Hamilton Bowen prefers to work on S&W's that have not been refinished or modified. I sent him an ex-Pueblo P.D. .38-44 for the .45 Colt conversion in 2005. It had been reblued and needed some tune-up action work. He returned it to me and suggested I find a nicer revolver for a conversion as cosmetic repairs are very time consuming (a phrase for "expensive" and "hard to do well"). The extra money spent on a better base gun is usually well spent.

A generous forum member helped me out by selling me a pretty nice transitional 4 incher for a more-than-fair price. I shipped it off to Mr. Bowen. He did a wonderful job. It ran about $1,250 altogether.

Expensive? That is relative, but for me, yes, expensive. Worth it? Again, relative, but yes, it was! I doubt Hamilton is getting rich as there is a huge amount of highly skilled work done on one of his jobs.

This was the sixgun I have always wanted. I don't understand why S&W never made it as a standard catalog item, and still don't understand why, after they made the excellent new Model 22-4 in .45 ACP, they haven't released the same gun in the popular, longer .45 Colt cartridge.

His current price list is on his web site: http://www.bowenclassicarms.com/: .