I'd always wondered how well I would like one of these if was shortened to 4". Since this one had already been re-blued I asked a gunsmith to shorten it to 4" and install a Baughman front sight with red ramp. I am very happy with his work, this has become my almost daily carry, often in a bag. I have a vintage Lawrence holster that fits it perfectly.

That's nice! I gave my dad a Brazilian for his birthday and the first thing he said was he loved it. The 2nd thing was, he'd like it better as a 4" so my son and I quickly bobbed it for him and soldered the original sight back on.

He had a similar gap bwtween the back strap and upper back of the grips. He carefully filed the rear side of the grip medallion washer a bit on the back of the grips, which allowed them to pivot back just enough to eliminate the gap.

__________________
Jim
S&WCA #819

Thanks for posting! That looks like it means business.

Looks GREAT! Tell us about that rear sight??

Yes it does.

__________________
John
S&WCA Life Member

That looks great, and very functional...
I have always liked the idea of a .45 ACP revolver.

But I hav a few .44 Specials now, so I'm happy .

__________________
Liberals made the USA

My wife told me the other day that she was getting me a Brazilian and I didn't even know she knew where the gun store was.

__________________
James Redfield
LM #497

Isn't the front sight forged as part of the barrel? If so, how can it be removed and soldered back on? Can you post a photograph of this, please?

Thank you.

It's purty simple really, mill the bottom sight base and radius
(concaved) to fit the shortened barred diameter and solder.



.

__________________
"IN GOD WE TRUST"

Sounds as though you may have some "wax" involved in your near future.

__________________
wanna do right-- not right now

Google "Wonder Sight".

That is a Wondersight, they have been around since the 30's, I believe the current owner is the third in line. He also sells screws for just about anything, I bought a set of screws from him for a 5-screw Smith, they are very nice.
The gunsmith made that front sight on his mill from bar stock, contoured for the barrel and soldered it back on. He goes to a little more trouble than most when it comes to the red dot, he mills in the dovetail, then drills some holes down into the sight, pours in the color of your choice, then cleans up everything. I am very happy with the results. He also set it up with a tall enough front blade to give me plenty of elevation adjustment, the original had been filed down too short for my sight of aim preference.

Pretty darn neat package you have there! Nothing like bringing 1 back to life. Bob

The 4" tapered barrel is a great addition to a 45 ACP. I have a few of them. Here are the 1917s.

Kevin

Attached Images

006 - Copy.jpg (102.1 KB, 91 views)

__________________
Unshared knowledge is wasted.

You learn something new on this forum everyday. I have several pairs of those Herrett stocks and all seem to exhibit that same problem with fit. Now I'll use one pair as a Guinea Pig and see how it works out. Thanks for sharing the tip.

P.S. The second sentence of your post made me giggle like a 13 year old.

__________________
Join the NRA today

Many years ago, in a land far away, my PD went through our inventory of guns that had been found, seized, turned in, etc, and allowed officers to check them out for duty use, off duty use, and practice. Over the years, I checked out several good guns. One was a nickel plated S&W 1917. Someone had also gold plated the hammer, trigger and cylinder release.

I stripped off the gold, cut the barrel to 4" and fitted a post war N frame adjustable rear sight. I carried it as my duty gun for about a year. I also carried a stock Colt 1917 for a while. Shot 59/60 on our qualification with that Colt.

I forget that I also had a Ruger Blackhawk ramp front sight added as well. It gave a good sight picture.

__________________
John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Thanks to those that like what I did. I'm very happy with the job and am very confident with the little revolver's ability. Having carried a 1911 for years I much prefer the 4" revolver. I think if I was going into a war I might prefer my HK USP Tactical .45 for its much higher degree of firepower and tactical ability, but for my day to day real life knock around use I like the little Brazilian, its a class act. My 4.5" model 25-2 will outshoot it, but then so will my Pre-Model 25 Heavy Barrel Model of 1955 with its 6.5" barrel. Neither one are more suited to day to day use, they each have their function.

Erik Olen who does reworking of bullet molds for cast bullet shooters I believe has the info regarding the wonder sight on his website. You may have to google the name but seem to remember Hollowpoint.com as a address. But think google will be the best way to find him. I bought one for my Brazilian and they include the extra long screw to replace the screw on the revolver. Frank

I didn't finish my earlier post. Added this sentence:

I forget that I also had a Ruger Blackhawk ramp front sight added as well. It gave a good sight picture.

And I round butted it.

__________________
John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

You have a great looking gun there! Were it mine, I'd stick a set of stags and a T-grip on it.....go full boat old school!

__________________
Even older, even crankier....

If it weren't for the fact that my fingers are so dang long I would go that kind of route. I have a birth year Outdoorsman that came with magnas and a Tyler grip, just doesn't fit my hand the way full size smooth targets do. I've got a set of diamond checkered targets coming from Mr. Culinga, if they fit my hand the way the last set of his targets did on my 629 Mountain Revolver, they may find their way onto this little pistol.