... Opened up the sideplate again. I noticed the firing pin retaining pin had fallen out last time I was in there. That's why the firing pin was able to contact the cylinder! I was fortunate to find the pin on the floor at my work bench. I put it back in and no more firing pin hits on the cylinder

Sorry to bump this necro-thread, but I just wanted to add my 2 cents wirth. I picked up this brand new 617 a couple days back, smoothed up the action and commenced to do some dry firing. After maybe 1,000 pulls I noticed that I was indeed dinging the cylinder. Again, this is a NIB S&W 617, with all factory parts & pieces... No more dry firing WITHOUT a snap cap/spent shell for me!

Nice vid! Thanks for posting it. I recently contacted GGI regarding the X5 extractors...looks like they'll be installing them soon

It's purty...been meaning to do mine for some time now

I shoot at steel...if that were my gun, I wouldn't touch a thing! Are there any direct fit front sites available? I had fit an SDM, but it sticks out of the 627's funky sight base