Well I finally have my “dream” gun.

Like many of you, I “cut my teeth” on a good revolver. I’ve always enjoyed carrying one instead of a semi auto. Now please don’t misunderstand me. The last 4 ½ years I spent on the job, my daily carry was a Colt GM along with two extra mags and with a 342 snub in my weak hand front pants pocket. The auto loaders have their place but I’m not chasing bad guys anymore in the big city so I’ve gone back to my first love, a good revolver for daily carry.

Now that I’m retired, I can carry just about anything I can qual with. An “N frame” anything is hard to beat in my book. I’ve had a 6” P&R model 28-2 sitting in the safe for awhile. I purchased it fairly cheap from a local railroad worker. Non original grips, a little touch of rust here & there, a horrible DA but still a solid gun. I always wanted a N frame snub, in 38/357 mag with a RB. Several months ago I asked around on the forum for a gunsmith who could do the work.

Several of you recommended Andy Horvath in Ohio. I called Andy, told him what I wanted and we came to terms. I send him the gun on September 14 with a payment and got it back on December 14. One word. WOW !

The 6” barrel was shorten to approximately 2 ¾” and all factory markings removed. The front sight was reinstalled (pinned) with a red ramp on the new barrel. “Horvath Custom 357 Mag.” was engraved (very nicely done BTW) on the barrel on the right side. Because of the short barrel, the locking bolt & spring were removed and replaced with a “ball detent crane” lock up.

The N frame SB was changed to K frame RB. The factory standard rear adj. sight as well as the original hammer & trigger were retained. The DA is very smooth at 10 lbs. and the SA breaks like glass! The gun was refinished in a dull blue finish like the original with the bottom portion of the frame “brushed”. It locks up like a vault and timing is spot on! Because it’s going to be carried, I prefer compac Pachmayrs instead of wood. The grips fit my hand just perfect. It’s not going to be a safe queen.

Now I’m usually the first one in line preaching not to refinish, modify, etc. an older gun especially a classic like this HP. Well I’m not getting any younger plus I still have several five screw pre 28’s in the safe to enjoy. Tomorrow I plan to head to the range and put several boxes of 38 & 357 loads downrange.

Last but not least, you can add me to the long list of Andy Horvath fans. He is a master gunsmith whose service and work is without peer.

Thanks VM for posting the pics.

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S&WCA # 2045

Would like to see photos and a range report.
Sounds like an interesting project.

wyo-man

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Live free or die

You're killin' me.........where are the photos??? I'd love to see them...........

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Go big or stay home

Here's Big Lou's Pictures - very nice!!!

Wow, just WOW!

That is a dandy.

Wow, that is super-nice. But I honestly think it is screaming for some custom grips. Not too crazy about the fit of the horn of the grip at the top of the backstrap. Otherwise, great custom. Pricey?

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Tony

i like!!!!! can i ask what it cost you??



someone please buy my mint 28-2 w/box before i do what i said i will never do

That's just too cool.

Andy did a nice job on the 28 for you and the turn around was good. Now you have a nice big frame carry piece. We really need a range report on this. Larry

That is one slick Smith!!! Let us know how it shoots! Dale

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"Long live the S&W 3rd. Gen.!"

Sweet piece!! I love large frame snubbies.

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Don't kiss smiling dogs!

Beautiful job! I have a 28-2 that needs work (rust and bad pitting) that I want to have cut to a 3 1/2" and refinished. You've given me a good name for the work!

With a similar motivation I bought a badly pitted 27-2 3.5" and had it lightly customized for carry:



Mine wasn't modified to K-frame size, just round butted so the "Combat" stocks would fit properly. Action/timing was trued up and a smooth trigger was installed. Pitting was bead blasted away for the most part, leaving a fine mat finish for bluing. final touch was the front sight insert so I can see it (LOL). Great shooting revolver, even with full magnums.

Dave

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RSVN '69-'71
PCSD (Ret)

Very, very nice, Big Lou.

It should make for an excellent carry gun. Congratulations!

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Steve
NJ State Trooper (rtd)

The term, "K-frame round butt, is sometimes confusing when applied to N-frame revolvers. Only the bottom of the frame can be cut to K dimensions. This revolver appears to have a set of K grips on it and they do not fit correctly at the top. The new N-frame round butt grips should work perfectly however. Other than that, I like it a lot.

Very nice revolver............Love that red insert in the ramp............My 625-6 45 Colt is gonna have to have that.

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Go big or stay home

Andy's work is superb I have a few guns he has customized and just talked him in to selling me his personal 3 screw 44 special lil gun.

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Len

Man, I like your gun !

Amazing looking, good luck with it! Joe

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ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

Very nice looking. Andy is great. I had him build me a custom .44sp on a old model .357 three screw Ruger a long time ago. He does excellent work.

Tom

How...have I not seen this...until NOW!!!! That is perfection!!!!

I missed it the first time too.....nice gun and good job! Andy built me a .44 Special about 20 yrs. ago on an abused Ruger .357 3-screw. He put a 4" Douglas barrel on it, round-butted the grip frame and stocks, bored the .357 and 9mm cylinders to .44, jewelled the hammer and trigger and did a very nice blue job. I just had it out shooting a few weeks ago.

Andy Horvath gets props from John Taffin every so often in Guns or Handgunner.

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Bob.
SWCA 1821

That is sweet...I really like it...
Great conversion, brought a old warhorse back to life

Pictures Leonard, PLEASE.......

Looks great and I love it! That man does good work and it should serve you very well.

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V/R
Roger / SG

That looks nice, how much did the conversion run?

You got yourself a beautiful piece! I am with you on the 'generally not modifying older guns' bandwagon but the way I go about answering the 'modify' question is to assess how rare the gun is, what condition it is in, the nature of the modifications and who is going to perform the work. In this particular case it is my own (unqualified) opinion that the gun, modifications and great execution indicate you absolutely took the right decision!!!

OK here's a couple

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Len

Leonard,

All those guns are beautiful works of art! Could you tell me about the S&W m 27?

That's just gorgeous!

Thanks

The 27-2 started off as a poorly finished non collectable gun. It was the platform for a 44 special.

The barrel was from the 29 pictured with a custom slab sided barrel now owned by another forum member. The barrel was a full lug silhouette and I had Andy cut it to my specs just under 4'. It is drilled for and I have a rail that screw on under the barrel for accessories but I never use it

The cylinder was line bored to 44 and locks in place with a ball detent

Front sight is a Weigand with interchangeable blades, the rear sight is a Weigand blade replacement to maintain checkering nice flat aiming surface.

Gun is tuned to a slick double action pull and a light sight single action.

All re blued.

Finished with Kurac grips.

It is a very compact comfortable to carry well balanced 44. The gun below it is a 3 screw 357 converted to 44 the Smith in my opinion is just as compact and handy

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Len

Thanks for the info Leonard.

Just Fabulous......all around.

Add me to that list of Andy's satisfied customers and admirers. It's a good thing he lives about 8 hours away or I'd be at his place all the time, spending all my money on the neat stuff he builds. For the record, here's another picture of Project 616 that he did for me... note the barrel marking!

Froggie

Attached Images

Charlie's Custom .327.jpg (112.8 KB, 277 views)

Nicely done 28, thanx for sharing.

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dd884
JMHO-YMMV