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S&W Revolvers: 1980 to the Present All NON-PINNED Barrels, the L-Frames, and the New Era Revolvers


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  #1  
Old 03-15-2009, 11:33 AM
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I recently came across a S&W for sale that had its barrel pinned by a gunsmith (originally is was an unpinned) .

Have you heard of anyone doing that ?

Is there any reason to do it ?
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Old 03-15-2009, 11:33 AM
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I recently came across a S&W for sale that had its barrel pinned by a gunsmith (originally is was an unpinned) .

Have you heard of anyone doing that ?

Is there any reason to do it ?
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Old 03-15-2009, 11:41 AM
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No reason to do it that I can think of. Seems like a waste of money.

Bill
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Old 03-15-2009, 11:53 AM
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The only reason I can think of is that someone is trying to fake a gun.
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Old 03-15-2009, 12:08 PM
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The only reason I can imagine would be if the barrel was a transplant from another gun, and the thread timing was so far off that the front sight was too far to the left when it was torqued on. A <u>good</u> gunsmith would never do it that way, but there are a lot of people who work on guns that I wouldn't call gunsmiths.

Mark
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  #6  
Old 03-15-2009, 12:16 PM
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I see no purpose behind this other than poor workmanship of outright fraud and I would be very cautious of such a gun because it just isn't "right" for some reason.
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Old 03-15-2009, 12:33 PM
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Well, you never know. Gunsmiths get asked to do some pretty silly things, and maybe some goober brought in his gun all afraid that the barrel was going to unscrew because it wasn't pinned. Sometimes it's just easier to shrug and do what they want, rather than explain to them why they are an idiot.
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Old 03-15-2009, 12:51 PM
S/W - Lifer S/W - Lifer is offline
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A large law enforcement agency I have first hand experience with bought 2.5 inch Model 19s in large quantities - multi-hundreds if not greater.

All revolvers were given detailed inspections against established standards on arrival. Quality control was poor and many of the guns were rejected. S&W balked and sent a couple of reps to the agency to meet with armorers and program managers. Examples were provided which the reps could not refute. The agency then opted to transition to autoloading pistols made by another firm.

One of the detected flaws was loose barrels. The crush fit method of barrel fitting did not meet an acceptable standard on some of the Smith & Wesson revolvers received by this agency. I can't quote a percentage of defective guns as I don't have that figure.

I do not trust the crush fit method of barrel installation. If aftermarket pinning matched the earlier S&W standard for pinned barrels, I'd be in favor of it.

In fairness, a gunsmith has pointed out that rifle barrels are not pinned and work fine. Also, the incident I describe was years ago. I can't speak to S&W's current standards or quality. Perhaps manufacturing methods and techniques are now refined to the point that loose barrels are no longer an issue.

FWIW.
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Old 03-15-2009, 05:46 PM
shawn mccarver shawn mccarver is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by S/W - Lifer:
A large law enforcement agency I have first hand experience with bought 2.5 inch Model 19s in large quantities - multi-hundreds if not greater.

All revolvers were given detailed inspections against established standards on arrival. Quality control was poor and many of the guns were rejected. S&W balked and sent a couple of reps to the agency to meet with armorers and program managers. Examples were provided which the reps could not refute. The agency then opted to transition to autoloading pistols made by another firm.

One of the detected flaws was loose barrels. The crush fit method of barrel fitting did not meet an acceptable standard on some of the Smith & Wesson revolvers received by this agency. I can't quote a percentage of defective guns as I don't have that figure.

I do not trust the crush fit method of barrel installation. If aftermarket pinning matched the earlier S&W standard for pinned barrels, I'd be in favor of it.

In fairness, a gunsmith has pointed out that rifle barrels are not pinned and work fine. Also, the incident I describe was years ago. I can't speak to S&W's current standards or quality. Perhaps manufacturing methods and techniques are now refined to the point that loose barrels are no longer an issue.

FWIW.
I would be interested in knowing the agency by name.
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  #10  
Old 03-15-2009, 05:59 PM
Wayne Dobbs Wayne Dobbs is offline
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I would bet that information won't be forthcoming from S/W - Lifer, but based on the gun model and quantity involved, I'd say they are a fed agency involved in working counterfeiting cases and protecting somebody we all can't stand (POTUS).
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Old 03-15-2009, 07:24 PM
S/W - Lifer S/W - Lifer is offline
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Sorry, folks. I'm not getting into names. What I can add is that a number of crush fit barrels became loose after the guns were put into service.

Haven't got anything factual to add beyond that. Anything else would just be opinion.
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Old 03-15-2009, 10:44 PM
crazdgunman crazdgunman is offline
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You "don't want to name names"?

We're talking about a public agency here, not a prom queen.

I have a few pinned and a few crush fits and I haven't had a problem with either system. And until recently I was the gun manager of the Sportsmans Warehouse in Reno (I don't mind naming names) and we never had a problem with a crush-fit Smith barrels.

If a person is a purist and simply prefers the old way of doing things, thats fine. But I suspect there is a lot of unreasonable rumor floating around regarding the non-pin system.
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Old 03-16-2009, 08:53 AM
Wayne Dobbs Wayne Dobbs is offline
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While I've not heard of any K-frame crush fit problems, there are more than a few cracked frames showing up with alloy framed J-frame crush fit guns.
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  #14  
Old 03-16-2009, 09:49 AM
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Sometimes this is done on project guns that people make. Perhaps they just like the look, or they may have a lot of pinned and or recessed guns. But, as far as having it done on a regular revolver that is in good condition...could be shady business.
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gunsmith, k-frame, recessed, transition

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