We have successfully grown cm(3)-size single crystals of the metallic-ferromagnet Sm2MO2O7 by the floating-zone method using an infrared image furnace. The growth difficulties and the remedies found using a 2-mirror image furnace are discussed. Magnetization studies along the three crystalline axes of the compound are presented and discussed based on our recent proposal of an ordered spin-ice ground state for this compound. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.