The Smith and Wesson Model 17 - A Little Update

This is a continuation from my first article on the Smith and Wesson Model 17-9

 I don't know how many rounds I've actually put through my Smith and Wesson Model 17-9 Masterpiece. I have tried to shoot it every time I head out to the Little Farm but I do know that I am working through the 2000 round case of Aguila Standard Velocity I got for it plus the big ammo test.

The first issue I had ran into was a user error and I had forgotten that I could adjust the rear sight. After getting the sights zeroed for around 25 yards, I am able to regularly hit a 6 inch steel gong off hand with various loads. While the Aguila load is not the most accurate from the 17, it's what I will be shooting for the foreseeable future along with another test load from Remington. The gun club I'm apart of has a 100 yard rimfire range. On a few occasions, I have sat down and made attempts at hitting the various steel gongs and been successful on the much larger ones. I don't know how big they are at the moment. I did, however, spur my interest to find a more accurate load which spawned the ammo test. 

I very much like the single action trigger pull but I still haven't figured out how to nail staging the double action trigger. I tend to pull through.

Somethings I've noticed with the high polish blue finish is that it dulls quickly. The muzzle area definitely wears from rubbing while in the holster.  I try to clean it when I'm done for the day but I can never really get it back to that same shininess. Given that this is my first deep polished blued pistol, it does make me sad to see holster wear but that's the name of the game. 

I also deleted the ILS with a TK Custom kit. Installing the kit was a good exercise in patience and base level gunsmithing. Getting the side plate off was fine and removing the hammer and other parts just fine. Putting in the plug took some effort but I was able successfully install the kit. Getting the gun back together was tricky. Specifically the new-style stirrup and which way it was supposed to go.  I had installed in wrong and the trigger pull was terrible. Once I figured out what I had done wrong, I had to find a way to get the side plate back on. I learned I was being impeded by the hammer block. Once I figured out how to set it, everything went back together just wonderfully. 

 The finishes don't match which makes me wonder if TK Custom sent me a matte kit and not a polished black kit. The box has no markings to tell you which one it is. Speaking of TKC, I've found several other of their K frame .22 products and it's got me thinking about a Model 617 10-shot as a Steel Challenge Rimfire division gun. Griffin Gun Club hosts Steel Challenge matches regularly. 

The ILS delete was successful.

Additionally, I added a plastic T-grip to fill in the undercut. It's not an original Tyler Grip. Ordering the official metal ones is sort of sketchy and I wish they would update the ordering process.

Additionally, I never did hear back from Smith and Wesson about the Master trigger job and if the Masterpiece has that level of treatment built in.

As part of the Big Ammo Test, I sat down at the Griffin Gun Club and tried 9 loads. I have the pictures but I feel as if I can do better. I forgot how far I set the target and I didn't measure the shot sizes. I also didn't run everything over a chronograph so I will be revisiting this soon. Below are the groups I shot that day.

Federal Champion 40 grain the Aguila High Velocity 40 grain

 

Eley HV Hollow Point 38 Gain and CCI Mini Mag 40 gr round nose 

Remginton SuperV 

The last time I tested ammo which was in the original article, I had different results. The CCI Mini Mags did pretty good. I had hoped the Eley HV Hollow Points had done better. They performed very well in a ballistic gel test and mushroomed nicely. I was wanting to be able to hunt with them. The Aguila did have some stringing but that could have been me. The new Remington SuperV load has been disappointing on all points. I have an article I'm working on for it but I want to get that test a better shake down but it won't be replacing my CCI Standard Velocity anytime soon. 

So far, the Smith and Wesson Model 17-9 Masterpiece has become a favorite of mine. I still have plenty of the Aguila Standard Velocity and Remington SuperV bulk box for plinking. I also had ordered around 300 rounds of the Eley HV and still plan to zero and carry the gun with those for now. Maybe I can try to small game hunt with it this fall.