I am assembling a Victory model revolver, literally from a box of parts I acquired. Something to do as a winter project.

The barrel was previously on the frame, so I am optimistic it will fit without tweaking, but don't know for sure. The barrel screws in nicely up to about the last 1/4 turn, and alignment with the cylinder / frame looks good so far.

I fabricated by own frame / barrel wrench, but it is not holding sufficiently and I don't want to damage the frame by using a faulty tool.

Just wanted to ask if anyone has a K-Frame / Barrel wrench tool I could borrow; I'd pay shipping both ways. The cost of buying one is somewhat prohibitive for the scale of my project. I may seek out a professional gunsmith as a last resort.

Suggestions, comments welcome. Thank you!

You can rent a frame wrench here:

Deposit Policy - 4D Reamer Rentals

retired2006 - thanks! I will definitely check this out.

If the renting doesn't work, PM me.

You could also fabricate your own as part of your winter project. Check this video out:

YouTube

Hope this helps!

Cheers,
686PC

686PC - Thanks for the link to the video. I watched this earlier and actually built one out of wood, using the design shown. I got the barrel within 1/8 - 1/4" of alignment and got concerned the tool was going to fail (snap). Also, I was concerned about compressing / pressure points on the frame. I was going to just buy / rent the tool as backup. I may give my tool another chance!

RGNewell - I will be touch if the rental doesn't look viable.


Appreciate help from both of you. I'll post my progress, hopefully soon. Haven't worked on it in a few weeks. Thanks again!

The barrel should screw in to barrel shoulder/frame contact by hand.* If you haven't got frame contact there's some issue in the threads. You might consider chucking a brass bore brush in a drill and doing some polishing of the frame threads. Also check the threads on the barrel. Hope someone didn't cross thread the parts before you got it.

You might be able to rent thread chasing dies/taps. If so, clean up the frame/barrel threads.

*It's been decades since I did a K frame, but on a non-ribbed barrel, you're looking for somewhere around shoulder/frame contact at 1/8 of a turn from the front sight being straight up. If you've got frame contact at 1/4 turn, that's way too much and the barrel shoulder needs to be adjusted by 0.002-0.0035 in. There's a hand held tool that will do that, Brownells sells them, someone may rent them.