OK, Maybe I'm a heretic. I wanted a top-break .38 Hammerless Safety 'snubby,' and with 'Bicycle' models being so expensive and rare I decided to make my own. With hundreds of thousands of this model produced I feel OK with this decision. With so many of them out there I'm not overly concerned with the 'collector value' of a sub- $200 gun.

I started with a 3-1/4" barreled stock gun in excellent mechanical condition with a near-pristine bore. The serial number indicates a date of manufacture likely around 1906

The first thing that I addressed were the grips. I love these guns but my hand doesn't fit the factory grips at all. To fix this I removed the original grips and made a custom grip with a more comfortable 'modern' profile. Yes, I saved the old grips.

Then I removed the front sight, shortened the barrel to 1-5/8" and remounted the front sight (though I staked it rather than trying to re-pin it.) I re-crowned the barrel and touched it up with Birchwood Casey Super-blue. You can see the result in the pictures.

[IMG][/IMG]
(Just noticed that for some reason you can't really see the front sight in this pic. It's there, trust me.)

The other day I took it to the local range and ran 50 rounds of Fiochi ammo through it. I absolutely love the way it shoots! The trigger is heavy but silky-smooth. The new grips provide a very secure and comfortable grip and the gun points very naturally. Although I had to compensate for the tall front sight it was easy to put the bullets where I wanted them at 7 yards. At the end of the evening I shot a 3-1/2" rapid-fire group at 7 yards, which honestly is about as good as I can manage with a J-Frame.

I never intended this as a carry gun, but I like it so well I find myself dropping it in a pocket when I go out to the workshop or around the property. I've also made and IWB holster for the gun to carry it more securely.

I do have a question for the forum- I also have a stock gun with Mother-of-Pearl grips in nickel. I've seen a picture of one of these guns with what appears to be a Tyler T-Grip mounted. This strikes me as a good compromise between shootability and maintaining originality. Would this be the same T-Grip as the 'old' J-Frame?

Photo ??
I can not find it

Welcome to the Forum. I have to admit that I have a couple of cut barrel pocket top breaks myself. I would not be able to bring myself to cut an original gun, but there are quite a few to be found at online auctions, so I bought a couple. Stocks are a personal choice, but if you cannot shoot the gun with the original ones, you had no choice. If you can shoot the gun with original stocks but accuracy suffered, that is another story, since you will not get much accuracy out of that cut barrel anyway. An alternative would be to pick up a set of reproduction black plastic target stocks for the 38 Safety. They will fit your butt-frame correctly and give you a better grip for the gun.

S & W Model 1891 Target Grips


Here are my cut barreled 38s along with an original 32 Bicycle Gun for size comparison.

Attached Images

P1010005.jpg (104.7 KB, 100 views)

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Gary
SWCA 2515

jimmyJ- I hope that you can see the photo now?

glowe- those are some nice guns! Sadly the target stocks don't address the issue, which is that my big, fat middle finger doesn't fit behind the trigger-guard properly. I can still shoot these guns, but comfort and accuracy suffer. I felt no compunctions about replacing the grips; this is reversible after all. I did take a good, deep breath before cutting the barrel.

As to accuracy at seven yards it hasn't suffered noticeably. The short sight radius magnifies errors so it takes more attention, but when I do my part the gun is shooting as well as it did before the conversion. At least at short range.

As mentioned I also have the MOP handled gun, as well as a .38 DA series 2 and a .32 DA series 4. These are all in pretty decent shape and will remain unmolested, unless I discover that I can add a T-grip to the Pearl-handled gun.

Anything is possible.

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Gary
SWCA 2515

Yes, I can view it now. Interesting revolver. I imagine a fellow would use that as a "Hide Out"

"..unless I discover that I can add a T-grip to the Pearl-handled gun.". The pearls are a bit fragile and are known to crack as are the original hard rubber. I recommend fitting more modern J frame wood to a .38 Safety Hammerless.

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Mike Maher #283

That would probably be my preference, but the wife is in love with the Pearl handles and would have a fit. Got to keep her happy; she's a keeper!

Hi Tinker.

I think you will find the Tyler for an "I" frame will be a better fit than a "J" frame model.

I really like that gun.

Thanks- I'll try that!