Mod 28s converted to 44 spl

[Muley Gil]

I wouldn't worry much about the notch not leaving enough metal. 357 cylinders are the exact same OD with the exact same notch depth as 44 magnum cylinders and even 45 ACP and colt cylinders. The 45 acp cylinders are rated for 23,000psi and some guys regularly shoot 45 supers at 28,000psi in them.

Having reamed N frame 357 cylinders to 44 special and 45 colt which is has a .0115 bigger chamber radius than the 44s and 44 mag cylinders to 45 colt never once had a problem, even firing 45 colt loads in the 23-25,000psi range, I can't figure out where this information comes from. An over sized reamer? A batch of cylinders with overly deep notches? Over pressure loads?

When Skeeter started having these conversions built, some of the M28 cylinders that he had did indeed have overly deep notches. In fact, at least .45 Colt reboring left a chamber with a hole in it, directly over the notch!

He discarded that one and used a different cylinder!

I don't remember which issue of Shooting Times this article was in but it was around 1975.

 

[Jim Watson]

As I recall Skeeterisms, that led him to rechamber to .44 instead of .45.

 

[Pizza Bob]

I've posted this one before...

Model 28-2 converted by George Matthews of Downey, CA ca. 1973. Barrel is an original S&W Model 23 barrel and when George rebored the cylinder he made the chambers rebated. Hard to see in the picture, but he changed the front sight from the original Patridge to a Baughman ramp with a gold insert. Monogrip is a one-off of Micarta and the ProPoint is a first generation when Tasco's optics were still made in Japan. This has had thousands of "Skeeter loads" through it and accounted for numerous turkeys and hams at local club shoots. Not going anywhere until I'm six feet under.

Adios,

Pizza Bob

 

[Green Frog]

There is a big difference in trying to buy and trying to sell one of these. If selling, it seems everyone grades it down because it’s not original. OTOH, if you try to find one to buy, the seller will think it’s made of platinum plated unobtanium.
The bottom line is, if you got it at a price you’re willing to pay with the idea of keeping and shooting it, you did well. If it was an investment, I can only hope you got it cheap!
As in all opinions, YMMV, but this is mine.
Froggie

 

[DETROIT]

Remove the grips and take some better pics, the value in this revolver will come from the smith that modified it. Also don’t judge a modified revolver based on this boards opinion. This board is heavily purest driven, with a small amount of modified collectors.

 

[Retired W4]

I have a 28-2 with a 44 barrel and recessed chambers. Whoever did the conversion left all the HP bead blast areas in tact. The gun is super accurate. I paid a thousand bucks for it and it's worth every penny of it. Kim stocks added by me.

 

[austintexas]

Conversion

In the late 70s I sent a cylinder and barrel from a M-28 To a gunsmith in Delaware. For $80.00 he re-bored the cylinder and barrel. All I had to do was re-screw the barrel back on and Instant 45 Colt. The only minor problem was factory ammo was too long to shoot. The lead bullet would stick out of the cylinder. If you reloaded semi-wadcutters you were fine. The too long lead nosed bullets were fixed by rubbing the nose of the bullet on the concrete until it no longer protruded. I traded that revolver for a Marlin 35 Remington to go hunting. Saw it once later in a pawnshop. Kinda wish I had it back, With the 357 barrel it was much lighter than a 25-5.
SWCA 892

 

[Muley Gil]

As I recall Skeeterisms, that led him to rechamber to .44 instead of .45.

Skeeter had both .44 Specials and .45 Colts built on M28 frames. He wrote about the .44 conversions first.

 

[ruger 22]

I guess I am at a bit of a loss. I was into trapshooting for many years and have seen shooters buy high end trap guns for many thousands and immediately start having chokes reamed and chambers backbored claiming the achievement of better patterns and recoil reduction. Rarely have their scores increased but for sure their guns' values went down. As to this topic why not just leave the 28s as 357 and if one desires a 44 buy a Special or Magnum? What can a 44 Special do that a 357 cannot and is not getting a new gun more fun?

 

[StrawHat]

… to this topic why not just leave the 28s as 357 and if one desires a 44 buy a Special or Magnum? What can a 44 Special do that a 357 cannot and is not getting a new gun more fun?

My thoughts, because when these conversions were popular,

1. the Model 28-2 was as common as mud after a rain and valued about the same.

2. S&W was not offering big bore revolvers or only in very limited quantities.

I mentioned my 45 ACP Model 28-2. I was a street cop who wanted something more than the 357 Model 19 I was issued. I happen to like the 45 ACP but dislike self loaders. Well, the number of 4” ACP revolvers made by S&W prior to the 1990s could be counted on two hands and were priced accordingly. My solution was to take my Model 28-2, remove the barrel, ship it to Dick Nickel to be bored and rifled for the ACP bullet. Fit a new cylinder and frame lug. Install the barrel when it was returned. Round the grip frame.

The result is here in the thumbnail, click for a larger image.

Would I do it again? Only if the revolver I wanted was not built by the factory.

Kevin

 

[22hipower]

I guess I am at a bit of a loss. I was into trapshooting for many years and have seen shooters buy high end trap guns for many thousands and immediately start having chokes reamed and chambers backbored claiming the achievement of better patterns and recoil reduction. Rarely have their scores increased but for sure their guns' values went down. As to this topic why not just leave the 28s as 357 and if one desires a 44 buy a Special or Magnum? What can a 44 Special do that a 357 cannot and is not getting a new gun more fun?

True, but different strokes for different folks is what makes a market. Some just like to punch a bigger hole in what they're shooting at. When many of these modifications were completed 44s, and 45s, were in limited supply especially in the shorter barrel lengths.

Jeff
SWCA #1457

 

[Muley Gil]

I guess I am at a bit of a loss. I was into trapshooting for many years and have seen shooters buy high end trap guns for many thousands and immediately start having chokes reamed and chambers backbored claiming the achievement of better patterns and recoil reduction. Rarely have their scores increased but for sure their guns' values went down. As to this topic why not just leave the 28s as 357 and if one desires a 44 buy a Special or Magnum? What can a 44 Special do that a 357 cannot and is not getting a new gun more fun?

When Skeeter Skelton started converting M28s into .44 Specials, it had been close to 10 years since S&W had dropped all of their .44 Special revolvers. The company had never offered the .45 Colt as a regular cataloged chambering.

As to why the .44 Special instead of the .357 Magnum, the .44 can push a larger diameter semi wadcutter bullet that is almost 100 grains heavier with a lot less noise and pressure.

 

[Green Frog]

The trap shooters, as well as other competitors, fit into a whole other category. “Been there, done that” only for me it was target pistols of the semi auto genre. No one knows greater devotion to his guns (or the next “best” one to come along) than that certain breed of competitor. My Colt Gov’t 45s and High Standard 22s got to be like an erector set to be taken apart and put together like toys for big boys.

As for building custom revolvers, I follow a few basic criteria;
1) Is it available as a factory offering commonly seen and priced accordingly?
2) Will I have to permanently alter a desirable gun that is likely to suffer significant loss of value?
3) Do I really want/need the planned product?
4) Can I afford to have it done right?

If #s 3, & 4 can be answered yes and #1 & 2 probably no, then I go for it. Those are my criteria, you have to decide for yourself.

Froggie

PS I will say I let my projects mature for a fairly long time before I finally answer #3. I say I let it mature, others just say I’m lazy and the project is festering!

 

[Shotguncoach]

I bought a very poorly done M28 conversion that I ended up un-converting back to .357 magnum. The details are in the 'smithing section here.

When I do my own conversion it's going to be on a M27-3 frame with a .44 special barrel and cylinder...tentatively scheduled for sometime in February.

 

[Tom K]

Here's my Highway Patrolman converted to .44 Special. You can read more about it here (The seldom-seen 8-3/8" .44 Special) with the specifics laid out in post #17.

Here's the "Before" picture.

 

[StrawHat]

…

When I do my own conversion it's going to be on a M27-3 frame with a .44 special barrel and cylinder...tentatively scheduled for sometime in February.

Will you be checkering the top rib of the barrel?

Kevin

 

[Retired W4]

When I saw my 28-2 44 special up at auction it seemed like some people were confused, including myself, because I was not familiar with these conversions. After I got it to the range I was totally impressed. I can give my 44 HE 4th Model Target "pre-24" a rest. With the 6 1/2" barrels they are not much for concealed carry but they can be very accurate.

 

[Shotguncoach]

Will you be checkering the top rib of the barrel?

Kevin

It'll be getting a 3" barrel from a 624, so there won't be much to checker. I need to do a trial assembly and see how it looks. It will depend on what rear sight gets used. If the rear sight is checkered then the front sight ramp should be checkered also. If I end up using a serrated rear sight without checkering, then it may look better to leave the front ramp as-is. We'll find out.

 

[Model29-26.5]

With a full BBL fitted, why not a full 44 mag? Will the 44 mag cylinder fit?
Thanks

 

[Muley Gil]

With a full BBL fitted, why not a full 44 mag? Will the 44 mag cylinder fit?
Thanks

A lot of us like the lighter, handier .44 Special.

Yes, a .44 Magnum cylinder will fit. However, the rear of the barrel will have to be trimmed because the magnum cylinder is longer than the Special cylinder.

Please note than some of the newer .44 Specials did use a longer, Magnum length cylinder. IIRC, the M21-4 falls into this category.