Is anyone out there still able to convert a Model 28 to 44 Special?

[Stopsign32v]

I certainly missed the boat but I would like a shooter 5 inch Model 28 in 44 Special.

Does anyone here know if/of any gunsmiths of the old days that are still able to do this?

 

[Muley Gil]

The hard part these days is finding a barrel.

 

[Model29-26.5]

I don’t think there’s a 5” 28 anywhere.
As far as I am aware yhey made 4”, 6” and a very limited amount of 8 inch… of which I’ve only ever seen one and I don’t think it was the original barrel anyway.
If you did find a 5 inch 28.. It would be extremely rare and the last thing you’d wanna do is mess with it at all

 

[Vtgw938]

5 inch 44 Special barrel.

 

[Grayfox]

28s have become somewhat collectable in themselves. They ain't cheap anymore. I wouldn't cut one up.
S&W has been making .44 Specials for over 100 years now. 5" barrels were quite popular in pre-war models. Finding a shooter grade gun shouldn't be too hard.

 

[TJm15.38]

My advice is to leave it as it is. If you want a .44 caliber gun, go out and find one.

 

[Shotguncoach]

You might want to consider buying a 24-3 with a 6” barrel and just having the barrel shortened…

 

[Engine49guy]

If you can live with a 4" barrel why not just buy one of the new Lipseys 4" no lock stainless steel .44 Mountain guns ?
Will have a factory warranty and probably cost less.
Msrp is $1199.00

 

[STCM(SW)]

When it comes to a .44 Spl for field use I had a 1950 5 screw target 6" cut to 5" ramp sight.
Fits in the holster better and is my ideal back up for Deer or Elk hunting...

 

[stansdds]

40+ years ago, converting a Model 28 to 44 Special was a fairly popular thing to do, given that there were plenty of Model 28's and they were cheap compared to N-frames chambered in the .44 and .45 calibers. Times have changed, the Model 28 has been long out of production, it is entering collector territory and they are no longer cheap. I would not alter a Model 28 today unless it has been refinished or subjected to significant abuse or neglect.

 

[glenwolde]

40+ years ago, converting a Model 28 to 44 Special was a fairly popular thing to do, given that there were plenty of Model 28's and they were cheap compared to N-frames chambered in the .44 and .45 calibers. Times have changed, the Model 28 has been long out of production, it is entering collector territory and they are no longer cheap. I would not alter a Model 28 today unless it has been refinished or subjected to significant abuse or neglect.

Not to mention the lack of readily available .44 barrels. They did it because it was a relatively inexpensive way to get a .44 when they were hard to get. That's not true anymore as you say. It would be cheaper to just buy a production .44.

 

[StrawHat]

Andy Horvath, Frank Glenn, they are both still in business and can do that work. Either find a 5’” 44 S&W Special barrel or supply a 6” Model 28. The 5” barrel will be fit and installed. The 6” barrel will be cut, bored and rifled. No big deal either way.

Great project and not a huge money pit. The end result may not be the $ sum of the parts but it will be unique and yours!

I converted a 4” Model 28-2 to 45 ACP more than 4 decades ago. Why? I wanted one and S&W had not offered one except on extremely special order. So, I built one.

Kevin

 

[walkin' trails]

Hamilton Bowen was known to do first rate, heirloom grade conversions. That being said, I join the other who recommend leaving it alone and finding a Model 24. Or, some version of a Model 29 that is fairly common and you can customize to your specifications. And the .44 Mag would be more versatile. Remember we basically wouldn’t have the Model 29 if Elmer Keith hadn’t kept blowing up .44 Specials.

 

[Muley Gil]

Hamilton Bowen was known to do first rate, heirloom grade conversions. That being said, I join the other who recommend leaving it alone and finding a Model 24. Or, some version of a Model 29 that is fairly common and you can customize to your specifications. And the .44 Mag would be more versatile. Remember we basically wouldn’t have the Model 29 if Elmer Keith hadn’t kept blowing up .44 Specials.

Why do folks keep repeating this Bull Stuff? Yes, he did blow up two .45 Colt Single Action Army revolvers. Elmer went to the .44 Special because of the thicker cylinder walls.

Dick Casull blew up revolvers too and nobody talks about his experiments.

Setting the Record Straight …

We’ve all heard the story of Elmer Keith blowing up his Colt SAA .45 Colt that fateful morning celebrating Independence Day as a youngster. Each time the story is told, a slightly different rendition is shared. Not purposely, but simply human error/memory deficits and how each teller remembers it.

americanhandgunner.com

 

[steelslaver]

Once again ELMER KEITH ONLY BLEW UP 1 or possibly 2 GUNS, and those were single action 45 Colt revolvers using a compressed load of 32 gr of modified FFG powder and a soft lead bullets sized at .457. The 1 or 2 being debatable due to his own writings



He then switched to 44 specials because they had thicker cylinder walls, but never blew one up.

I see Muley typed faster.

 

[Green Frog]

Frog Rule #23: Do not convert an existing gun unless the end product would not be available on the market or would be so rare or cost so much it would far exceed the price of your proposed conversion.

A Model 24 would be a lot more reachable than the conversion you propose which would cost the price of your host gun plus North of $1000 in parts and labor. Not an economical strategy.

Admittedly, I’ve only owned 4 conversions… a pair of Fred Schmitt PPC Guns I bought complete from Fred’s estate, Project 616 because Smith never made a stainless K frame 327 Fed Mag, and my faux Model 16-3 because I fell onto a NOS 16-3 barrel and found a beat up, common Model 14-3 donor… even with the barrel in hand, that project cost over $1700 all in, but old Model 16s make hen’s teeth look abundant!

If you still want to do the conversion, I’ve used Andy Horvath (Project 616) with satisfaction and have heard good things about Frank Glenn. As far as I know, Hamilton Bowen is no longer working on Smiths, limiting his work to Rugers.

 

[walkin' trails]

I stand corrected.

 

[Lt.Donn]

If you can live with a 4" barrel why not just buy one of the new Lipseys 4" no lock stainless steel .44 Mountain guns ?
Will have a factory warranty and probably cost less.
Msrp is $1199.00

Those R very handsome revolvers...if I still had my NM ranch, I'd carry one of those everywhere

 

[Okie Red]

Not to mention the lack of readily available .44 barrels. They did it because it was a relatively inexpensive way to get a .44 when they were hard to get. That's not true anymore as you say. It would be cheaper to just buy a production .44.

 

[bph9]

I certainly missed the boat but I would like a shooter 5 inch Model 28 in 44 Special.

Does anyone here know if/of any gunsmiths of the old days that are still able to do this?

Why bother you are trying to reinvent the wheel. The Smith .44mag is an "N" frame and so is the M28 Smith and you can shoot .44 specials out of the Smith M29 44 mag and have the 6 inch barrel shortened to 5 inches, why you would do this I do not know. A 4 inch revolver or 3 Inch is the one to carry and the 6 inch gives you more accurate shooting and less recoil and muzzle blast if you are a target shooter or weekend Dirty Harry.

If you got money to burn and that is what you want I am sure you will find a gunsmith to do this just check his reputation out first (and expect at least a year wait) for I have gotten burned with overpricing and shoddy workmanship in my younger years which made me very cautious later in life as well as asking myself "Do I really need this and will anyone want to buy my Frankenmonster gun if I need to sell it in the future"?

I learned the hard way after having a custom built Sako 22-250 built that since it was not "factory original" no one wanted it or knew what they should pay for it as it had no Blue Book Value. Even though it had a custom match barrel on it, no one wanted it. Lesson learned, "what is one man's dream boat is the public's frankenmonster gun that none of them want".

And by the way everyone I ever knew who bought a M28 (because he wanted to save a few bucks over buying the much better M27) regretted it.