Rossi 518 vs. Taurus 9422 vs. S&W 617

[MatthewVanitas]

Greetings,
Now that I've been taking another shot at DA revo (after miserable failures w/ my SP101 and Colt PPS, both now sold), I'm considering getting a second piece a little more upscale than my H&R 622, cool though it is.

Taurus 9422: fired one once years ago, and seem to recall that it was cool, and 9 shots yet smaller than the S&W 617. No strong opinion either way.

Rossi 518: A local shop has one for $199. It seems to be about the size of an S&W 63, but that S&W gets scalpers' prices these days, over $500 IIRC. Seems a pretty good price for an adj sight SS J-frame revo, though it be made by Brasileiros.

S&W 617: I dig the 10-rounds, the wide variety of aftermarket grips. Not so keen on K-frame, as I have J-frame hands. I know it's a famous revo, but is it 2-3x better than Rossi?

The Rossi 518 has barely been covered on THR, so I thought this would make a good addition to the archives. Plus, inexpensive .22 revos have been getting some play on the board this week, so more=merrier. Thanks much,

-MV

 

[MCgunner]

My little Rossi M511 is one awesome shooter! I love that thing! The Smith would have a better DA trigger. Taurus? Nah, Rossi's as good and cheaper. If you're a round here, I'd let you shoot mine and that'd make your mind up.

 

[smooth operator]

I've got a 518. It's a nice gun. It's came with 2 sets of grips. I prefer the wood ones for looks.
Jerry

 

[Euclidean]

I too have a 518. I have a little bit of a soft spot for old Rossis (my favorite cheap gun) but some of them have issues. This one sure does.

It does just fine for about 8 cylinder's worth of ammunition, but pretty soon after that it starts to bind and gets real tough to cycle. It's kind of a rough trigger too, but for a little plinker it's just fine.

I think mine's just a bad specimen. I want to get a nice Smith and Wesson .22 revolver at some point but I can't justify the expense. The Rossi however gets along well enough.

 

[MatthewVanitas]

The people have spoken, and I have listened:

Went to the shop today, fondled a 4" 617 and a 4" 34. Though I dug the whole 10-round cylinder (ever so cool), I decided that the J-frame handiness won out. Unfortunately, they only had the blued model (34, with Herret grips and trigger shoe, $350 or so in Seattle), so I'm now holding out for a 63.

Since I don't want it for collector's value, I'm trying to find one _without_ the box, which should save me $30 or so. I'll be hunting for a few weeks. I've actually been pondering a 63 for a couple years now, after reading Jeff Quinn's stirring review: http://www.gunblast.com/little_big_gun.htm

I figure that little Rossi .22LR will eventually find its way into good hands; it's not like they're going to melt it down if I don't buy it.

Thanks for your advice, I'll keep my H&R for the bottom end, and pick up a S&W 63 rather than a Rossi. A little more cash, but I might as well splurge while I'm single.

-MV

 

[cookekdjr]

Matthew, you won't regret it.
-David