hastelloy frame 29-3

[feal]

unfortunately I did not take any photos, but at gun show I came across a 29-3 either a 3.5 or 4" barrel that was made of hastelloy. it appeared engraved and had smooth square frame grips. I was told that smith made ~10 of them and they had a msrp of 5K. I was wondering if anyone had anymore information on this.

thanks

[Dave T]

I've been at this gun-nut business for over 40 years and I've never heard of "hastelloy". Either I've been hiding under a rock all this time, or someone's pulling your leg. (smile)

Dave

[murphydog]

Welcome! If it was definitely stamped MOD 29-3 and a Smith & Wesson product, these were made of standard carbon steel.

A quick Internet search lists this material as used for piping:

What is the Difference Between Hastelloy(R) and Incoloy(R)?

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

Originally Posted by feal

unfortunately I did not take any photos, but at gun show I came across a 29-3 either a 3.5 or 4" barrel that was made of hastelloy. it appeared engraved and had smooth square frame grips. I was told that smith made ~10 of them and they had a msrp of 5K. I was wondering if anyone had anymore information on this.

thanks

Even if this were true, you'd have a bit of work ahead of you to provide some evidence thereof.

[NYlakesider]

Originally Posted by Dave T

I've been at this gun-nut business for over 40 years and I've never heard of "hastelloy". Either I've been hiding under a rock all this time, or someone's pulling your leg. (smile)

Dave

I'm a retired pipefitter!

It is a super hard to work with alloy, used in some power plants and occasionally at a Nuke plant.

My son is a CNC machinist foreman and you ought to hear what he has to say about working with it. A few more products worse than that coming soon!

[shawn mccarver]

I have heard of the Airweight (assume it is aluminum alloy) being used to make experimental versions of maybe the Combat Masterpiece and Highway Patrolman, but never a 44 Magnum.

If I recall, didn't someone write an article about the early Airweight experiments at S&W?

While it seems unlikely that S&W made an alloy 44 Magnum, I suppose anything is possible.

[steelslaver]

Hastelloy is a nickle/chrome/molly alloy. Very corrosion resistant and also retains strength at higher temps than steel. Pretty expensive and not easy to machine and I can't imagine any good reason to make a barrel out of it. OK, maybe a Vulcan barrel with a high rate of fire. A revolver barrel I highly doubt it.

[alaskavett]

As always, buy the gun, not the story! Even if there is documentation, question everything when you get a wild story. Kyle

[Tom S.]

Did you happen to get a serial number?

[SAFireman]

Maybe the seller was confused and meant that it was treated with Armor alloy treatment?

I'm with Steelslaver....Hastelalloy would not be an optimum metal to try to machine or forge into a S&W.

[jrm53]

I worked for a carbide manuf. and we made inserts for turning lathe tools, hastelalloy and waspalloy are both alloy steel for use in the oil drilling industry and were developed for tooling that was used deep in oil wells that have very harsh enviorment and these alloys are very hard to turn it take a great insert and a good operator to work them. I cannot imagine trying to make a barrel from either alloy. It could happen but I would not pay the price it would take to buy a revolver with that type barrel. Jeff NOTE I forgot to include Inconell in the list thats like turning hardened bearing material.

[H Richard]

Without a certified letter from Roy Jinks, I would just frown and move on.

[BruceM]

unfortunately I did not take any photos, but at gun show I came across a 29-3 either a 3.5 or 4" barrel that was made of hastelloy. it appeared engraved and had smooth square frame grips. I was told that smith made ~10 of them and they had a msrp of 5K. I was wondering if anyone had anymore information on this.

Doc44 need to chime in on this thread. If it's related to a S&W .44 Magnum, Doc generally has the correct answer.

Bruce

[feal]

yeah, there was no way i was going to pay what he was asking with out finding more about it - to clarify, the frame was made of the alloy, i didnt look to see if the barrel was lined or anything. the gun had a satiny, matte finish, with the engravings - im wondering if it was cast now. i did look at the serial (should have written it down) and am positive that it was stamped 29-? but remember that the sn was sorta funny looking like they had to stamp it twice or something. I did get the sellers card so have asked for pictures/sn and if i get anything ill post here.

[jaymoore]

Originally Posted by feal

... the gun had a satiny, matte finish, with the engravings....

BTW, if, by "alloy" you imply it was unusually light then it surely wouldn't be Hastelloy. Would be basically the same weight as a regular 29-3

"Satiny, matte" sounds suspiciously like a Armoloy hard chrome finish. If it has a white/silver look, then even more likely. High nickel alloys almost invariably have a yellowish hue.

As somebody who regularly cuts some of the various Hastelloys, inconels, stellite, etc., the first red flag to me was that it was engraved! Talk about ruining fine hand tools....

[rwsmith]

...several kinds, including Hastelloy X (jet turbine material) I'll bet that would stop that top strap erosion from heavy magnum loads with very slow powders. I wonder if they could just 'face' that area above the forcing cone with some alloy to prevent that from happening.

[jaymoore]

Originally Posted by rwsmith

...several kinds, including Hastelloy X (jet turbine material) I'll bet that would stop that top strap erosion from heavy magnum loads with very slow powders. I wonder if they could just 'face' that area above the forcing cone with some alloy to prevent that from happening.

Plasma spray probably not so good. And traditional welded hard facing would be expensive due to the additional post-weld processing. 3d printed hard face????

The little sheet metal "clips" as currently used on the various aluminum alloy frames seem like a reasonably good solution. The usual erosion seen on steel frame revolvers doesn't ever seem to get past the cosmetic stage. (I don't know how well the .460 S&Ws hold up. Would think the barrel would be well slagged before the frame gets scary eroded.)....Might be fun to see how a .357 Maximum chambering would do on a Governor type frame....

[oger]

I worked with that stuff in an oil refinery for too many years. For a long time the only way to cut is was with a grinder, then we got plasma cutters and things got better but no way would anyone attempt to make a revolver out of the stuff. P.S. I welded the edge of a hoe with the stuff and ground it to a cutting edge. It was still sharp when I through the hoe away 30 years later.

[Engineer1911]

Once again the practical, hands-on knowledge and experience of our members is amazing. I thank all of you for your comments.

[Ole Joe Clark]

I remember trying to machine hastelloy back in the day. I would have to see documentation and current alloy certifications on that one. Somebody got their xxxxxalloys mixed up.

[rwsmith]

Originally Posted by jaymoore

Plasma spray probably not so good. And traditional welded hard facing would be expensive due to the additional post-weld processing. 3d printed hard face????

The little sheet metal "clips" as currently used on the various aluminum alloy frames seem like a reasonably good solution. The usual erosion seen on steel frame revolvers doesn't ever seem to get past the cosmetic stage. (I don't know how well the .460 S&Ws hold up. Would think the barrel would be well slagged before the frame gets scary eroded.)....Might be fun to see how a .357 Maximum chambering would do on a Governor type frame....

People say that the erosion only goes so far and it doesn't cause problems, so I may be creating a non-problem, but it does worry people, and I'd be worried too. It seems like it would be feasible on the extreme calibers that you mention.

[rwsmith]

Originally Posted by Ole Joe Clark

I remember trying to machine hastelloy back in the day. I would have to see documentation and current alloy certifications on that one. Somebody got their xxxxxalloys mixed up.

... just making a gun from an exotic alloy doesn't mean that it's the best alloy for making guns. There are so many qualities that would be desirable in a gun of which heat and erosion resistance are only a part. The novelty is cool, like making a knife out of some odd piece of metal. In fact, one time I had a piece of some high grade of stainless I thought about making a knife out of, but it never materialized. Again, just because it's exotic does't mean it it holds an edge.

[steelslaver]

Forging it would be a real problem as one of its features is that it is very red hard. In other word it retains it strength and is difficult to form even when red hot. Plus many red hard metals tear apart when you try to shape them at normal forging temperatures.

[cladd1]

Interesting thread - 30 years ago plus I worked as a safety manager at a specialty metal alloys foundry in Kokomo, Indiana where we manufactured Hastelloy along with various other alloy products.