Light strikes - S&W 617 Revolver

Namerifrats

Namerifrats

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I have a new S&W 617 revolver. 10 shot 22LR, I average 4-5 misfires in 10. I run them around and hit them a second or third time in some cases and they fire. This is not the ammo. It does this will maybe 6 types of ammo I've tried in it, including CCI. With CCI, I think I can remember one dud once, and I've shot thousands of rounds of CCI. In this revolver, 4-5 dud strikes per cylinder. I checked the tension screw in the grip, it seems tight. I don't really wanna go through the hassle of sending it back to S&W for something that could potentially be a simple fix. Anything else I might check? I've had it for maybe 2 months, and fired about 120 rds through it.
 
Can you post some pictures of spent brass, and maybe some that didn’t go bang?
 
Just a couple of ideas, check your strain screw an see if it has backed out.. or if you bought it used the prior owner may have filed it down… there is also a possibility of premature wear on your firing pin…. Hope this helps
 
There is an almost identical thread to this one, on the Bullseye-L forum: same issue, nearly identical responses.

I notice relatively-light strikes on my 617-6 but have not experienced any ignition failures.
The 'relatively' is compared to many thousands of samples from more than 14 other 22lr firearms here.
 
Your wheelie could have too much endshake. That is the gap between the front of the cylinder and the rear of the barrel. Measure this gap with an automotive feeler gauge. S&W should measure close to .005-.008 .
If the cylinder moves too far forward it increases the distance between firing pin and cartridge rim causing light strikes. Problem can be solved with shims or lengthening yoke/crane.
 
I had a neighbor’s 1954 S&W Highway Patrolman that did this. Many miles on that duty weapon. I replaced the strain screw with a used part I got on Numrich, and that solved the problem.
 
Namerifrats said:
I have a new S&W 617 revolver. 10 shot 22LR, I average 4-5 misfires in 10. I run them around and hit them a second or third time in some cases and they fire. This is not the ammo. It does this will maybe 6 types of ammo I've tried in it, including CCI. With CCI, I think I can remember one dud once, and I've shot thousands of rounds of CCI. In this revolver, 4-5 dud strikes per cylinder. I checked the tension screw in the grip, it seems tight. I don't really wanna go through the hassle of sending it back to S&W for something that could potentially be a simple fix. Anything else I might check? I've had it for maybe 2 months, and fired about 120 rds through it.
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Since you say it’s new, I doubt the strain screw has backed out, but always the possibility it was not tightened at the factory. There are several things I could suggest if it was a used gun, but being new I would just send it back to the factory. If you start messing with it, you could void the warranty. I probably would check the strain screw and if not loose, call S&W.
 
I checked the strain screw in the grip first. It was was tight and not lose as all. Looked to be screwed all the way in.
 
Since you have stated that it is brand new and the strain screw is tight, the only thing that I would suggest is cleaning the action before sending it back to S&W. You have to remove the side plate to spray it out with brake cleaner really well and then pa light oiling. It could be grit from machining slowing the action. Watch videos of how to take it off so you don’t mess it up if you don’t already know how. If you’re not comfortable with this send it back.
 
Have you tried cleaning the chambers? Does the 617 have recessed chambers? Any standoff from not being fully seated could absorb firing pin impact.
 
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There were several rimfire S&W revolvers that passed through Battery Oaks over the years ad most of them had problems with light strikes. The J frames seemed to be the worst of the bunch. I'd return it to S&W.
 
I bought a new 617-6 a month ago that also had light strikes. Not as bad as yours, about 1 in 25 using Aguila .22.

I felt that the DA trigger was pretty light for a factory gun. Out of the box it had the same trigger weight that I usually adjust my S&Ws down to, which is around 9lbs DA. I usually get to that point by using a lighter rebound slide spring with a factory mainspring. Since it was at that level using the factory rebound slide spring, I concluded the mainspring tension was weak.

To fix mine I replaced the strain screw with a longer one. I keep a bunch of square butt strain screws around. I get them from here: https://gungaragestore.com/smith-wesson-s-w-k-l-n-frame-stainless-steel-strain-screw-square-butt/

The square-butt screws are longer than the round-butt ones, so I prefer to use them because you can file them down to whatever length you need whereas you can't make an RB screw longer.

In this case I filed one until it was just a little bit longer than the factory strain screw on the 617. Worked like a charm. And it's a low-cost, completely reversible fix since I still have the original unmodified screw.

Side note, the ejector rod was also loose on my gun from the factory. You may want to check that as it impedes cylinder rotation when it backs out far enough. It didn't need any loctite or anything, just needed to be tightened down snug and it hasn't moved since. I have shot a couple bricks of ammo through my 617 since then and been more than happy with it.
 
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Most of the time it is a dirty chamber. You can run some solvent and a brush through there and it still might not get clean enough. That's because it is often necessary to really scrub the heck out of the cylinder to remove the line of buildup that forms in there.

Also make sure you clean under the ejector / extractor bit as well. Debris under there can cause you some issues.

If all the parts are factory, everything is squeaky clean, and it is still happening, I'd send it back to S&W. Considering how lousy many of the revolvers are that have come out of that place over the last several years...nothing surprises me anymore. I've seen all sorts of issues. But if it is a factory defect they usually fix it up when you send it back in.
 
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