Triple Lock sn# 2747 chambered in .22 Long Rifle

gripper

gripper

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My son Chase and I attended our local gun show this morning in Princeton, Il. It's a gun show I have been going to since I was little. It's hit and miss for the most part, but can usually find something to bring home. It started out well as I found a very nice 1st addition of Theodore Roosevelt's "African Game Trails". After some more looking I spotted a gun marked .455 1st model. I picked it up and much to my surprise it was chambered in .22 LR. I really didn't think for a minute it was factory original, but after looking over the conversion it was definitely first rate work. The gun has been British proofed. It has also been refinished....I assume at the same time as the conversion. The refinish job was very well done as the gun is not over polished or ruined in any way. I fired the gun when I got home and it shoots dead on with a six o'clock hold at 15 yards, so someone had their act together when they modified the front sight. It's really quite a unique piece. There are no caliber stamps on the barrel and I don't think there ever was as the patent dates and proof marks are very crisp, so that rules out any polishing out of the caliber stamps. Please check the pics out share your thoughts...

Chad Gripp

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Most conversions ruin guns but that has every appearance of a first class job by a true craftsman. It was a ton of work to do but makes a very cool revolver, congrats!
Good score on the book as well.
 
Excellant workmanship. I've seen quite a few of the British conversions on S&Ws and must say that the time and effort they put into these convesions is amazing. Nice find.
 
Chad,
That is a very cool find. I agree that the work looks very, very well done. Gosh, if it were possible to find out who did the work then that would be some interesting info. Thanks for sharing this one. Daniel.
 
So Cool that I need my Shades...

Thanks for sharing the great pics of a very well done conversion. An N-Frame 22 LR would have come home with me as well.

Super Cool!!!:cool:
 
That is simply outstanding.

Thanks for sharing.
 
Now that is a special gun, and cool beyond description. Hats off to the anonymous and excellent smith who did the conversion, and congratulations to you for jumping on it the moment you saw it.

An N-frame .22! Now my heart burns for one of those. Surely if there can be one, there could be another someplace. Right?

The overlong sleeves that permit counterboring the charge holes are very clever. And I love the hammer treatment. That is exactly the modification to a centerfire hammer that I have been considering if I am unable to find the prewar .22/32 hammer that I need.

"Like" isn't strong enough to express my appreciation for this gun. "infatuated" or "besotted" would be closer to describing my state of mind.
 
Why did I pass that up? I saw it, but was fixated on finding something else, I guess. This show is a lot of fun. It is a "country show" for sure; free parking, and $2 to get in. You never know what you will find. Most times I leave empty handed, but one stellar Saturday I scored a Terrier, a Second Model .44 five inch, and a Savage 99T in 30/30. Talk about a blind hog finding an acorn!
 
The craftsmanship is just impeccable. Can you imagine what it would cost today to have such a conversion done to that standard?

I'm especially intrigued by the ejector star, and wondering just how that was engineered, fabricated, and fitted.
 
That's got to be one of the heaviest .22 revolvers made!!:D

Neat, but I don't think I would want to sacrifice an original to make one.....
 
Fantastic! Definitely would have walked out with that one. Great find.
 
I can understand why someone would build something like that, but I have no clue why they would ever let it go-------maybe because they could build another one anytime they wanted to do so. Count your blessings!!

Ralph Tremaine
 
rct269 said:
I can understand why someone would build something like that, but I have no clue why they would ever let it go-------maybe because they could build another one anytime they wanted to do so. Count your blessings!!

Ralph Tremaine
Click to expand...

Ralph, I asked the seller if he had any history on the gun. The only information he had was that it was out of an estate of an older gentleman. It's my understanding there were a number of high end Smith's and Colt's in the estate and all were original and unaltered except for two, this gun and a 1917 Colt. The Colt had the same exact .22 cal conversion. It's certainly possible the older gentleman was a competent enough gunsmith to do it himself or knew someone that was, especailly if he had two guns with the same exact conversion. I was hoping someone here on the forum would chime in and say they had seen this conversion before and have a little information on who may have done the work, but maybe this is the only instance of this style of conversion being done. I'm sure I have read something in the past of a large bore centerfire converted to .22 rimfire, but I don't recall if it was the same style as the above gun. The Colt had already been sold or I would have brought the pair home.

Chad Gripp
 
bigolddave said:
Why did I pass that up? I saw it, but was fixated on finding something else, I guess. This show is a lot of fun. It is a "country show" for sure; free parking, and $2 to get in. You never know what you will find. Most times I leave empty handed, but one stellar Saturday I scored a Terrier, a Second Model .44 five inch, and a Savage 99T in 30/30. Talk about a blind hog finding an acorn!
Click to expand...

Dave, You are correct, it is a true "country show" for sure. I think years ago it was $1 dollar to get in, but don't remember for sure. I do know it's been $2 for years and years. Like I said it's always been hit and miss for me, yet I always enjoy it. I only live 18 miles away and it's a drive through the country, so I go over in the morning, rub shoulders with the crowd, and then go back in the afternoon after the place has emptied out. Always a good way to spend the day.
I wouldn't feel to guilty about not buying the gun as it took me a few minutes to digest the whole thing. I knew the work was fist rate, but the whole British proofed, refinished, wrong stocks, conversion thing can be a little hard to swallow without chewing on it a bit. The true appreciation for the gun came when I got home, shot it, and found it to be very tight and accurate. Then when I cleaned it up and took pics and especially the close up pics, I found it to be just a great example of some very fine gunsmithing on a very good old Triple Lock.

Chad Gripp
 
Chad I too am enamored with such a fine and unique piece. As David and Goony said the conversion has such creative solutions to the typical challenges of conversions. I studied that extractor star as well. I believe the original star has been retained albeit machined turned down with a newly created star plate affixed behind the original ratchet teeth.

I also regret the loss of the original gold medallion and checked stocks but would obtain a pair post haste and put the ribbon on that classy triple lock package!
 
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