Approx 2 months ago I posted that I bought..
what appears to be a registered magnum cylinder off of a gunbroker ad..
So yesterday with a lot of tracking and follow
up...Our post office finally delivered my MO
Payment to the seller and the seller finally sent
the cylinder to me.
The cylinder is in pretty good shape. It is a recessed 38 caliber cylinder. It does have the
factory serial number marked # 46310..
So I'd like the help of our learned members
to help me ascertain if this is a reg magnum
cylinder ..and any information on its history..
year made.. and any provenance info about it.
My good buddy daddio202 helped me out
on aquiring it. One comedic thought would be to have it fitted to my recently aguired pre war
outdoorsman I just did a post about to have a reg magnum 357 capable step child..being the closest I'll come to having a real registered magnum😁..
Thanks very much on any help you can provide
about this cylinder.. The Cylinder Pics😊😊..

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" The cylinder is in pretty good shape. It is a recessed 38 caliber cylinder. It does have the
factory serial number marked # 46310.."

Have you tried to place a .357 round in the cylinder? You state that it is a .38 cal. cylinder, the Registered Magnum is .357 not .38 cal.

Hope this helps.

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SWCA #2306
DAV in honor of POP

Well, I'm no expert but I have a couple of observations. The SN is at the low end of the Reg. Mag. range which began with 45756. That would seem to indicate it shipped in 1935 but I don't know the rate at which these expensive guns were made and the SN range was shared with the .44 caliber guns. So, 1935 or 36 is my SWAG.


Is the cylinder 1.62" in length and does it chamber a .357 Mag cartridge? If so, it almost certainly has to be a Reg. Mag. cylinder since it has the recessed chambers.


Anyway, those are my thoughts on it. I'm interested to see where you go with this.

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Guy
SWHF #474 SWCA LM#2629

Looking at the cylinder you can see recesses. I am nor registered magnum or pre war anything expert, but I don't know of anything else that early with recesses except 22s. If you reamed a 38special cylinder to 357 you would not recess it as its rim needs to stay at original location. Were any of the HD type cylinders ever recessed??

Serial number 46310 is listed in the S&WCA Database as a Registered Magnum Reg# 176.....

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Terry Lester

Wonder what happened to the gun?

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No life story has happy end.

About all I've "learned" around here is to keep my mouth shut. ... But ...
You didn't buy it to just let it sit, so I don't think that bold text idea is comedic at all. I would just think that since this cylinder is recessed, it is slightly longer than the OD's cylinder and thus some alteration of the forcing cone / barrel would be required(?) If so, there goes the originality of the OD.

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You're shy a few manners.

Wouldn't it be great to know that? Maybe someone had it converted to .44 Mag during the Dirty Harry craze?

If the cylinder is any indication of the gun's overall condition, it must have been a fine one. I don't even see much of a ring!

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You're shy a few manners.

I’ve got an RM barrel. Maybe we can assemble an RM piece by piece. A Registered Frankengun! Dave

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Illegitimi non carborundum

Perhaps Ed Cornett or Kevin Williams (who entered the data into the system) can recall.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Just as a point of reference RM# 379 Serial # 46387 was shipped August 27th 1936.

As Mr. Jinks would say

" I hope this helps. "

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SWCA #2306
DAV in honor of POP

The cylinder would be longer on the back end, not the front. The cylinder lug would have to be altered.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

The cylinder on RM 46310, damaged by the firing pin, was replaced by S&W in November 1965. Someone later sold or gave the replaced cylinder away as old parts were usually returned with the gun.

Bill

And just as yet another point of reference to help you understand S&W's system (s)----or lack thereof, RM #643 Serial# 47121 was shipped December 19, 1935-----------to be delivered to Frantziuz Sporting Goods located in Chicago, Illinois.

Note: Extra prize points will be awarded to any and all who can correctly pronounce Frantziuz----unless your name is Frantziuz---in which case you're automatically disqualified.

Ralph Tremaine

I think we are seeing the damage done by the firing pin. I wonder why it only occurred in three places.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Hello Guys
Thanks for all the comments and info provided
so far!!
I bought the cylinder as more of a neat curiousity more than anything..Seeing the
early ser# ed recessed cylinder.
I dont have any plans concerning doing anything to my new to me outdoorsman.
I did do the 357 shell insertion. Its def an early
357 cylinder by the insertion and extraction test. It looks as if the firing pin drag lines could
be carefully repaired. Im sure S&W did the sensable repairs replacing the cylinder and other repairs needed at that time.
As I mentioned..My closest I'll have with a Registered Magnum😁😁 A few more Pics😁

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I would think that the current owner of that particular registered magnum would be benefited to own the original cylinder as an aside. Doesn't that make the original revolver a bit more appreciated?

Get the word out !

It is pronounced "Frantziuz" OK Ralph, what do I win???

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James Redfield
LM #497

38-44 cylinders were not recessed so are shorter "at the rear" than 357 mag cylinders (until SW stopped recessing 357 mag cylinders in the 1980's)
The .357 cylinder is longer at the rear to compensate for the recessed chambers, but both 38-44 and recessed 357 mag cylinders position the cartridge case head in the exact same position so that the firing pin strikes the primer perfect.
Besides minor fitting the pre war 38-44 and 357 mag cylinders should fit eachother

The extra length for the recesses is in the rear. Just adjust the frame lug and it may go. Then again you never know just what might have to get a minor adjustment when switching cylinders

I am amazed that the info from the SWCA was so complete. Good deal...........

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dd884
JMHO-YMMV

Now that's funny, I don't care who you are.

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Charlie

RM sn.46459 reg.260 was shipped July 1935. Also an 8 3/4" barrel


Richard

The N frame .357 Magnum and 38/44 cylinders will interchange as they are the same length at the front, the difference at the rear is not an issue since the case head is positioned in the exact same place ( the 38/44 cylinder is the same length as the later 27-3 and up non recessed .357 cylinders ).

On a side note I acquired a 4" RM barrel years ago and fit it to an early post war 38-44 OD.
LOVE that gun, the fact that it has a non recessed cylinder and so only fires .38 special makes no difference to me.

The part that amazed me was that they could tell the OP the cylinder had been replaced and the original had firing pin damage................

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dd884
JMHO-YMMV

Don't you think the .357 cylinder is going to hit the cylinder lug that is pressed into frame because the .357 cylinder is longer than a .38 cylinder, due to having the recesses for the case heads?

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

It might....there is a little bit of play there but it just might...
If I was determined to fit the longer cylinder I'd first size up how hard it would be to remove just enough off the front of the lug to allow it to clear the longer cylinder, if it was too much I'd abort the swap.

(Not sure if it would work but don’t see why not.)

In an early Gun Digest, there was an article a out fitting a 45 long Colt cylinder to a Model 117 for a dual cartridge revelover. One of the things they did was turn about .005” step off the rear face of the cylinder to clear the lug. The lug remained intact and functioned with both cylinders. Worth a thought anyway.

Kevin

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Unshared knowledge is wasted.

It may be my old eyes or it might be my monitor but the raised pieces on the extractor star (not sure what they are called) do not look all the same. If you look at photo #4 the "lug" at 5 o'clock looks to be a different shape from the rest.

Since the firing pin damage that shows up at the seam of the star and cylinder would suggest a timing issue, I wonder if it has anything to do with the misshaped "lugs".

I am not a gunsmith and don't play one on TV. Just making an observation. Since I am more a student of the history and not the mechanics of firearms, I will leave this to folks above my pay grade to examine.

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James Redfield
LM #497

If the rounds properly chamber, and the extractor star doesn't get hung up on a burr when it's pushed back, the damage looks to be more cosmetic than functional. If you've got a N frame .357, put it on the gun and see how it times, and if it rubs at the FC or breech end.

Otherwise, mount it face down on a block of wood and make a pencil holder out of it..

It is not difficult at all, just time consuming. You just need a small flat file with one face safed (teeth ground off). Then put tape on the frame around lug and use the side of file to take back the lug about .06. I have put several recessed cylinders in guns that were originally non recessed. Both K frames and N frames.
a recessed 44 mag cylinder reamed to 45 colt and fit in a 25-5 with the barrel cut to 5"


A recessed model 19 cylinder fit in a model 10 frame with a Python barrel

I like the Model 10/19/Python! That will be fun for experts to figure out in 100 years. Now if you could just get a Ruger DA hammer to fit the frame somehow.....

.....

Robert

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Robert
SWCA #2906, SWHF #760