The "I converted my 28 to___ caliber" thread

sheriffoconee · #1 12-20-2009, 01:16 AM

In spite of the fact I may well receive the usual "why bother, it's cheaper to buy it yourself" replies, I am interested in converted 28's (or 27's for that matter) that are now another caliber, moonclip capable, etc....
Who did the work?? Happy with it??
Pics are a HUGE plus...
I have seen several threads where this was discussed, but never all in one place.
I have a "transition" Model 28 (no pin, recessed) that seems right for the project....
Post 'em if you got 'em

BUFF · #2 12-20-2009, 02:28 AM

I started buying guns and shooting in 1974. I got interested in owning some handguns and picked up a copy of SHOOTING TIMES magazine with a big Skeeter Skelton article. He sang the praises of the .44 Special. I decided I needed one and eventually bought a couple of Charter Arms Bulldogs. Skeeter had said they were a great concept but didn't fill the need for a field gun in .44 Special, and he was right.

I began looking for a S&W .44 Special but none were to be had. Skelton had mentioned converting N frame .38's and .357 Magnums, and I decided to go that route.

I bought a NIB 4 inch Model 28-2 at Wolfes, a local sporting goods chain that is sadly gone now, for list price of about $163.00 with sales tax.

I found a new S&W .44 barrel at J&G Rifle Ranch, then in Montana. I then began to save my pennies and searched for a gunsmith.

Locals strongly recommended a fellow named Robert Ballard. He had worked at S&W and a number of other arms firms and had been a civilian armorer for a federal law enforcement agency in Virginia before moving to the west.

I explained what I wanted to him. He said he had done the job before and showed me another S&W he was in the process of converting to .45 Colt. I left him the gun, barrel and a box of .44 Special handloads I had assembled with Speer's 240 gr. semijacketed softpoint (looks like a SWC with a jacket over the lower half of the bullet body) and 7.5 grains of Unique.

He called a few weeks later, or, more likely, I kept calling him with "Is it done yet?" I was impressed with what he did.

Robert had taken the new barrel and thinned the rib on top to meet up with the contours of the front of the Highway Patrolman's topstrap before fitting it. He had refaced the rear of the .357 cylinder to eliminate the counterbore. I asked about that and he said, "S&W .44 Specials were never counterbored." The cylinder was rechambered and the walls of each chamber were smooth. He had then done some polishing of the frame and reblued the whole gun, so the finish matched. It was obviously a lot of work for the price!

The work was tremendous. I was ecstatic for a while. Then I noticed that the chambers had been cut not for the requested .44 Special but for the longer.44 Magnum!

I asked about that. He shrugged and said that .44 Special brass was a lot harder to find! I asked if it was dangerous that someone might shoot .44 Magnums in the converted gun. He said, no, the cylinder diameter of both factory guns were the same, the steel and heat treatment of the .357 and .44 Magnums was the same, and it would be fine.

I shot that gun a lot for the next few years. It shot more accurately than I could hold it. I learned bullet casting specifically for that gun. It was my house gun for a long time.

I was so happy with how the job turned out that I began buying the stuff for my next project. I wanted a S&W double action .45 Colt, and ordered a new 1955 Target barrel from J&G. I picked up a NIB Model 58, as Skelton said the longer .41 and .44 Magnum cylinders were better for .45 Colt handloads. I bought an N frame adjustable rear sight assembly. I began saving the gunsmithing fee while shooting the M-58 as is. College students take a long time to save up any sigificant money!

Luckily, S&W introduced the 125th Anniversary Model 25-3 before I got there. I bought one of those and saved the M-58 (still have it).

Sadly, neither the ersatz 1950 .44 Special or Robert Ballard are around today. He died an ugly death from cancer a few years later. When the Model 24-3 1950 Target "reintroduction" came along in the early 1980's, I bought one of those and sold my converted gun.

I wish I still had it. I wish Robert Ballard was still with us, too.

BUFF · #3 12-20-2009, 02:36 AM

Blathering on, I don't see anything wrong with taking a Model 27 or 28 and making it into something else. These are not rare or scarce handguns. If you want something specific that S&W didn't make, or you can't find what you want because originals are scarce, have at it. Guns are tools, not religious icons.

Cutting up scarce guns may be more controversial. I still say, as long as you are doing it for your needs or tastes, and realize you won't ever get your money out of it if you sell it, fine. People do the same thing to cars, boats and motorcycles all the time, usually involving a lot more money than customizing a handgun.

sheriffoconee · #4 12-20-2009, 04:00 PM

Thanks Buff. I agree, M28's and 27's aren't exactly heirloom pieces with few exceptions.
I too have wanted a big bore N frame. I have had this M28 for years, and I am exceptionally pleased with it, except caliber. It's well worn, been with me many a long day and night.
My druthers is to have it in 44 Spl, cause, like you, my first .44 was the Charter Arms Bulldog....

jimmyj · #5 12-20-2009, 04:43 PM

Hi:
In the late 1970s I had several Model 28s converted to .44mag and .45acp.
In that era Smith and Wesson had repair centers in various parts of the country.
My conversions were all done at one such repair center. Switching the barrel and cylinder were the order of the day. This practice was never a OK with the factory. This ended when someone sent a "Conversion" back to the factory for some reason and the factory wised up to what was being done at the repair centers.
I still have these conversions. Never a problem.
Jimmy

Muley Gil · #6 12-20-2009, 04:46 PM

In 1976, after reading Skeeter's articles on converting .357s into .44 Specials and .45 Colts, I bought a used M27 and a new 1950 .44 Special barrel from J&G Rifle. I took the package to Ralph Walker of Walker Arms in Selma, Alabama. I requested that the cylinder be rechambered, and the barrel installed and cut to 5".

After being told the work was complete, I drove over and found the cylinder rechambered, still with the counterbore, the barrel installed, but still at 6 1/2". Being a poor college student/full-time sheriff's deputy, plus being impatient, I took it home and carried it for several years in my law enforcement duties. The barrel was satin and the frame was bright, with a few freckles.

I installed a target hammer and trigger. I reduced the width of the trigger and smoothed off the serrations. I did an action job and cut the Patridge front sight to a ramp. It shot great with 7.5 grains of Unique under a cast 245 grain Keith bullet or the Speer 225 half jacketed SWC.

It got shot a lot.

After several years, I started carrying other guns for duty and the conversion got set aside.

In 2005, I took the M27 to David Clements and had the barrel cut to 5", a ramp front sight installed, and had it reblued.

It has a permenant spot in the safe.

sheriffoconee · #7 12-20-2009, 06:38 PM

That's a beautiful piece MuleyGil...

Jimmyj, I had heard that about the S&W repair centers. I remember when they were around as well...they did some work on my first M66 back in the day...

keith44spl · #8 12-20-2009, 06:47 PM

Well, everyone around these parts know my affection for the 'N' frame platform for the larger diameter bore cartirdges, i.e. the .44 Spl and the .45 Long Colt. I build myself one every once in awhile...Maybe like this one,

N frame Conversion ~ .45 Long Colt & 45 ACP Now

as well as others in .44 Spl or .45 ACP.

Su Amigo,
Dave

sheriffoconee · #9 12-20-2009, 07:10 PM

keith44spl,
your conversion came up in my search here. Amazing work, as evidenced by the groups your conversions shoot.
I may have missed it somewhere in your linked post, but you had the 28 barrel rebored, right?? Do it yourself, or have it done??

ddixie884 · #10 12-20-2009, 11:10 PM

Back when the Skeeter articles came out, I was very interested in some big bore S&Ws. I ordered a new M-57 from J&G when they were still in Kerrville, and sent it off to some smith in a magazine. The 1955 barrel matched the rib and the finish. A friend of mine still owns it. Someone had a bunch of GSP 28s in Shotgun news and I ordered some of them. David Woodruff was relining barrels and doing conversions, and for a while I had a 38-40. I also had a 28 barrel relined in Nebraska and a cylinder rerchambered to .45 colt, and a 1955 cylinder fitted into a convertable. This was long before you could buy a non mag N-frame from S&W. I seem to recall that buying 5 at a time, I gave $122.95 for the 28s some had thin finishes, and some were reblued. one had the deepest darkest blue job I ever saw, but was buffed nearly beyond recognition.

Cyrano · #11 12-20-2009, 11:37 PM

I had a Model 28 converted to 38-40. The 'Why 38-40" is a long story. I have my great-grandfather's deer rifle: a Colt Lightning in 38-40. One of my earliest memories is of my father holding it up to my shoulder when I was about 4; it was much too heavy for me to hold. It's a lovely gun: octagon barrel, Beard front sight, tang peep, fancy wood pistol grip stock with a 50 cent piece as the grip cap. It's in really nice shape for an 1880s rifle. I've shot it a lot but it's too valuable to shoot now.

I wanted a 38-40 revolver to go with it. I had a Colt New Service, but it didn't shoot to point of aim, and I wanted a modern revolver with adjustable sights. I got a 28 at a local gun show just after S&W discontinued them: pinned and recessed, and sent it off to Bowen Classic Arms. It's a real tack driver, and there's an element of serendipty: if it's sighted in for 25 yds, one complete turn of the elevation screw and it's on target at 100 yds.

I'm more than happy with it but I had some difficulties with it. Bowen re-marked the barrel '38-40 WCF' but the blueing turned out somewhat plum, and doesn't match the rest of the gun. The headspace was VERY tight; it would accept factory loads OK but I had trouble with handloads. Bowen didn't want to mess further with it. I avoided most of the troubles by getting a large size primer pocket uniformer, and working over all my primer pockets. The uniformer is for rifle primers, so I can seat the primers low enough they won't bind the cylinder rotation. For some reason Bowen coned the front of the ejector rod so it took cookie-cutter pieces out of your hand if you had to use any force in ejection. I installed a new front half of the ejector rod.

I installed a target hammer and trigger. These are NOT drop-in installations, and I was tearing my hair for a while but finally got them right. It has Herrett stocks and lives in an El Paso Saddlery holster; it's traveled a few miles on my side out in the desert and it is a joy to shoot.

BUFF · #12 12-21-2009, 02:56 AM

Not a Model 28 conversion, but one time it looked like I was going to have to carry a .38 Special revolver at work. I thought that would be a death trap! We would be allowed to carry almost any "commercially produced" .38 Special ammo in it.

I knew of a custom loader that would load the Skeeter Skelton .38/.357 round if I supplied the cast, sized, gaschecked bullets. It featured the lead hollowpoint bullet seated to the lower of 2 crimping grooves over 13.5 grains of H-2400 in .38 Special casings. About 150 grains of bullet at 1,200 fps.

I needed a .38-44 Smith & Wesson to shoot it in. These were pre-internet days. I wanted an Outdoorsman because the adjustable sights are bigger, blockier and much faster to pick up. I had never seen one for sale. I scoured every gun, pawn and sporting goods shop within 100 miles. All I found was a model-marked Heavy Duty. It had already been butchered, the barrel cut down to 3-1/2 inches, or so, and a bizzare front sight soldered on. The blue had been either chemically removed or carefully polished off most of it. The action was smooth and solid, the cylinder's chambers were fine and I bought it cheap.

My department disallowed customized guns; they had to be factory. I knew a gunsmith that could help me make it look factory.

I had bought a number of new S&W barrels from J&G Rifle Ranch, in Turner, Montana at the time. One was a pristine 6-1/2 inch Outdoorsman barrel. I took the new barrel, the disfigured Model 20 sixgun, a new rear sight assembly and a few other parts to the gunsmith and explained what I wanted.

He cut the new barrel to 5 inches and fit a new ramped front sight and base. He milled out the topstrap of the frame so it looked like the adjustable sight was born there, even cutting the striations at the front of the cut so they lined up with the striations on the rear sight body and barrel rib. He went through the action and put in a new hammer and trigger I furnished. He then had another local 'smith polish and blue it to a deep dark color you would swear it was done in Springfield.

It was a near-twin in looks and heft to my 5 inch Model 27. I already had leather and speedloaders for it.

The gunsmith, who had worked at S&W years earlier, was proud of his handiwork but cautioned me. "The Outdoorsman, like all the S&W target sighted revolvers, has grooves on the frame's frontstrap and backstrap. Fixed sight guns like this heavy Duty are smooth there. I can't cut them right now, but otherwise it should pass muster."

I was ready for the new department policy and qualified with the gun and ammo. The new policy, though, got sidetracked and never put into force. We kept our .357's. I think it was because too many deputies that were carrying their personally-owned .357's decided that they would just have the department issue them a .38, the department didn't own anywhere near that many guns and didn't want to spend cash money to buy them. So they left well enough alone.

I sold the ersatz Outdoorsman at about a $100 loss. It stung but I really thought I would never want a .38 that big!

st regis · #13 12-21-2009, 12:33 PM

I have been debating with myself about whether to convert a 520 to 44 special. That would be a great combo, I think. Sort of a skinny barrel 58 but in 44 special.

LMLarsen · #14 12-21-2009, 01:30 PM

About 25 years ago, I bought a 6" P&R M27 from an old friend. Wouldn't hit the side of a barn from the inside, so I stuck it in my safe and life went on; didn't want to get rid of it since it was a friend's.

About fifteen years later, I ran across a recessed M57 cylinder and nicely-chopped 5" pinned M57 barrel. Light bulb appeared over my head, right there at the gunshow.

I took the parts and my 27 to Sandy Garrett (Northern Virginia Gun Works) and he assembled them, timed everything, and gave it back, asking me to fire it and make sure it shot to my satisfaction, then he'd polish and reblue it. It now shoots like a laser and locks like a vault, but life happened, I moved out of town, and never got it back to him.

Fast-forward to a couple of years ago, when a friend graduated from the Colorado School of Trades as a gunsmith. I sent him my custom hybrid to polish and reblue; below is what he sent back to me.

He also added a crane ball lock and polished the serrations off the target trigger. Now it looks and feels every bit as good as it shoots!

29aholic · #15 12-21-2009, 03:47 PM

I have started several times to convert a 28 to 357-44 Bain and Davis, but I would do it with an extra cylinder so I could keep the gun original

Duke426 · #16 12-21-2009, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LMLarsen

About 25 years ago, I bought a 6" P&R M27 from an old friend. Wouldn't hit the side of a barn from the inside, so I stuck it in my safe and life went on; didn't want to get rid of it since it was a friend's.

About fifteen years later, I ran across a recessed M57 cylinder and nicely-chopped 5" pinned M57 barrel. Light bulb appeared over my head, right there at the gunshow.

I took the parts and my 27 to Sandy Garrett (Northern Virginia Gun Works) and he assembled them, timed everything, and gave it back, asking me to fire it and make sure it shot to my satisfaction, then he'd polish and reblue it. It now shoots like a laser and locks like a vault, but life happened, I moved out of town, and never got it back to him.

Fast-forward to a couple of years ago, when a friend graduated from the Colorado School of Trades as a gunsmith. I sent him my custom hybrid to polish and reblue; below is what he sent back to me.

He also added a crane ball lock and polished the serrations off the target trigger. Now it looks and feels every bit as good as it shoots!

WOW!! Absolutely beautiful.

sheriffoconee · #17 12-21-2009, 07:01 PM

Great posts....that is a beautiful revolver you have there....

keith44spl · #18 12-21-2009, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sheriffoconee

keith44spl,
your conversion came up in my search here. Amazing work, as evidenced by the groups your conversions shoot.
I may have missed it somewhere in your linked post, but you had the 28 barrel rebored, right?? Do it yourself, or have it done??

Sir, I had a 3 1/2" M27 barrel re-bored and rifled by an outfit in WA state.

I have had good luck with several N frame converted revolvers over the years...Everyone has saw my favorite Model 27 in .44 Special built back in the '70s, so just for your thread here it is again,

38-44 Heavy Duty now a .44Spl.

Model 27 in .44

An N frame .357 now staring in .45 ACP and Long Colt,

I don't fancy myself a fine revolver collector, just a user...

Su Amigo,
Dave

LAH · #19 12-21-2009, 09:23 PM

Skeeter got me also. Sent my 28-2 [$128.50] to his gunsmith Bob S. at MMC, Deming, NM with a 1950 Target barrel [$29.50] from J&G Rifle Ranch, Turner, Mt. To make a long story short, here it is.

LAH · #20 12-21-2009, 09:28 PM

Dave the Model 27 in .44 appears to have a long cylinder like a 57 or 29. Is it so?................Creeker

sheriffoconee · #21 12-21-2009, 10:24 PM

Keith44, that 38-44 HD you converted to 44 looks parkerized from here....
I do admire those revolvers....I suspect that HD conversion is easy to carry as well

keith44spl · #22 12-21-2009, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sheriffoconee

Keith44, that 38-44 HD you converted to 44 looks parkerized from here....
I do admire those revolvers....I suspect that HD conversion is easy to carry as well

Sir,
The HD has a soft glassbead and black oxide finish, it does carry and shoot well.

*************************************************************

LAH,
Yeah, the converted 5" revolver pictured does have a 29 cylinder and a 1950 .44 Special barrel.

Su Amigo,
Dave

sheriffoconee · #23 12-21-2009, 10:51 PM

thanks Dave, I like the finish....

Leonard · #24 12-22-2009, 08:40 AM

Andy Horvath converted this 27 a couple of years back

Tom K · #25 12-22-2009, 12:28 PM

I didn't have the conversion done - I picked up the gun at a gun show already converted, with an extra stainless .45ACP cylinder. It was somewhat doggy looking, so I sent it off the S&W for a standard polish and reblue. http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-rev...5-12-pics.html Unfortunately after getting it back, the ACP cylinder no longer fits - apparently they did some mechanical work in the process.

The Model 28 is not the best for a straight .45 Colt ream and rechamber conversion, as the cylinder is somewhat short. I have some .45 Colt ammo with long bullets that stick out past the end of the cylinder.

Here are a couple of before/after pictures of the refinish:

Gary · #26 12-22-2009, 03:21 PM

I always wanted one of these. I have an early post war 4" Heavy Duty that I thought about converting but since it is in 95%+ condition I decided to leave it like it is. One of these days I will stumble across one or a suitable doaner gun.

BUFF · #27 12-22-2009, 05:31 PM

The shorter cylinder of the .38-44 and Highway Patrolman can be a problem for handloaders when rechambered for the .45 Colt.

My favorite .45 Colt handload is the Lyman 454424 255 grain SWC over 8.5 grains of Unique, usually in a W-W case. This is just a bit too long for the Model 25-3 commemorative and the rechambered .35 caliber guns. You can deal with that several ways, such as seating the bullet a bit deeper and crimping OVER the front driving band, or trimming some length off of the case. I forget how much is required and I'm not home to look it up, but I shortened 100 rounds of .45 Colt brass the required amount and have loaded and shot them several times. You need to keep an eye on bullet creep and use a good, firm roll crimp if you do this.

All standard factory .45 Colt ammo will work with the rechambered cylinders, as will most bullets under 260 grains used to handload the round.

I don't handload this round "hot," I don't load any 260+ grain bullets and I don't have any troubles.

Buford57 · #28 12-24-2009, 01:32 PM

Not my gun, so no pictures, but a local shop has a M28 with a 25-2 Barrel and cylinder installed. When I first saw it in the case with a $595 price tag, I asked to see it. In hand, it was clear the finish and rib width didn't match.

I gave this shop $375 for a clean S-numbered 6" 28-2 earlier this year and would have taken the plunge on a clean 25-2 for $595. but somehow the conversion didn't seem worth it. Am I being unreasonable?

keith44spl · #29 12-24-2009, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BUFF

The shorter cylinder of the .38-44 and Highway Patrolman can be a problem for handloaders when rechambered for the .45 Colt.

My favorite .45 Colt handload is the Lyman 454424 255 grain SWC over 8.5 grains of Unique, usually in a W-W case. This is just a bit too long for the Model 25-3 commemorative and the rechambered .35 caliber guns. You can deal with that several ways, such as seating the bullet a bit deeper and crimping OVER the front driving band, or trimming some length off of the case. I forget how much is required and I'm not home to look it up, but I shortened 100 rounds of .45 Colt brass the required amount and have loaded and shot them several times. You need to keep an eye on bullet creep and use a good, firm roll crimp if you do this.

All standard factory .45 Colt ammo will work with the rechambered cylinders, as will most bullets under 260 grains used to handload the round.

I don't handload this round "hot," I don't load any 260+ grain bullets and I don't have any troubles.

+1

Buff,
I'm thinkin' about building a 4 inch fixed sighted N frame in .45 Long Colt using a longer model 29 c'bored cyl. Maybe this winter.

Su Amigo,
Dave

BUFF · #30 12-24-2009, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keith44spl

+1

Buff,
I'm thinkin' about building a 4 inch fixed sighted N frame in .45 Long Colt using a longer model 29 c'bored cyl. Maybe this winter.

Su Amigo,
Dave

I had Hamilton Bowen make me a fixed sight .45 Colt from a nice .38-44 H.D. a few years back. I got all his bells and whistles. I have more cash in this handgun than any other I own. It is gorgeous and just the gun I always wanted.

If I had an extra magnum cylinder laying around at the time, I might have used it. There certainly is some advantage to the extra chamber room.

The longer magnum cylinder is nice but, like I wrote, there are lots of ways to get around it. I have several big boxes of W-W's conical flat tipped bullets, the one they load in their traditional .45 Colt loading, and it is a great shooting bullet. The Bowen gun will get either factory W-W rounds, handloads using that bulk-pack bullet or I'll trim a few more cases back and use the homecast SWC.

4 inch N frames are great, serious packing guns. One in .45 Colt will do pretty well everything a woods wanderer would ask of it without the blast, flash and racket of a Magnum. The .45 Colt is an exquisite cartridge for just plain shooting, delivering the satisfying power of big heavy bullets at a velocity that gets the job done without beating everyone's hands and ears up if you want to do a lot of shooting in one day.

Making Model 27's and 28's over into .45 Colt is certainly no crime in my book! Dave, it's nice you can do so much of the work for yourself.

BUFF · #31 12-24-2009, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buford57

I gave this shop $375 for a clean S-numbered 6" 28-2 earlier this year and would have taken the plunge on a clean 25-2 for $595. but somehow the conversion didn't seem worth it. Am I being unreasonable?

No, you are not. For not a lot more money, you can find an original Model 25-2 that looks right and is right and won't bug you every time you handle it.

Frank237 · #32 12-27-2009, 12:22 PM

I also converted a M-28 with a J&G rifle Ranch .44 Spcl $39 barrel way back in the early 1970's. The particulars are a bit fuzzy , it's been a long time.

I sent my M-28 off to a smith that had been mentioned a few times in articles and letters concerning S&W conversions back then. Can not recall who though.

Several weeks later my Dealer calls and the gun is finished. I had a bright shiny 6 1/2" M-24 barrel and the original cylinder rebored to .44 Special. The work was flawless, other than the glaring mismatch of finishes.

I recall loading Keith #429421's over his 2400 .44 Spcl load for modern, non baloon head cases. The first cylinder I fired printed a VERY small group on the target. I can't recall the range....but certainly recall that the gun WAS accurate. Used that gun and load to shoot my first head of big game taken with a handgun, a decent whitetail buck.

Converrsions were popular as factory barrels and cylinders were readily available. I wanted to do a .45 colt conversion but ended up with a Colt SAA in .45 and never got around to it.

FN in MT