K frame 327 project

[Green Frog]

Steelslaver, I believe we are in agreement in our philosophy concerning custom builds. Seeing those Model 10 receivers at J&G has reawakened the old dream of building “bespoke” revolvers. I remember seeing the ads 40 years ago where they had 357 Highway Patrolman frames and cylinders available for the folks who wanted 44 Spl or 45 Colt N frames when they weren’t readily available. At that time it even made sense to buy a complete Model 28, new or used for this type of project.

This conversation has come up here many times (probably with you and me participating) and the consensus seems to be that we are “justified” in building a gun that either never existed as a factory model from S&W, such as our K frame 327s, or one that is so rare, expensive, and hard to find like the N frame 44 Spl and 45 Colt were back then. It helps if the “donor gun” is in some way compromised or if it is a very common model… who knows what the next big collector craze will be.

Finally, it comes down to pleasing yourself. Will the use and pride of ownership you get out of it exceed the cost? For you, with the ability to do the smithing yourself, this is more clear cut than for those of us who pay to have all but the simplest work done, but in the end we all have to “count the cost”. I salute you on this latest build and continue to admire (OK, maybe envy) each of your projects and eagerly await the next.

Regards,
Froggie

 

[Green Frog]

A comment on finding parts when needed. The British Enfield barrels may be found with .311 bores and if you find one with a bad chamber or muzzle you can still salvage enough good material for one or two of the special liners like you described at the beginning of this project. Just a thought.

Froggie

 

[steelslaver]

A comment on finding parts when needed. The British Enfield barrels may be found with .311 bores and if you find one with a bad chamber or muzzle you can still salvage enough good material for one or two of the special liners like you described at the beginning of this project. Just a thought.

Froggie

I actual checked those out. They have a 1-10 twist rate which is a bit fast. Almost nobody makes any .312 barrel either. Green Mountain has 27" 32-20 barrel blanks for $200+ with a 1-22 twist. S&W 32-20 barrels show up from time to time. You could turn one of those down to make a liner like I did or take one remove sight cut a groove down the top with an end mill and cut the rib off a old 38 or 22 barrel and silver solder it on and you done. If you wanted a fix sight gun, just cut to length you want and silver solder a front sight on.

I still got a bit of the 32-20 barrel I bought.


Right now I have my 8 3/8" 500 in the shop with the muzzle end cut off deciding how long I really want it. Plus, a Ruger Old Army with the barrel off it and a 20" .452 blank in my lathe, turning it down to make a 16 1/2" carbine barrel for the Old Army.