Dry firing S&W 617 ?

be2man

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Appears to be a similar firing mechanism/pin to my 686, but I've read many times dryfiring a rimfire without snap caps will damage the firing pin. Is this the case with the 617 as well or is it an exception?
 
when dry firing a rim fire the firing pin hits the edge of the chamber instead of the cartridge rim and will bruise the chamber.
I have seen .22 rimfire bruised enough that the swelled out bruise scratches the side of the case when you chamber a new round.
if it gets bad enough it will be difficult to chamber a round.
 
Great to know, thanks, tried a search and didn't come up with much.
This is my first .22 revolver, purchased off of the EE from original owner with "approx 200 rounds through".
There seems to be alot of leading on the frame. See pics. Is this normal for a rimfire revolver with an unknown round count or could it indicate a timing issue? The lockup seems solid with no play in the cylinder when cocked.
Thanks


SW617-1_zps263904ea.jpg


SW617-2_zps5f7f0b60.jpg
 
That's one hell of a lot of lead for 200 rds - IME. And no one shoots 200 rds through a .22 and sells it off, unless it's a bummer or he's starving.

Either that or it's a lead shaver.
 
That's one hell of a lot of lead for 200 rds - IME. And no one shoots 200 rds through a .22 and sells it off, unless it's a bummer or he's starving.

Either that or it's a lead shaver.

Yes the round count is unverifiable and you may be right re it's seen a lot more. Price was decent and I figured these are a gun that can handle a lot of rounds if by chance the description was less than accurate. I'll clean it up and shoot it and see if and how fast the buildup returns. Any advice on a miracle solvent to take that lead off?
 
I agree clean it and shoot 200 rounds through it and you will see the same leading, after just 50 round these revolvers get very dirty they are not like a pistol.
 
I use a dental pick on my S&W 617 to remove accumulated lead build-up. Be careful to avoid scratching the pistol.
You might wish to verify your chamber/bore line-up by inserting an aluminum .22 cleaning rod down the barrel and into each unloaded chamber (as it is in the locked position for firing). There should be no 'catching' of the rod as it transitions from the barrel and enters each chamber lip. This is a very gross way to check your chamber/bore alignment. If you have a trusted gunsmith nearby (with all the correct equipment), he/she should be able to do a better investigative job re alignment. Money well spent for peace-of-mind.
 
Find some plastic wall studs in the right size as improvised snap caps. You do NOT want to use real snap caps for dry firing a rimfire, as you will likely get at most 10-15 trigger pulls out of it before the rim is so far damaged that the caps wont fit right anymore, and snap caps aren't cheap.
 
I just checked my S&W 17-4 and 18-3 .22 revolvers, which have been dry fired many times over the years. If there is any damager to the chambers from it, I fail to see it.

In a striker-fired pistol, it is possible to cause damage to the breech face, but with a revolver that has a frame mounted firing pin with recessed chamber mouths, I fail to see how contact can be made.
 
^^^^ Thanks, that's what I was wondering about looking at the design of the gun and path of the firing pin.

Cleaned it and headed to the range today. Installed a Hi-Viz front blade and had time to put 100 or so downrange. Great revolver to shoot single or double and very accurate. I did back the tension screw on the hammer spring off 1 1/2 turns to decrease trigger pull and still seems to have reliable strikes. Did have some slight leading shooting CCI mini mags but doesn't seem excessive. A good pair with my 686!

SNWS_zpsc0f1bed0.jpg
 
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Never understood the point of 22lr snap caps since they're useless after several dry fire. I just use once fired 22lr brass, only cost is to pick them up, no one dry fires more than live fire.

I've a 5" non-fluted 686+ that looks just like in the pic. Need a 617 to complete my 357, 44 and 50 collection.
 
Great to know, thanks, tried a search and didn't come up with much.
This is my first .22 revolver, purchased off of the EE from original owner with "approx 200 rounds through".
There seems to be alot of leading on the frame. See pics. Is this normal for a rimfire revolver with an unknown round count or could it indicate a timing issue? The lockup seems solid with no play in the cylinder when cocked.
Thanks

It looks normal to me. My K-22 that was built in 1953 does the same thing.
 
I just checked my S&W 17-4 and 18-3 .22 revolvers, which have been dry fired many times over the years. If there is any damager to the chambers from it, I fail to see it.

In a striker-fired pistol, it is possible to cause damage to the breech face, but with a revolver that has a frame mounted firing pin with recessed chamber mouths, I fail to see how contact can be made.

It depends wholey on if S&W saw fit to make the firing pin length and forward travel stop only "just" long enough to set off the rimfire cartridge but not impact the forward point of the recess and back face of the cylinder. Some makers do this and some don't.
 
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