shoots100

I tried the stock pin again on your recommendation. Never looked back. I'm using a 12lb return spring. I tried 10 to 14lb. I tried a couple of different cylinder shims and settled on the .002 . The biggest improvement has been with the purchase of the Apex mass hammer. After this weekend's match, I'll have a few weeks between matches to have it looked at.

Let me start off with that I've been working on center fire S&W revolvers for a long time. .22 revolvers aren't my thing, but It's a Smith, so I figured I'd take a stab at it. What I'm trying to do is make my 617 a carbon copy of my comp 929, especially the 7lb trigger pull. I cannot get my 617 to function reliably with any type/brand of ammo, with a trigger pull under 8lbs. I've tried over 20 types/brands of ammo. I polished the internals and It's smoother than a Ho's tongue. I will have over 3k rounds fired after tomorrows steel practice, and this weekends 8 stage steel match. It currently has the Apex mass hammer, comp spring kit, Ext firing pin, and I just recently spaced the cylinder to remove 95% end shake. I'm currently using the stock firing pin, as it's been functioning better with it. Am I missing/ overlooking something, asking too much, or is this the lightest trigger I can expect to have with a 617 ? I'm a stubborn bastard , but since this is a comp only pistol, I'm open to sending it out to someone more knowledgeable with .22 revolvers, if the elusive 7lb trigger pull can be achieved. Any help, advice or smith recommendation's would be appreciated. Thanks, SJC

I don't care what others do or say. I shoot revolvers because I like how they look, like shooting them and will probably shoot them till I die, regardless if anyone else is shooting them. I just got back into shooting/competing in steel challenge with my 617 22lr and am happier than a pig in poop. I'm all revolver for 2018 and wouldn't have it any other way.

I bought 5 speed beez loaders and two of the 100rd block's/Box's. Been very happy with my purchase. The only downside, is that you'll go through a lot more ammo using any type of speed loader, compared to loading them by hand !!

I got the 4" version for concealed carry, but I'm having a hard time finding an IWB holster for it !!!

Don't fret, I have a couple of 50Bmg rifles to keep those pesky carnivores away and a few .44 mag pea shooters at the ready until the other 500 arrives ! I had a 460 too, but I felt under gunned when walking the tough suburban streets with my maltacockapoosetteradorbull.

I enjoyed my time hunting and plinking with my 8-3/8" S&W 500, but it got too big and heavy to lug around (especially when loaded with 5 -400 grain cast lead rounds ), so it had to go. Fortunately, I found a 4" version and bought it, so Happy days will soon be here again ! Here's the last pic I took of it with it's smaller brothers(929/617) before it left town. SJC

While I was working on my 617, I pondered this question. Why are .22 revolver firing pins round and every other weapon that's fires 22lr different ? The firing pin mark on my 22/45 is around 300% bigger than the little dimple mark of my 617. Is it that they don't want to add a process to machine for a firing pin that's different than their other revolver firing pin holes, or they just don't give a shit that their revolvers don't fire reliably without them having an intolerable factory 11# DA/ 7# SA trigger pull ? I like my revolver now, but it cost me around $200 extra in parts + two hours of work to make it reliable with a decent 8# DA pull. SJC

Went to the range today with some friends. Shot almost 600 rounds with the Apex hammer, stock and Ext firing pin combo. Fed Auto Match and Champion ammo ruled the day. Mini Mags were a bust, even with the trigger pull at 8#'s. They were also the hardest to extract from the cylinder too. Glad I only bought 100 rounds of them. No matter what Fed ammo or firing pin I used with the Apex hammer, my 617 is only 100% reliable with an 8# trigger pull. Once I found that the stock firing pin and 8# pull combo worked the best, we fired over 500 rounds without a hiccup. Well, they fired a couple of rounds and I fired the rest. They were impressed and I was a happy camper. After testing that the grips from my 500 S&W fit my 617 + 929, I ordered two sets earlier in the week and installed them on the 617 and 929 yesterday. Those grips fit my hand perfectly. Now it's time to order some ammo, clean the pistolas and wait for the steel season to begin. SJC

I didn't check the price, but I wonder how much extra their charging for this model with the extended cylinder release, compared to buying a 686 and adding an aftermarket release ? I like titanium unfluted cylinders, but what's the deal with putting a heavy stainless unfluted cylinder on a comp gun ???? The front sight looks like the same one I had on my 327JM, that broke just after the first 100 rounds fired. Hopefully the newer ones last longer. SJC

I've had good reliability with fed auto match & champion rounds with this pistol set at 7# with the ext firing pin and stock hammer. I was expecting the Apex hammer to make it better. Maybe the Apex hammer and stock pin will be the ticket for me too. I'd like to find a plated bullet that runs in this pistol, yet the three I tried didn't work good at all. SJC

I love my S&W firearms, but after that response( nice woman or not), f*#k them and have it sent back ! SJC

Thanks for the clarification. I removed the Ext firing pin and installed the factory pin. Set the pull @ 7lbs and I'll see what happens this weekend. I have no end shake, as one would hope, with a brand spankin new revolver with less than a 400 rounds through it. Thanks. SJC

Are you using the Apex Hammer with the stock firing pin ? I had to up my pull weight to 8lbs with the Apex hammer and Ext firing pin last weekend for 100% reliability, same as when I was using the factory hammer and Ext firing pin. I'm gonna install the factory pin, set it to 7lbs and see what happens. SJC

Took the grips off of my 500 and tried them on my 929 and 617. I left them on the 929. A world of difference and I just ordered two sets. SJC

Shot six practice stages of steel plate today. 3.5 N320 in nickel plated Fed cases. The brass is so clean, I won't have to polish them before reloading. My 929 and moon clips are clean too. Shoots accurate and now I can reload a crap load for the season. I too had trouble with any clays powder metering in my 550 powder measure. With shot shell's, a few grains difference is no big deal, but it's too inconsistent in my pistol presses. N320 meters great and now that I found it's sweet spot, I'm set. SJC

I tried them, but I prefer to shoot 124's or 147's. They've been more accurate in my revolvers and bottom feeders. Accuracy and cleanliness is what I'm after with N320, and I think I'm almost there. I just need it to get around 50 to 60 degrees warmer, so I can test the rounds in the conditions I'll be shooting in this summer, as I want to load a couple thousand rounds before the steel season starts. Come on Global Warming !!!!! SJC

Well that sucks. There are plenty of videos on U tube showing the disassembly of the GP 100 + cylinder , and I would go that route before sending it in for work. With a couple of punches, you can disassemble the cylinder and see if there's something stuck in the extractor rod assy, as that's where I'm assuming the issue is, being you've checked the other accessible areas of the cylinder and found nothing. Good Luck SJC

I tested three N320 loads last weekend. I loaded 20 rounds each with 3.2, 3.4, 3.6 grains. 147 coated Missouri. The 3.2 load had a low of 782 fps, High 799 and a Avg of 790. Brass was a bit dirty, as was the cylinder and barrel. The 3.4 load had a low of 837 fps, High 847 and an Avg of 844. Brass was clean and no real noticeable residual buildup around the barrel or cylinder. The 3.6 load had a low of 863 fps, High 887 and an Avg of 884. Brass was a bit dirty, as was the cylinder and barrel. The 3.2 + 3.4 had mild recoil. The 3.6 didn't seem to bad either, but It was very cold, with a wind chill keeping it around 5 degrees, so my hands were numb by the time I got to testing them. I'm going to stick with the 3.4 load and see how it does this weekend, hopefully in warmer weather ! SJC

After thinking about it a couple of seconds, I said F#*k it and ended up ordering the Apex hammer. The weather's supposed to be nice this weekend, so a couple of friends and I are going to set up a couple of steel plate stages and get some trigger time. Hopefully the Hammer will arrive before that and I can give it a thorough workout. SJC

Had some fun with the 617 today, despite the 5 degree temperature. I kept the ammo in the van to keep it warm. Had some issues with it not firing 100%, but I added a shim to the mainspring and it was 100% with some of the ammo after that. I tested the pull weight when I got home and it's just a hair over 8lbs. I'm gonna need to get a different set screw, or the Apex hammer, because the factory set screw was bottomed out at 7lbs. In DAO, Federal Auto match & Champion ammo ran 100%. Fed 550, CCI and Winchester M22 ammo ran about 95%. Rem and PMC were terrible, even in single action. I had to give them a little nudge to seat them in the cyl too. I cleaned the cylinder between each ammo test(in the heated van !!), so buildup wasn't the culprit with the Rem + PMC ammo. I couldn't find my mini mags, so I'll be ordering some to test out next weekend before buying anything in bulk. The Speed Beez speed loaders worked like a charm, and the 100rd loading block made loading the speed loaders a real pleasure in the cold temps. SJC

alecmc is correct, it's a Power customs Ext firing pin. It sticks out a little bit more than the factory pin. It's funny seeing a round pin strike on a 22 shell, instead of the slash mark I'm used to. I only tested it with de-milled rounds, Win M22, 4 different type of Feds, CCI Green tag & Mini mag. 10 of each type. The M22 had the quietest primer of them all. I tried it out in a bolt rifle to see if the 617 wasn't setting them off fully, but it was almost dead silent in the rifle. Hopefully I'll be able to get to the range tomorrow and see how it works with loaded rounds before messing with the hammer. I'd like to spend the $150 on Ammo or speed loaders, instead of the Apex hammer, but if it's the shit and my gun doesn't function 100% at 7lbs, I'll need to get one. A new 617 hammer is around $50 dollars, but I'd rather put that towards the proven Apex hammer if others have had issues with a bobbed hammer. The DA pull is an honest 7lbs, just like my 929, and I'm making my 617 as close to the same specs as my 929 as I can. It came from the factory with a gravely 11lb pull. It's Night and day after I got done with it. It's far from the smoothness of the 929, but after a couple thousand rounds fired, it'll get there. As usual, thanks for the info and advice. SJC

Finally got my new 617-6 out of NY state waiting period Prison. Took it home, took it apart, Removed the rust(Not Joking) & cobb webs, added a Masters Ext firing Pin/ spring, Wilson spring kit(13# return), Hogue Ext Cyl Release, Polished the Hammer, trigger + anything else that needed it, and removed the freaking lock ! Added some Kroil, shook it all around and set the trigger pull at 7lbs, like my 929. De-milled a couple of different brands of 22lr bullets and test fired it. All went bang, so I'm Happy. The only thing I didn't do to it mechanically, that I did to my 929, is Bob the Hammer. Will it help make it fire more reliably(like my 929), or are 22lr revolvers a different story ? I can get a hammer to do it, but I would like to hear from more experienced 617 shooters before doing so. Thanks, SJC

If you two don't mind letting us know, what are your serial numbers ? Maybe this was a bad production run ? I've shot the shit out of mine and have done many hurried speed loads, and it shows no wear like your 929's. SJC

I load & shoot all types of brass in my 929, as I get free once fired brass from my friends who don't reload. CED .040" stainless moon clips fit every type of brass manufacturer I've tried. Still, 38 SC brass isn't cheap and loading them hot shortens their lifespan and cleaning the cylinder is a bitch too. Been there. I do like the look of the 627 V comp better than the 929 ! That is one fine looking revolver. SJC