The 'unofficial' 58 Club

rb...that is not "sacrilege"...as you are keeping it .41. There are those lowlifes among us who rebore 58s to .44 and .45...hanging is too good for them.

I just had a beater 5" 27-2 rebored to .41 by Clearwater and then the smith fitted a 58 cylinder I had from a frameless parts kit to it by shortening the barrel shank and recutting the forcing cone. After some initial testing it is back at the smiths now for some star/hand interface work as the lockup DA was too soon causing some crunch at the end of the DA pull which was throwing off my shots.

Bob
 
Slight thread drift on this post but as a 41 fan I bet you get a kick out of this. As you may know, Colt supposedly made a very few pythons in 41. One sold on Gun Broker a few years ago for a lot of money to say the least. Recently I came across a python 41 barrel. Now the barrel says 357 so it may be a rebore but the seller claims he bought it that way as a Colt part. I am watching for a donor python to buy and have the cylinder rechambered to 41 then have this barrel installed to get a 41 python. That ought to be a fun one to shoot as long as I keep the loads on the moderate side and don't shake the internals too hard.
 
I did see that original Python sell for big money....there were less than ten made from what I understand. There was also a gun smith in Texas named Bubba (this is no joke) who also converted Pythons to .41. His work was supposed to be excellent.

Bob
 
Didn't have another one till I picked up two "butchered" ones on AuctionArms a few years ago. One was a mint S prefix first year of production...that someone thoughtfully had parkerized. The Target grips had some bad chips but for $430 I didn't think that for a shooter it was a bad deal....

This as it arrived...day one of shooting...18 rounds at 10 yards...the one out of the group was round one and my fault....

SW58-1964001.jpg


With a standard set of Magnas on.....

SW58-1964003.jpg


The original Targets shortened and refinished by a very talented friend...

SW58grips032607008.jpg


SW58grips032607002.jpg


SW58grips032607007.jpg


It now wears a set of Cokes....

GB100207003.jpg


GB100207004.jpg



..more to come.....[/QUOTE]

Superman, it almost looks like it was Cerakoted!
 
..when you see it up close it is just plain old parkerized. I am pretty sure it done long before Cerakote was invented.

It is one of the best shooting 58s I have ever had however...

Bob
 
The Cokes on that 1964 58 have since been moved to a 1964 4" Model 57...the original shortened Targets have been put back on...

So any new 58 owners out there...with any luck there will be another among us on Tuesday...

Bob
 
I picked up the S prefixed 58 that one of the other forum members tipped me off to. I do not think the grips had aver been removed and there is some cleaning up that needs to be done under the grips and on the back strap but the grips do number to the gun. It is the first S prefix 58 I have owned and it has the lazy "&" on the barrel and when the cylinder is open, it has the 58 but no serial number in the normal area. It has it on the grips and on the bottom of the grip frame but this is the first older Smith I have owned that does not have the serial number in this place.


 
rbrbrb6 said:
I picked up the S prefixed 58 that one of the other forum members tipped me off to. I do not think the grips had aver been removed and there is some cleaning up that needs to be done under the grips and on the back strap but the grips do number to the gun. It is the first S prefix 58 I have owned and it has the lazy "&" on the barrel and when the cylinder is open, it has the 58 but no serial number in the normal area. It has it on the grips and on the bottom of the grip frame but this is the first older Smith I have owned that does not have the serial number in this place.


Click to expand...

That is a very clean example. Please post the first three digits of the serial number so we can help you figure out the year.

Please post the results from your first range session. I would have a set of goodyears ready to go just in case the magnas are uncomfortable with the 'real' 41 mag loads.

Nice find BTW :D
 
Serial number is S3127**. Not sure what grips will go on this one but it will probably end up like most of my revolvers in that it will be tweaked somewhat. I have a model 28 barrel getting rebored to 41 right now and this may get it installed. I have learned from my other 58's that they do not seem to like my 250 grain bullets I shoot in most of my other 41's so I will probably stick with 210-220 grainers at about 900-1000 fps. Still, this may get set of carved ivories in honor of Elmer Keith. but no matter what grips I go with, I plan on keeping the loads for this gun in the above mentioned range.
 
rbrbrb6 said:
Serial number is S3127**. Not sure what grips will go on this one but it will probably end up like most of my revolvers in that it will be tweaked somewhat. I have a model 28 barrel getting rebored to 41 right now and this may get it installed. I have learned from my other 58's that they do not seem to like my 250 grain bullets I shoot in most of my other 41's so I will probably stick with 210-220 grainers at about 900-1000 fps. Still, this may get set of carved ivories in honor of Elmer Keith. but no matter what grips I go with, I plan on keeping the loads for this gun in the above mentioned range.
Click to expand...

The serial is in the 1968-69 range.

Please be sure to share the photos if you do the barrel swap, that ought to be really neat!
 
rb6...you must have gotten the last 58 with diamond grips as right around that time the diamond was deleted... Nice gun and was glad someone here got it...

G-Mac...what year is yours...

Bob
 
maglvr said:
For many years I though the 58 was the prettiest revolver made, until I discovered the fixed sight N frame 38's and 357.
Click to expand...

I am not aware of any fixed rear sights N frame .357's made by S&W. To my knowledge, the only fixed rear sight N frame magnum was the model 58. Am I wrong about that? Because if I am, then instead of seeking a model 58 frame to make into a 1917 look-a-like in .44 magnum, I'd be able to expand my search to whatever fixed rear sight N frame .357 magnum you are speaking of. Again, what model S&W .357 N frame magnum with fixed rear sight are you speaking of?

For years now I've been watching gunbroker and other auctions trying to find a fixed rear sight, S&W model 58 frame, or bulged barrel model 58 (as long as frame is good), so that I can put a .44 mag cylinder in it, install a .44 special tapered barrel with old style half moon front sight and mill the bottom of the barrel to accept the large ejector rod knob that is on the front of a 1917 ejector rod. Basically I want a fixed sight .44 magnum that looks like my model 1917 revolvers. Only I'd have to accept a 6 inch .44 special tapered barrel because I don't think any of them were made in 5 & 1/2 inch like my 1917's barrels. But that's okay, the Canadian 1917's in .455 caliber had a 6 inch barrel and they look good too. So I could live with an extra half inch of barrel longer like the Canadian 1917's. I need a model 58 because it's the only N frame available with a fixed rear sight and I don't want any of those ugly looking "classic" drilled out frames for the trigger lock. But I've had no luck locating just the model 58 frame only nor even one with a bulged cylinder or bulged barrel for anywhere near a reasonable price.

If anyone here has a model 58 frame or bulged barrel or bulged cylinder model 58 for a reasonable price, please let me know. All I need is the frame....preferably with all internal parts, and crane for the cylinder, but I don't need the cylinder nor barrel. So one with a bulged cylinder or barrel would be great for the project as long as the frame is undamaged.

I've also been thinking how nice it would be to be able to use full moon clips on .44 auto (like the 1917 uses on .45 acp) which I love using on my 1917's because it is the fastest way to reload a revolver and no speedloader to have to re-pocket since the full moon clips ARE the speedloader and stay in the revolver. I wonder if S&W ever made a .44 auto magnum cylinder that I could use in a model 58 frame? Never heard of one, but would be nice if they did. Anyone know if that exists?

If S&W would drop that ugly hole on the left frame for the trigger lock on their "classics" lineup, and make an old style, tapered barrel, half moon front sight, fixed rear sight, large knob ejector rod, (even their "classics" 1917 doesn't have the original size large knob on the ejector rod) 1917 style looking .44 magnum, that perhaps used .44 auto mag with half or full moon clips, I think it would be a huge seller. Basically a 1917 on steroids firing .44 auto mag in moon clips. But they don't. So for years now I've been trying to locate a model 58 frame so I can make my own.

Thanks in advance fellas.

.
 
Last edited:
Bill,

Smith did make a 3" 629 fixed sight couple years ago. Don't remember if it had the lock or not. Had a good gunsmith friend of mine that wanted a similar project. We took another 58 of mine and his 4" 29 and swapped cylinders and barrels. He had to build up the front sight of the .41 HB to match the height of the adj rear sight 29 frame. On his, he filed the 29 front sight down to match the 58 rear sight grove. This was early 91/92'. Sold mine years ago and he's still down in Texas so I don't have any pictures.

Didn't Smith make some model 20's in .357 for the NY Highway Patrol? Check out TK Custom if you want your .44 cylinder cut for moonclips. They are the ones that do the moonclips for the 442 Pro series. I've thought of having them do my 58 for moonclips, maybe if I get another 4" M57.


CD
 
Last edited:
There is the 520 which is the limited run fixed sighted N frame 357 but they are pretty pricey. I believeryou are right in that they were for a police force in NY.
 
Finally found a model 58.
Sold to me by a good friend. This was a duty gun back in the day and had some miles. I'm thinking of getting it ceracoated as I'm planning on using it for a bear country back up gun. The box of ammo is full by the way and I'm planning to leave it alone and not shoot them up as I like the nostalgic appearance and history behind the ammo.

3914c905ee32ccd27f34edf3927d7a82.jpg


Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top