the 617 that Smith & Wesson should have made

[practical_man]

Wanted to share a pic of my modified Smith & Wesson model 617. As you might imagine, I am indescribably happy with the result of Warren Moore's metal artistry.

Here's the story. I had a 6 shot 617 years ago, and gave it to a relative. I've missed that revolver every since, and looked high and low for a replacement. No luck, so I finally broke down and bought one of the 10-shot versions.

Found out that it was a little too heavy to shoot well with one hand, as in Conventional Pistol. I called Warren to schedule the project of taking some weight off the front end so that the center of gravity would be a little closer to my shooting hand. Didn't really know what I wanted or how to describe it to Warren.

Well after a good wait, my turn finally came to spend some time at Protocol Designs. I did my best to describe to Warren what I was trying to accomplish. Then he started his magic. He took some measurements, looked at one of his revolvers, twisted the barrel out of the frame and set it up in the mill. Chips flew as the machine was guided by his steady hand and artistic eye -- no cnc program here, just a skilled machinist and great shooter making the mill do what he wanted. He even re-engraved the factory markings on the barrel flats. Fantastic work and a real joy to see him take a vague description and transform it to reality in metal. The picture doesn't do justice to the work -- will try to get better pix up at some point.

This revolver is exactly what I wanted to accomplish. Balances perfectly in one hand, and is a beauty to behold. And with Warren's fiber optic sight set it's nearly perfect for anything I will use a rimfire revolver for. Yes, an unabashed plug for Warren's sights too. They're great target sights, with the bonus of fiber optic to help keep track of the front sight.

Some might ask what it cost to have this done. Well--- since my wife might run across this post --- let's just say that you can buy a WHOLE BUNCH of powder and primers with the same amount of money. In the end, it was well worth the price and the wait to get a place on his busy schedule. I am certain that I got a bargain and great value. I would certainly do it again; not sure that Warren would say the same.

It turned out great and I am thrilled with the result. Now to find a 6 shot cylinder to complete the transformation.

Thanks Warren! This is a true work of functional art.

-john

Edited April 13, 2012 by practical_man

[twister]

John, Very nice looking pistol. How long did it take to get the work done?

[james57]

Warren is my friend so I need to qualify that to start. You have to have a revolver for him to be civil, but if you are nice and take him to lunch, he can be had. He is trying to make a living, besides doing individual gun work so you need to give him a break on the time line.You can find him at the Bianchi most years as a competitor too.

[Merlin Orr]

That is a really nice looking gun.....

[jriera]

Yep, REALLY nice gun ... jealous ...

I really need to get a 617 ..

[practical_man]

John, Very nice looking pistol. How long did it take to get the work done?

The actual work took several hours. We scheduled it a few months ago. Warren is very busy with his regular business that pays the bills and a backlog of gun work. It was well worth the wait and he's a great guy to work with. I always get what I want, even if I don't know exactly what to ask for. If you ask me, he is the real Performane Center for Smith and Wesson revolvers.

- John

[Daniele]

WARNING!

The 617 10 rounds is the most dangerous gun I ever got!

I am going to the range TOO often and I fire TOO many rounds and the more I use it the more I like it!

It is a DRUG!

[itchy]

Looks great! Like a mini 627. What kind of barrel is that?

Seiichi

[Toolguy]

It's a remachined standard 617 barrel. The main objective was to remove some weight and move the center of gravity further back. I'm hoping to have some better pictures soon.

Edited April 19, 2012 by Toolguy

[TMC]

It's a remachined standard 617 barrel. The main objective was to remove some weight and move the center of gravity further back. I'm hoping to have some better pictures soon.

Now all you need is one of the aluminum cylinders!

[Tom E]

Now all you need is one of the aluminum cylinders!

That I have. A 617-2 and a 17-8. Looks like I need to put the barrels on the Toolguy diet.

[TANZER]

S&W did make this model. A German distributor ordered 306 from the performance center in 1998. Modification was to a 617-1.

I imported the attached back to the US last year.

PC617-HEIM.pdf

[Toolguy]

What's up with that??? Why don't we get ones like that here? You would think the US could get the same guns from S&W that Germany can get??

[BillD]

S&W did make this model. A German distributor ordered 306 from the performance center in 1998. Modification was to a 617-1.

I imported the attached back to the US last year.

Nice!!!

[practical_man]

S&W did make this model. A German distributor ordered 306 from the performance center in 1998. Modification was to a 617-1.

I imported the attached back to the US last year.

Tanzer that is a nice set up. 306 is a pretty small number to satisfy the population. Ought to be a regular production item.

Thanks for the great bit of trivia

[drflame]

Very nice revolver, you would think S&W would add that barrel profile to the line up, I'd buy one.

[practical_man]

Very nice revolver, you would think S&W would add that barrel profile to the line up, I'd buy one.

You would think they would run batches like this occasionally. The do small runs of unusual stuff for Lew Horton now and then, but not to the extent that Ruger and others do. Would really like to get introduced to S&W marketing guys. There is money to be made in smaller runs of unique purpose built stuff.

Until then, I will just have to rely on Warren to build me what I want. Might have to get a part time job...

-john

[TANZER]

Detailed below find a brief summary on what it took to import the 617 PC "profile barrel" back from Germany.

* Complete the financial transaction with the seller.

* Your FFL must complete ATF form 6. ( in triplicate ) and submit for approval to import a weapon into the US. This process takes approx 6-8 weeks.

*When the ATF returns the approved form 6 to your FFL they will include two each of a form 6A. These need to be completed. The original ( approved ) form 6 & the two form 6A's need to be sent to the shipper. The form 6A is a Customs release form. US Customs keeps one of the 6A forms & sends one to the ATF. Customs will release the package and return the original form 6 and the gun to your FFL assuming there are no paperwork issues. Your FFL is required to keep the original form 6 in his files ( just like 4473's ) for 20 yrs.

There is no import duty or fee required since the weapon was manufactured in the US.

[cooper_999]

From German "gun-eBay":

http://egun.de/market/item.php?id=3835335

[cuzinvinny]

Every time I see a picture of one of those special run German 617's, I scratch my head and wonder why none of the big S&W distributors (Lew Horton or Talo) has ever offered a special run of 617's with that barrel configuration. I can't help but believe that barrel configuration in either a 5 or 6" barrel would be a big seller.

[practical_man]

From German "gun-eBay":

http://egun.de/market/item.php?id=3835335

And dirt cheap too...if it weren't such a pain to import it. What a shame

[practical_man]

Updated with some better -- but not great -- pix to show the barrel contour and Warren's great fiber optic sights.

Got most of the parts to do a 6 round cylinder conversion. Of course, Brownells was out of stock on the ejector spring, but can live without that for a while.

This little project is almost complete. Will soon have the perfect 6 round revolver for conventional pistol or rimfire PPC practice, and a 10 round sylinder to swap out for steel.

Thanks to Warren for making this project a reality.

-john

PS. if anyone knows how to get the new style grips from S&W's OEM provider, please send me an email or PM. These are perhaps the best fit for me. Much better than the standard monogrip or any of the wood offerings from S&W. Want to put these grips on all my S&W revolvers.

[MultiplexMan]

@practical man - very nice 617 there! I need those sights on my 617.

I'm a revolver noob and the 617 is my first wheel gun.

I've looked at the German eGun site and the specifications on the 617 "White Diamond".

What I want to know:

1. How do they get a 1100 gm SA trigger pull? A trigger pull like this would be on par with my Morini rapid fire pistol!

2. Why machine the outer diameter of the cylinder on a 0.22LR? Not for moon clips?

3. Does anyone beside Hogue make an extended cylinder release?

Apologies for going slightly OT.

[practical_man]

@practical man - very nice 617 there! I need those sights on my 617.

I'm a revolver noob and the 617 is my first wheel gun.

I've looked at the German eGun site and the specifications on the 617 "White Diamond".

What I want to know:

1. How do they get a 1100 gm SA trigger pull? A trigger pull like this would be on par with my Morini rapid fire pistol!

2. Why machine the outer diameter of the cylinder on a 0.22LR? Not for moon clips?

3. Does anyone beside Hogue make an extended cylinder release?

Apologies for going slightly OT.

Multiplex-

Those sights are available from ToolGuy. Send him a PM. They are a great value and Warren is a fine shooter and machinist. He has designed and fabricated a fine set of sights that are slowly appearing on all my S&W revolvers.

Question 1 -- a 2.5 pount trigger pull isn't hard to do single action, but that ain't gonna happen double action. A little polishing on the engagement surfaces and balancing springs will get you there. But be careful with the polishing, there's not much single action engagement to begin with.

Q2 -- no idea as you've stated it. I finally got all the parts to install a second, 6-round cylinder in this revo. Now i have best of both worlds -- 10 shot, or with minor effort, 6 shot.

Q3 -- Not that I know of. Candidly, I'm not interested in extended cyl release. I had a brief flirtation with one and decided that's not for me. Someone else will probably chime in to more directly answer your question.

-john

[diehli]

I thought Power Custom had an extended release (on the iPhone, otherwise I'd go check myself).