A few years ago, I purchased a S&W M10-5 that has an aftermarket/custom slab-side bull barrel. Since purchase, the gun has really just been sitting in the safe.

What I am wondering is, can I purchase a M10 S&W barrel and have it installed with out any problems?

Thanks.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: LOBO,

I've swapped barrels before with no problems, but depending what your current gun uses for a rear sight, theres might be a hole on top of the frame or it might leave marks. Maybe some sight ribs get attached to the frame and the barrel. Sounds like it might be a pretty cool gun to just leave alone.( or trade even up for a model 10 4" HB)

The gun had fixed sights from the factory.

Is there a way to tell if the gun came from the factory with a heavy barrel or the thin barrel?

Some where along the way a ball detent was added to the gun, and it was also made double-action only.

A trade might would be an idea. Here are some pics of the gun.

If you still have the rib for the gun, I'd put it back together and sell it to someone who wants to start shooting PPC. (as thats what it was built for) I also have a Model 10 PPC gun very similar to yours , but also have a model 10 4" HB that is better suited for carry and maybe IDPA shooting. One of my goals this season is to shoot at least one PPC match. I love trying new things! Maybe theres a match in your area!

Unfortunately, the gun didn't come with a rib. It came with a Weaver base and a red-dot.

Do you know what price range this gun might would sell for? Maybe I need to put it up for sale on this forum.

Someone put some money into this to make it a PPC gun - looks like they did a good job. I have no idea of what the price might be, but it looks like it would be a great gun for someone interested in starting PPC. One thing I might suggest would be to look at the barrel and shroud to see if there are any manufacturer marks. This might help you with pricing if you knew that it had a Douglas barrel, etc.

Good luck,

Dave

I believe the "heavy vented underlug" is going to be from Power Custom. They have one on their website that looks identical. The barrel looks like one on Clarks website.

From the frame contour, that pistol originally had a standard, tapered barrel. The holes in both frame and barrel are odd. Most of the guys who built heavy barrel guns while I was paying attention to such things, mounted the ribs on the barrel, not the frame.

You might look under the underlug for a stamp indicating the name of the smith who did the work. They're required by BATFE regs to mark the product with their name. Brownells used to sell both the barrel and underlugs. Looking at the trigger stop, it might be a garage special.

Whatever you decide to do, pop the sideplate off and make damn sure there's a hammer block in the action. Some idiots remove it to "improve the trigger action". The part's cheap and it's a drop in fit and MUCH cheaper than finding yourself responsible for someones injury.

Thanks for all the information fellas.

I was hoping to put a "factory" barrel back on the gun and have a good paper & steel puncher. I have found an all factory gun to replace this one. I'm just going to stick this one back in the safe.