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sgt 0311

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Back on board after about a year for more advice and help.
Bought this Brazilian with 2 barrel bulges for $85.00. It is in excellent shape and I have found a NOS barrel with the following marking.

FABRICA DE ITAJUBA
Rv. 45 M917

The seller claimed these barrels were made as replacements by Brazil during WWII when S&W was too busy.
Has anyone had any experience with these barrels?
Now I need to find the right smith to do the change. Thought about calling S&W Performance Center. Good idea or not?
Thanks in advance for any help, suggestions and advise.
 
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Can't tell you about the barrel, but any gunsmith should be able to replace a barrel and make sure the barrel/cylinder gap is correct.

I suspect staff at S&W would not undertake the work because the model is so old.
 
Where are the bulges? I would love to have an excuse to cut a 1937 barrel down to 3 1/2". Also I don't think S&W will work on a revolver that old, IIRC if it doesn't have a model number stamped they won't touch it.
 
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The seller claimed these barrels were made as replacements by Brazil during WWII when S&W was too busy.
Click to expand...
ITAJUBA is in SouthEast Brazil, so you know where it was made. Whether Brazil made these themselves in order to save money or for the reason stated, I do not know. It's probably a good enough barrel, and you may have a very hard time finding a genuine S&W replacement barrel for reasonable money. It may be worth looking around, though. If it was me, I would rather mount a S&W barrel and sell the knock-off.

Either way, it sounds like you will come out of it with a great shooter at very little cost.
 
Numrich has new production 1917 barrels right now. They are new ones made for the 1917 Classic series. If you are looking for a shooter, it should work. S&W won't work on anything prior to about 1957.
 
tennexplorer said:
Numrich has new production 1917 barrels right now. They are new ones made for the 1917 Classic series. If you are looking for a shooter, it should work. S&W won't work on anything prior to about 1957.
Click to expand...

These new Model 22 barrels from Numrich have the odd looking front sights (and the sight is pinned). I suppose with a little bit of work, it could be made to resemble a pre-war profile, though.
 
Have you tried shooting your gun as is with light cast bullet handloads?
Depending on where the bulges are you might be surprised at the
accuracy you will get.
 
Thanks to eveyone for the help. I am going to have the Itajuba barrel put on if I can find a good pistol smith.
 
The Brazilian national small arms facilities are now called IMBEL and are located in Itajuba. It is a sort of government/private hybrid that makes both military and civilian firearms. They have a history of making excellent quality guns; Fabrique d' National licensed them to make the FN-FAL rifle and sometimes bought parts from IMBEL to use in their own Belgian-made FALs. Currently IMBEL makes the 1911's sold by Springfield Armory, Inc.

The barrel you have is probably of excellent quality.

I have a 1917 replacement barrel marked "I.N.A." I believe it was manufactured in the Philipines. Toolmarks all over it.
 
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Thanks BUFF, now I feel better about the Itajuba barrel. It appears to be perfect in every respect, but I can not help but wonder why no one has ever seen or heard of one. Maybe if this thread hangs on long enough I will hear from someone.
 
I just traded for a 45 caliber revolver barrel marked (fabrica de itajuba rv45 m917) marked on the barrel 45 caliber 6 shot revolver. I think this is the same pistol talked about in this thread. What is the pistol frame style? I know nothing about this pistol has very hard to read markings GHS I think, it's all within its self like a circle, gun appears to be in very good condition the older gentalman I received it from said he had been shooting it in competision at a local club, I would guess the man to be at least in his late 70's or early 80's and in a wheel chair. any information would be appreciated respond to [email protected]
 
56lonewolf, the revolver in question is what is currently referred to as the S&W "N-frame." Until recently it was the biggest thing they made and used for .357 Mag through .41 Mag, .44 SPL and Mag, an on to .45 ACP and Colt. That particular variant you have was "invented" at the time of WW I when the arsenals couldn't produce sufficient 1911 Colt autoloaders. It used the same .45 ACP round, but with "half moon clips" to make up for the lack of a rim on the case. Later, the government of Brazil contracted with S&W for a bunch of these same guns (that were pretty much surplus at S&W anyway by then) and a whole new batch went out.

Assuming you are correct that you have the gun mentioned by the OP, or even one similar to it, you have one of the later release guns that has been rebarreled at a later time using a barrel made by a Brazilian factory but to S&W design and specs. I hope this will help you understand what you're dealing with.

Regards (and welcome to the board)
Green Frog

PS If I can be of further assistance, be sure to ask here or by PM.

PPS Just to make my answer a little more complete, Colt did the same thing during WW I using their "New Service" frame, but AFAIK, they never got a similar contract with Brazil. The only thing that you can count on interchanging between the S&W and the Colt is the clips and ammo.
 
Lonewolf, welcome to the forum. The GHS cartouche is an inspection mark for guns accepted into service in WWI. With a later Brazilian barrel, I would expect your gun may have had a complicated history.

The gun should have some markings on the butt unless they have been ground off. If it does not have a lanyard ring, it was removed. In that case you should see a hole in the bottom of the frame -- maybe open, maybe plugged.

Maybe we can get closer on the date if you can give us a serial number. That ought to be on the butt, but if it's not check the rear face of the cylinder and tell us what number you see there. Ignore any numbers that you can see on the front part of the frame when the cylinder is swung out. They don't count.

Green Frog is right about the frame size. To be specific, your gun started as US Army Model of 1917. In the first four decades of N-frame production, S&W made more of these 1917 revolvers in .45 ACP than all other large-frame models combined.
 
Mack said:
Where are the bulges? I would love to have an excuse to cut a 1937 barrel down to 3 1/2". Also I don't think S&W will work on a revolver that old, IIRC if it doesn't have a model number stamped they won't touch it.
Click to expand...

I'm with Mack, if you've got the room chop the barrel, it's not like you're talking about ruining collector value. I've got a chopped and bobbed Brazilian and it's pretty damn cool, heck of a shooter, too.

SDC11238.JPG
 
I'd kiss Jamie Lee Curtis's daddy on the lips[well,maybe on the cheek] to get my hands on a Brazilian to chop and channel. Nick
 
I've seen Brazilians wearing barrels that were replaced in Brazil with the Brazilian made barrels. I would use it.
 
My wife told me she wanted a Brazilian so I grabbed the keys and headed for the LGS. She asked me where I was going and when I told her she said to go in the living room and sit down. Still not sure why she changed her mind so quickly.:rolleyes:
 
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