Sad day for an old gun.

[Big Cholla]

In a word, NO......... Just my humble opinion. Remember, the proper fitup of all the parts to a revolver are MUCH more complicated than the average semi-auto. There are just too many closely fitted parts that must be just so for the average Joe that is not a pistolsmith, a certified armorer or a machinist to have all come magically together properly. A revolver is much more complicated than the average semi-auto. You lost me at the very mention of using a pipewrench...........

I was so set back by the proposition, I had to state my objection twice....

 

[BC38]

Meh, OK, well, it was just a thought...

 

[Highridinyota]

I'm going to tale Ole boy up on his barrel offer and I believe I'm going to donate the ruptured barrel to my buddy's shop to use as a prop when he teaches his concealed weapons and firearms safety courses . Life's to short to make all the mistakes yourself you know

 

[Cyrano]

Wow. This looks like the reason why I don't reload or shoot reloads in my guns anymore. Back in the day when we all reloaded (me, my friends, the guy who owned the LGS) strange things were most always going on when we went out shooting.

I've been reloading since 1954. Don't know how many rounds I've loaded; perhaps 20K, maybe 50K, maybe more. Damaged one gun. If I hadn't been reloading for it I wouldn't have damaged it (ever try to find shooting quantities of 10.6 Mauser revolver). I have no doubt my reloads will go bang every time, and will be accurate, which is why I shoot them in competition.

My cooking, on the other hand.........

 

[JSR III]

For all you more experienced home gunsmiths, do you think this would work:
1) Drive the barrel pin out
2) Remove the cylinder
3) Reinstall the crane without the cylinder
4) Make a jig from a block of hardwood or high-density plastic to fit around the front of the frame/crane to clamp it into a vice
5) Apply some Kroil or PB Blaster etc. to the barrel/frame joint
6) Apply some light heat to the frame with a small butane torch and some ice to the barrel
7) Use a pipe wrench on the barrel at the ejector rod lug to remove the old barrel.
8) Put the new barrel back on using the pipe wrench WITH a piece of thick leather wrapped around it at the ejector rod locking lug as padding to protect it from the pipe wrench teeth
9) Re-drill the barrel pin hole with a drill press
10) Re-insert the barrel pin

To my knowledge, this would be the correct procedure for a DIY try at barrel replacement with one exception.
IIRC, there is no need for step #9 as you would already have a hole in the frame and the barrels come with a groove where the pin is installed.

Also in #3 it would be "yoke" not crane on a S&W.

 

[BC38]

I'm with you on that one. For $35 and the cost of installing it, it would be worth it.

For all you more experienced home gunsmiths, do you think this would work:
1) Drive the barrel pin out
2) Remove the cylinder
3) Reinstall the crane without the cylinder
4) Make a jig from a block of hardwood or high-density plastic to fit around the front of the frame/crane to clamp it into a vice
5) Apply some Kroil or PB Blaster etc. to the barrel/frame joint
6) Apply some light heat to the frame with a small butane torch and some ice to the barrel
7) Use a pipe wrench on the barrel at the ejector rod lug to remove the old barrel.
8) Put the new barrel back on using the pipe wrench WITH a piece of thick leather wrapped around it at the ejector rod locking lug as padding to protect it from the pipe wrench teeth
9) Re-drill the barrel pin hole with a drill press
10) Re-insert the barrel pin

Think that would work to change the barrel without tweaking the frame?

To my knowledge, this would be the correct procedure for a DIY try at barrel replacement with one exception.
IIRC, there is no need for step #9 as you would already have a hole in the frame and the barrels come with a groove where the pin is installed.

Also in #3 it would be "yoke" not crane on a S&W.

Well, I kinda thought I had read about someone doing something like this somewhere - maybe even on this board.

But I certainly don't have the expertise or experience to argue with folks like Big Cholla - he's probably forgotten more about S&Ws and gunsmithing than I'll likely ever know!

 

[Big Cholla]

Kind Of You

Well, I kinda thought I had read about someone doing something like this somewhere - maybe even on this board.

But I certainly don't have the expertise or experience to argue with folks like Big Cholla - he's probably forgotten more about S&Ws and gunsmithing than I'll likely ever know!

BC: Not true! Go to a few Armorer's classes; go to a gunsmithing school someplace for at least a year and then work under four different competent gunsmiths for a year each. Every one of them will add something new to your skill base. It is all just basic knowledge and can be found written about by experts (Jerry Kuhnhausen) and non experts (well I won't name any now, but don't temp me ). I have been working on guns since I turned 16. It is all just accumulated knowledge. If you love to work with your hands and expensive machinery you will have the motivation to jump into the gunsmithing/pistolsmithing field. Just be aware that it doesn't pay very well just fixing and rebuilding guns. To make any kind of money you have to innovate a product or two that the public jumps all over to purchase. Then you must be a 'businessman' to get it produced, marketed, etc, etc. And, usually, it doesn't become 'fun anymore'. :-( .... Good Luck!

 

[BC38]

BC: Not true! Go to a few Armorer's classes; go to a gunsmithing school someplace for at least a year and then work under four different competent gunsmiths for a year each. Every one of them will add something new to your skill base. It is all just basic knowledge and can be found written about by experts (Jerry Kuhnhausen) and non experts (well I won't name any now, but don't temp me ). I have been working on guns since I turned 16. It is all just accumulated knowledge. If you love to work with your hands and expensive machinery you will have the motivation to jump into the gunsmithing/pistolsmithing field. Just be aware that it doesn't pay very well just fixing and rebuilding guns. To make any kind of money you have to innovate a product or two that the public jumps all over to purchase. Then you must be a 'businessman' to get it produced, marketed, etc, etc. And, usually, it doesn't become 'fun anymore'. :-( .... Good Luck!

While I appreciate the guidance and I don't doubt that I am capable of learning as much as members like yourself, I say it is unlikely just because I am nearing retirement and have no desire to embark on a new career. If I ever have such a desire, then gunsmithing would certainly be one of the more interesting ventures to try my hand at. Since you started gunsmithing at the tender age of 16 it is also unlikely that I have enough years left in me to accumulate experience to equal yours in the time I have left, even if I started today.

I am an engineer by training and a lifelong hobbiest mechanic and fabricator, so I am good with my hands, but it is all strictly shade-tree, non-precision work. I don't own any lathes or mills, etc. Nothing more sophisticated than a drill press and a set of calipers.

I was just theorizing about a POSSIBLE way to DIY a barrel swap based on what I thought I remembered reading....

 

[Skeetr57]

BC 38: The method you propose will certainly work, with the exception of the pipe wrench. I have changed several S&W barrels that way without damaging the frame. The biggest problem with any method is to get the barrel to clock into position if you don't have a lathe or some method to uniformly remove metal from the shoulder of the barrel. I suspect that the factory assemblers did it with a hollow milling tool turned by hand as that would be the most efficient way.

 

[BC38]

BC 38: The method you propose will certainly work, with the exception of the pipe wrench. I have changed several S&W barrels that way without damaging the frame. The biggest problem with any method is to get the barrel to clock into position if you don't have a lathe or some method to uniformly remove metal from the shoulder of the barrel. I suspect that the factory assemblers did it with a hollow milling tool turned by hand as that would be the most efficient way.

Yeah, on the pipe wrench aspect, my thinking was that for removing the damaged barrel, who cares about leaving marks on it - it's trashed anyway. For installing the new one, a heavy layer of leather would serve to pad the jaws sufficiently to prevent marking the new barrel. Crude, I know, but seemed like it might work.

Just curious, what would you suggest - other than a pipe wrench - or a barrel wrench (something that 99.9% of us non-armorers aren't going to have)?

 

[Wiregrassguy]

Strap wrench. You could likely make one from an old belt.

 

[BC38]

Strap wrench. You could likely make one from an old belt.

That makes sense. Though the commercial ones I've seen wouldn't be anywhere near stout enough for this job, but from your reply I'm guessing they make ones that are....

 

[Skeetr57]

What I have used in the past was a smooth jaw adjustable wrench against the ejector lug, with a piece of sheet copper between the wrench jaws and the barrel.

 

[BC38]

What I have used in the past was a smooth jaw adjustable wrench against the ejector lug, with a piece of sheet copper between the wrench jaws and the barrel.

Fairly close to the same idea I had. The crescent wrench and copper sounds like it would work - if you have the copper. A crescent wrench and a piece of leather might also work...

 

[Hondo44]

I always use blue masking tape against the blued surface, then leather or whatever.

 

[BigBill]

I changed my first barrel on a German 98k 8mm Mauser. The headspace was dead on. I built/reworked a norinco 1911a1. She shoots clusters and cloverleaf. I fixed a h&r 22 revolver by adjusting the cylinder lock up slots.
I'm tired of paying people to do shabby workmanship when I can do it myself.

 

[Highridinyota]

Just an update . I have a barrel coming in the mail . Should be here any day now . I'll post pics when I do the swap

 

[BC38]

Just an update . I have a barrel coming in the mail . Should be here any day now . I'll post pics when I do the swap

Are you doing it yourself - or having it done?

 

[rbg63]

The barrel that was available from numrich was for a .38 S&W not a .38 Special

 

[Dewy12]

After the kindness shown to you, the many helpful responses and the time that you have put into this; I predict that this will be your favorite shooter very soon. Good luck and let us know.