i just read an article in a gun magazine from the 90's where someone put an L-frame barrel on a K-frame. will this work without any special modification (can it just be screwed in like any other barrel) or is there more to it than the article let on.

There is much more to it than screwing the L frame barrel into the K frame. The threaded shank of the L frame is bigger, and so the threads are different. The barrel's rear needs to be turned down and re-threaded.

Also, the distance from bore axis to cylinder axis is different, so you either need to fabricate a different forward locking lug for the extractor lug, or (more likely) lose the forward locking lug and make a ball detent lock for the crane-to-frame lockup.

The conversion is much more than simply threading and fitting an L frame barrel shank to fit the K frame.

Ah, yes, I forgot about that. Thanks for adding that note, John.

Most adaptations of parts to guns for which they were not designed turn out to be more work than first envisioned!