I picked up my 617 mountain gun back in November. Unfortunately I didn’t look over the gun well enough before I bought it and when I got home I noticed that the rear sight was broken. The blade would just slide left to right freely.
I contacted S&W and was told that they would send me a new rear sight. All i received was the forward screw for the rear sight. After another call they told me the rear sight was back ordered and they didn’t know when it would ship. Fast forward to the end of January and the rear sight finally shows up.
I finally made it to the range today to shoot some steel and just get a feeling for the gun. I made it to the 13th round and the brass bead fell out of the front sight. I ended up putting 60 rounds through it and luckily didn’t have any other issues. I didn’t get to put any rounds on paper due to the rain, but I had no issues keeping rounds on the smaller plates at our range.

Man that sucks...what is happening to S&W these days? That's a beautiful gun, but for what they're charging it should be absolutely perfect when it leaves the factory. Sadly, yours isn't the only story like that that I've heard. Were you able to find the front sight bead, or is it gone for good?

Go to Lowe’s and get some red loctite or gorilla glue epoxy, mix up a little and slide the brass pin back in. It’ll be right as rain. I had the same happen to a marbles front sight on my little 357 magnum carbine-I used the epoxy. Hasnt come off in over a decade.

The front bead has been donated to the range. I looked for it, but it’s gone for now. The snow/rain on the ground didn’t help.

Maybe get a piece of brass rod from the hardware store and snip off a piece. Polish it up and glue it in . Worth a try .

Or call Smith back and ask them to send you another one. They owe you that much. It's kinda sad when you can't even make guns that will hold up to the mighty recoil of the .22LR.

I’ll be making a call to smith tomorrow and I’ll let them fix it. It’s a shame their QC is the way it is. I really like the look and feel of this gun and I can’t wait until it’s back to 100%.

I have grown into becoming an extreme fan of Smith & Wesson revolvers over the last couple decades, but I tend to gravitate towards the guns made prior to the last few years as it seems quality control reports are all over the place and many are astonishingly negative. I really wanted this model 617 mountain gun like in the OP’s report, but this is not the first negative issue I have heard about these revolvers. I just saw a video today on the brand new night guard series depicting light primer strikes indicating this is not an isolated issue to one line of revolvers.

I really don’t understand what the problem is because I know they CAN build high-quality guns. They’ve been doing it for a very, very long time—and did it beautifully when things were less mass produced, and seemingly more meticulously cared for by craftsman who enjoyed their job more. I don’t know if it’s a sign of the times thing, or lesser quality materials used, but it’s a bummer because they are finally starting to put out these revolvers without the lock which has generated much more interest in many including myself. After hearing report after report of issues, it becomes aggravating and deflating so then I just search for old used ones from the 50’s through the 90’s.

quote:

Originally posted by LincolnSixEcho:
I have grown into becoming an extreme fan of Smith & Wesson revolvers over the last couple decades, but I tend to gravitate towards the guns made prior to the last few years as it seems quality control reports are all over the place and many are astonishingly negative. I really wanted this model 617 mountain gun like in the OP’s report, but this is not the first negative issue I have heard about these revolvers. I just saw a video today on the brand new night guard series depicting light primer strikes indicating this is not an isolated issue to one line of revolvers.

Yeah, that was Hickock45. After he changed ammunition brand he didn't have any more problems. I just got mine yesterday and won't get a chance to shoot it until next week. Hopefully I won't have any problems.

^^^^^ I hope you don’t have any issues with yours as well, we need to start hearing about overwhelming success stories with current production Smiths again.

quote:

Originally posted by Ogie:

quote:

Originally posted by LincolnSixEcho:
I have grown into becoming an extreme fan of Smith & Wesson revolvers over the last couple decades, but I tend to gravitate towards the guns made prior to the last few years as it seems quality control reports are all over the place and many are astonishingly negative. I really wanted this model 617 mountain gun like in the OP’s report, but this is not the first negative issue I have heard about these revolvers. I just saw a video today on the brand new night guard series depicting light primer strikes indicating this is not an isolated issue to one line of revolvers.

Yeah, that was Hickock45. After he changed ammunition brand he didn't have any more problems. I just got mine yesterday and won't get a chance to shoot it until next week. Hopefully I won't have any problems.

There have definitely been issues with light strikes on smiths being far more prevalent on the centerfire guns since going to the frame mounted firing pins. Having said that, most of the time cranking down on the strain screw snug solves the issue very often. I have seen in both classics and modern smiths the strain screws backed out enough to cause this, and sometimes just a half to full trun tighter makes a huge difference.

My understanding has always been those strain screws should be tight period. People have always bubba’d them slightly for a poor man’s trigger job but this shouldn’t be done is what I was taught. If your strain screw is backed off at all it needs to be tightened.

Did Hickok ever investigate or did he just note the light strikes? I love Hickok but I also think he stops short of an easy fix so as to not appear biased or encourage tinkering. Just presents it as he receives it which has merit in many ways.

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
My understanding has always been those strain screws should be tight period. People have always bubba’d them slightly for a poor man’s trigger job but this shouldn’t be done is what I was taught. If your strain screw is backed off at all it needs to be tightened.

Did Hickok ever investigate or did he just note the light strikes? I love Hickok but I also think he stops short of an easy fix so as to not appear biased or encourage tinkering. Just presents it as he receives it which has merit in many ways.

Agreed...strain screw needs to be tight.

I don't know if the factory has changed springs, but I do know I've encountered a lot more ammo with hard primers in recent years...stuff that won't ignite even in guns that had proven themselves over the years to be reliable. I think the COVID shortages and subsequent rush for more production played hell with component quality control. If the manufacturer is putting in weaker springs for better trigger pulls, or the strain screws aren't getting seated all the way, this is just going to exacerbate the problem.

I know I dropped a couple of Wilson Combat spring kits into a couple of K and N frames and immediately got light strikes, to the point that I had to add a shim between the strain screw and the spring to increase the tension. Wilson has a reputation for making good stuff, so I can't imagine they're 100% of the problem. I think historically when the ammo was better there was a greater margin for error with the required impact force for reliable ignition....you could get away with a lighter spring, a slightly backed out strain screw, or small imperfections in the firing pin or channel. These days with shit QC on the ammo side, any shortcomings on the gun side are exacerbated as well.

Ammo has gotten worse. Especially rimfire. 22 ammo is consistently worse than I ever remember. Maybe it’s dementia maybe it’s worse ammo. I’ll ask the voices.

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
My understanding has always been those strain screws should be tight period. People have always bubba’d them slightly for a poor man’s trigger job but this shouldn’t be done is what I was taught. If your strain screw is backed off at all it needs to be tightened.

Did Hickok ever investigate or did he just note the light strikes? I love Hickok but I also think he stops short of an easy fix so as to not appear biased or encourage tinkering. Just presents it as he receives it which has merit in many ways.

He just noted the light primer strike and admitted that he should have checked it. In a subsequent addition to that video he stated that he and a friend had fired an additional 100 rounds or so and had no further issues with various types of ammunition. He stated that it was probably an especially hard primer or the ammunition itself

Contacted S&W and they will be sending out a new front sight. It’s a shame that the front and rear sight had to be replaced, but I really like the way the gun handles and shoots.