I think it's finished!

[coolhandluke]

If he ever gets another junker M19 frame he wants to get rid of, cheap, I would be interested. My father gave me an old 19-3 with a screwed up frame before he passed and I would like to build a working revolver out of it.

Will do Rick. I'll be sure to give you a heads up if either of us ever runs across another serviceable .357 K frame. Unfortunately the frames are the toughest parts to find.

 

[coolhandluke]

Very nice. How is it for reliability with that light trigger? I've heard that Randy Lee himself can get them reliable at uber low ridiculous weights, but I think he has some voodoo ritual he does to make it happen. My slicked up pre-lock 17 is too iffy for me at 8.5lbs but it doesn't have his hammer in it either. When I get it back to the range I'm going to have to straighten the spring a bit.

Ignition was not 100% reliable at 7 lbs so I cut a new strain screw that gives me a weight slightly over 7.5 lbs. I haven't tested it at the slightly higher weight yet. I honestly haven't seen any 617's run reliably at sub-7 lb, but I also haven't seen anything worked over by Randy himself. The mass driver hammer is a little strange feeling. With the rotational mass being moved higher up on the hammer, it definitely feels like it is slower to cycle. They are not a fast cycling hammer like their centerfire counterparts.

 

[coolhandluke]

My brother just finished cutting the forcing cone on his 617 and testing it out at the range this evening. You can cover groups with a dime at 15 yards and thankfully there are no issues with leading or bullet strike on the comp. Fouling patterns on the forcing cone look as they should as well. I'm beyond impressed considering this was virgin territory and everything was cut perfectly on the first attempt.

 

[Shadowrider]

Ignition was not 100% reliable at 7 lbs so I cut a new strain screw that gives me a weight slightly over 7.5 lbs. I haven't tested it at the slightly higher weight yet. I honestly haven't seen any 617's run reliably at sub-7 lb, but I also have seen anything worked over by Randy himself. The mass driver hammer is a little strange feeling. With the rotational mass being moved higher up on the hammer, it definitely feels like it is slower to cycle. They are not a fast cycling hammer like their centerfire counterparts.

Being rimfire mandates that. They are just a different animal from the CF guns. He put the mass out about as far from the pivot point as he could which is where we prefer to take it off of the CF hammers. That just doesn't work on RF hammers. I've never handled a piece of his personal work either and his wait time is epic last I checked. He seems to do things with them that nobody else can from the scuttlebutt.

 

[coolhandluke]

He put 650 rounds through the lightweight 617 build today and she runs flawlessly.

Having issues imbedding the Imgur video file, so here's the direct link: https://i.imgur.com/2jOMzW5h.mp4

 

[dlbleak]

That thing is pretty radical. Fine work.

 

[druryj]

Dayyum. Now that is some serious stuff there.

 

[beastep]

Your gun looks real nice. I shot your brothers 22 after the steel challenge the other day. Pretty sweet. It would help if I could get used to a revolver trigger and quit short stroking it though.

 

[surjimmy]

I'll bet that is a Hoot to shoot.