This is up for auction on one of the sites now and is said to be a S&W model 28 that has been re-blued. So did someone mill off the top of the barrel and then fill in where the rear sight goes? I think it is pretty interesting. How do you think they did this?

Presuming the barrel and frame are matched parts from the same gun, yes and yes .

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Looks like a discolored spot where the rear sight cut was welded up.

Sure a lot of work to make a HD or 520 lookalike.

a mongrel.

It's "interesting" if you like hybrids. I guess. Otherwise, any collector's value it may have had rode off into the sunset whenever it was put together.

Is it a 28? Let's see a partial serial number and whatever's stamped inside when the cylinder's opened. Are the stocks original to the gun?

I agree with murphydog on this.

When I see something like this I wonder "why"? Did the top of the gun get damaged in some way and this was the option they chose to fix it? Were they trying to go for a Heavy Duty look? Were they trying to make a more practical carry revolver? It's interesting but weird because I would imagine for the time and/or money in it they could have bought a Heavy Duty in similar condition?

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Scoundrel & Ne'er-Do-Well

Perhaps a prototype for the Model 520? May be worth lettering.

Adios,

Pizza Bob

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NRA Benefactor Member

Somebody welded to the frame. Stay away from it. If they did that, what else did they do that you do not know about? Is it safe to shoot? Spend your money on a real 28 and not this abomination.

Just watch now. In the yoke cut. It's going to be a

MODEL 28-1 . !

Allen Frame

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NRA cert.instructor&R.S.O.

Good one! You got me chuckling. I don't see the fourth screw but you did make me look at the pictures again........... then again it would be ironic if 28-1 was stamped on the frame opposite the yoke.

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Scoundrel & Ne'er-Do-Well

Kind of a hard way to make a Magnum Heavy Duty

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Eccentric old coot

28-1 in the yoke cut. Would that have been a travesty or what?
That would be my luck.

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Mike 2796
SoFo Bunch member

Looks like a heavy duty barrel that has been stamped as a 28 - unless they ground of the rib and welded the sight blade on.

Like it has been said - that's a lot of work to go through to make a Heavy Duty look alike.

You have to remember that back in the day when this was probably made, there was no internet. The phone company charged for long distance calls. If you ordered something, it was done by snail mail to and from. If it wasn't in the case at your local Mom & Pop gunshop, or you managed to run across it at one of the two or three gunshows there were a year, you weren't going to find it. There was virtually no way to know anyone had one for sale unless you ran across it yourself, someone else ran across one and told you, or you saw an ad in the newspaper.

So alot of people just had what they wanted made. It seems crazy now, but back in the day things like this were often the easiet way to get what you wanted.

Think of it as a very localized market. In one part of the country, there were HD's everywhere because that's what had been popular in the past and used ones changed hands more often. In another part of the country, you'd live your whole life and never see one outside a catalog. It wasn't like today where I could read great information from someone in PA, MT, TX, CA, KS, FL, etc. within seconds. Or know what someone in PA, MT, TX, CA, KS, FL, etc. have for sale. I'd never know.

As far as the gun goes, I'd have to agree that there is no collector value. Custom work rarely adds value, and it's a rebule. If it was done years ago when this sort of thing was more common, it was refinished after the work to begin with. So it's quite possible it's on it's third finish. I wouldn't pay big money for it. The only way I'd pay as much as a reblued 28 would be if I was able to inspect it in person. I personally like it. I'd buy it if it were cheap enough, but not unless I could see it in person. Once you start talking about guns that are modified, you really should look at the gun in person unless you know who did the mods and are otherwise comfortable with them.

M28s were the seedbed for a lot of experimentation 40 and more years ago.

Caliber conversions, barrel and butt chopping, anything that called for a donor N-frame.

A friend is restoring a "classic" 1972 Ford F-100. I remember it as a used truck. Yesterday's expensive custom work is tomorrow's abomination committed on an unsuspecting collector's item.

I would gladly give what I paid for my most recent unmolested M28 for this gun.

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I need ammo, not a ride.

I find no logic in destroying a superior target equipped 28 and cobble it into an obsolete fixed sight look alike.

That welded up top with the ground in sight groove is really bad looking.

The only reason we all look at it - is the same reason why we all look at road kill. A horrible spectacle tends to catch a mans attention. A normal man will eventually look away in disgust when they come to their senses.

Just the note that '66 was the last of the almost look alike Model 20 production. Rechambering to .357 was sometimes done on these guns. Alternately, at least a decade afterward, Smith carried replacement Model 20 barrels and likely available aftermarket even longer. A lot easier to screw on a barrel than the work done here. I'd guess a more recent product than the mid seventies and a labor of love at that.
At the probable time of this work, the Model 28 was available, common and not a question of collectibility. Here, someones creativity. All said, to me it's not so much the concept which seems at least interesting. Yet pinging on the expert commentary here concerning the quality of the resulting execution!
Such apparently contributing toward a... "Say what?"
My take.

I keep reading this thread and I can't believe that the consensus is that this is a modified Model 28 - that is, somebody went to the trouble of removing the adjustable sights, welded up the frame and cut a sight channel and then the Herculean task of re-contouring the barrel and stamping it. The most reasonable argument for a cobbled-up piece was the suggestion that a 38/44 HD was the basis - which would not explain the model marking on the frame.

I am still of the opinion - and it's just that, an opinion - that this is some sort of factory prototype, either as the logical extension of the 38/44 line in a magnum chambering, or as the progenitor of the Model 520 for the NYSP. Without the serial number it is hard to tell if the timeline for this gun dovetails with the future production of the 520. I think the most telling thing that argues for the "Prototype Theory" is the barrel rollmark. Even if you subscribe to the cobbled-up theory, why would the maker go to the trouble of creating a die to duplicate the Highway Patrolman rollmark? While it would make perfect sense for S&W to so mark the gun for sales purposes to the NYSP.

We can agree to disagree from here 'til Sunday, but until the current owner springs for the $50 to letter this gun, we'll never know for sure.

Very intriguing.

Adios,

Pizza Bob

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NRA Benefactor Member

Very interesting gun for sure, one I'd be happy to own.

As to Pizza Bob's theory that it is a factory prototype, I'm not sure, although its an interesting thought.

The barrel looks like a M20 barrel, and the Highway Patrolman roll markings certainly skews the discussion somewhat, however I'm not sure the factory would need to weld up a frame to make a prototype like that. Not saying the weld job was poor, but the factory has the full capability to take a rough frame forging and mill it the right way, that is to say if there was no time constraint that would make that option unworkable.

Whatever it turns out, I think it is a cool gun, personal project or factory prototype.

(BTW, just my opinion: I don't think it would be too tough to take a M20 barrel blank and sweet talk a factory contact into getting the Highway Patrolman roll marking done, if the barrels were available as mentioned above)

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.............SmithNut

I'm still going with local gunsmith, or more likely, owner job. The auction site has a couple more pics and the work seems "hobbyist" level.

If you look at the extent folks will go to build various things on this board today, it's not a hard stretch to see someone doing this.

It only has to make sense to one person. The guy that did it.

It's an "S" s/n, 1966 vintage.

I agree it seems odd, but I don't doubt it could happen. Over on the Savage Shooters website there are fellows that buy a $250 Axis rifle, then spend $1200 turning it in to something they could have bought brand-new and ready-made for $1000 or less. Makes no practical sense, but there you go...

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Pisgah

The groove down the topstrap is like no S&W fixed sight I have ever seen.
Probably not very good for aiming the gun, either.

Well it is sold. I hope someone form this forum picked it up so we can learn more about it.