15-4 rebarrel?
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austintexas
Member
Rebarreling
It's not rocket science, I've done a Highway Patrolman, M-15 and the only one I needed the proper frame wrench is a Victory model the the barrel wouldn't pop loose with my usual piece of lumber that fit in the frame opening. The M-15 had a cracked forcing cone, bought a used barrel ($25) and it screwed right on and was indexed, a little file work and the cylinder clearance was good. M-28 was easy, I pulled the barrel and cylinder and I sent it off to be converted to 45 Colt. Everything screwed back together perfect. Victory Model had the barrel chopped to 2", bought a used M-10 barrel $20 and screwed it on and it indexed, again I had to adjust he cylinder gap. I takes longer to set up the frame tool than it does to change the barrels.
SWCA 892
Note! If the barrel doesn't come loose with a medium pull, get a gunsmith to take it off otherwise you may tweak the frame.
OK, just noticed it was a -4, Those barrels may be a crush fit , so all my rambling was a wast of time, I've never done a crush fit revolver.
It's not rocket science, I've done a Highway Patrolman, M-15 and the only one I needed the proper frame wrench is a Victory model the the barrel wouldn't pop loose with my usual piece of lumber that fit in the frame opening. The M-15 had a cracked forcing cone, bought a used barrel ($25) and it screwed right on and was indexed, a little file work and the cylinder clearance was good. M-28 was easy, I pulled the barrel and cylinder and I sent it off to be converted to 45 Colt. Everything screwed back together perfect. Victory Model had the barrel chopped to 2", bought a used M-10 barrel $20 and screwed it on and it indexed, again I had to adjust he cylinder gap. I takes longer to set up the frame tool than it does to change the barrels.
SWCA 892
Note! If the barrel doesn't come loose with a medium pull, get a gunsmith to take it off otherwise you may tweak the frame.
OK, just noticed it was a -4, Those barrels may be a crush fit , so all my rambling was a wast of time, I've never done a crush fit revolver.
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My M67-1 was the first used gun I bought sight unseen. When I got it, I found the barrel was bulged. After some thought, I called around to gunsmiths who specialized in building PPC revolvers and asked about take-off barrels. I got one that appeared unfired and had it installed and I was in business.
If you get a 6" take-off barrel from a M14-something, there may be a mismatch between the grooves on the barrel and the grooves on the front of the frame.
If you get a 6" take-off barrel from a M14-something, there may be a mismatch between the grooves on the barrel and the grooves on the front of the frame.
StrawHat
Member
Just figured once you bite the bullet on a rebarrel mine as well start with a nice blank.
Also looking to go toward more of a target shooting than a service/carry application, hence the move from 4 to 6".
Not opposed to a factory barrel at all, open to ideas.
FWIW frame will probably be reblued at some point if that matters.
Also looking to go toward more of a target shooting than a service/carry application, hence the move from 4 to 6".
Not opposed to a factory barrel at all, open to ideas.
FWIW frame will probably be reblued at some point if that matters.
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StrawHat
Member
This PPC revolver was built for the purpose of lobbing 148 grain wadcutters into the X ring at 50 yards with boring regularity. It was built by Davi but I have no idea where he sourced the barrels.
It started as a S&W Model 64.
It is still fun to shoot.
Kevin
It started as a S&W Model 64.
It is still fun to shoot.
Kevin
Engine49guy
Member
Problem you will have is that your15-4 uses the old narrow rib profile barrel, the frames
edges were notched to make it more appealing cosmetically, if you put a wide rib barrel on your 15-4 frame it won't mate cosmetically.
If you want it to look right you'd have to find a narrow rib barrel from a 6" K38 Masterpiece made sometime between 1946 and 1954.
The wide rib barrels were introduced in 1950 and sold at the same time as the narrow rib barrels 1950-1954, the 6" narrow rib ended in 1955.
All this is assuming your 15-4 is a 4" not a 2" snub which is different.
On a side note the 15-5 and up have a wide rib barrel and frame .
edges were notched to make it more appealing cosmetically, if you put a wide rib barrel on your 15-4 frame it won't mate cosmetically.
If you want it to look right you'd have to find a narrow rib barrel from a 6" K38 Masterpiece made sometime between 1946 and 1954.
The wide rib barrels were introduced in 1950 and sold at the same time as the narrow rib barrels 1950-1954, the 6" narrow rib ended in 1955.
All this is assuming your 15-4 is a 4" not a 2" snub which is different.
On a side note the 15-5 and up have a wide rib barrel and frame .
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At this point, you would be far ahead to get a barrel with 1 in 10 twist from a Douglas or Walther blank. I prefer Walther, but they are both good. The 1 in 18-3/4 twist in a factory barrel is too slow to properly stabilize light (slow) target loads. The 1 in 10 barrel will shoot tighter groups. That's why all the PPC guns were rebarreled.
Clark is not same, be careful, just discontinued all Govt 45 work too, ordered a SSR refunded my $500 deposit after 10 months
Good to know! Who stocks blanks?
Who ever you have doing the work is going to take care of sourcing the barrel blanks*. However, the local gun plumber may not have the machinery, tooling and so forth. If you're going to go full custom, contact someone like Alex Hamilton at Ten Ring Precision. Be sitting down when you ask about pricing.
* Most barrel blanks are 28 inches or more long, something approaching 1 1/4 in in diameter. That Davis gun pictured above used a special order blank that cost oodles. Unless there's a tensioned barrel tube inside a sleeve made from flat stock.
It'd cost some but a wider barrel rib could be machined to match the frame.
* Most barrel blanks are 28 inches or more long, something approaching 1 1/4 in in diameter. That Davis gun pictured above used a special order blank that cost oodles. Unless there's a tensioned barrel tube inside a sleeve made from flat stock.
It'd cost some but a wider barrel rib could be machined to match the frame.
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Pistol length blanks are available, but they always seem to cost a lot more per foot than rifle length. You can get 4 6" barrels out of a rifle blank. I will either use the rest of the blank for other projects or sell off the remainder to someone else for their project.
I can't swear to it, but back when, we were told to make sure that the bullets go down the barrel in the same direction as the rifling button. It's easy to tell which way that is with the complete blank, when I cut shorter pieces, I marked the muzzle ends as that was going to be dressed anyway.
The increased cost per foot is for machine work. The first and last inch/inch and a half of each blank is considered unsuitable for use and is cut off and scraped. Then, you're cutting the blanks into sections.
The increased cost per foot is for machine work. The first and last inch/inch and a half of each blank is considered unsuitable for use and is cut off and scraped. Then, you're cutting the blanks into sections.
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That's how I do mine. When I get a barrel blank, I use a silver Sharpie marker to make a line the length of the blank. Then I make arrow heads about every 2 inches along the line pointing the way the bullet should go. After a piece is cut off the blank, it's still clear which end should be what, even with a bandsaw cut on each end.
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