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05-20-2020, 03:41 PM
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Lend Lease Conversion
This recently showed up in my local gun shop. My dealer didn't think it would get much interest. He made me a price and I took it home. It appears to be a lend lease 38 converted to 22 rim fire, circa 1940. Conversion is made with chamber liners and is a good job. I can't tell if the barrel is lined and there is no indication of origin on the barrel. There are Birmingham proof marks on the barrel, cylinder, and frame. Good target sights were installed but unfortunately the rear sight adjustment screw has been relaced, looks like a scope base screw and it doesn't adjust the sight. The ramped front sight is very nice.The serial number 896647 appears on frame and cylinder but not barrel. I love to have any comments you might want to make.
Con small 1.jpg
conversion cylinder.jpg
DSCF2280.jpg
DSCF2286.jpg
rear sight.jpg
Last edited by McShooty; 05-20-2020 at 03:45 PM.
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05-20-2020, 03:46 PM
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many of those post WWII conversions were sold thru Kleins in Chicago in the 60's - you can find ads for them in old gun magazines -
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05-20-2020, 03:57 PM
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This is one of those old Klein's ads. 896647 would put it in the late 1941-early 1942 period. A pre-Victory. BTW, multiply Klein's price by about 8.5X to convert to today's dollar value in purchasing power. Maybe you could do a range report about it to tell us how it shoots.
Last edited by DWalt; 05-20-2020 at 04:11 PM.
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05-20-2020, 04:18 PM
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Thanks, Dwalt. Good information in that ad. I was happy to see it was probably a new .22 barrel. According to your multiplier I got a pretty good deal at $200. And, it shoots pretty well. I need a little more shooting before I can make a good range report but it looks like it will stay within 2 inches at twenty yards. An that is with my eyes.
Last edited by McShooty; 05-20-2020 at 04:22 PM.
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05-20-2020, 04:19 PM
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I'd pay $200 for it just as a curio. I haven't seen one of those for many years.
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05-20-2020, 04:20 PM
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I like those old conversions, especially when they show nice workmanship. Nice find!
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05-20-2020, 04:23 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by McShooty
....
It appears to be a lend lease 38 converted to 22 rim fire, circa 1940. Conversion is made with chamber liners and is a good job. I can't tell if the barrel is lined ....
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At that serial there were only 5” barrels made for the standard .38 caliber, so the 6” target .22 barrels were all new replacements, as the Klein’s ad above points out, not lined originals. On those where chamber liners were use to convert to .38 Special, the original barrel was usually retained, and often shortened.
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05-20-2020, 10:46 PM
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I have the twin to yours...what's the value of something like that?
Would be a good shooter.
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05-20-2020, 11:30 PM
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I wouldn't hesitate to get one of those. Looks like it could be a good shooter, and what a conversation piece!
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05-21-2020, 08:04 AM
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That was a steal for $200. It looks fantastic for something that went through a war. It will be a great for an economical target shooter / plinker that doesn't sling brass all over creation. Great find.
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05-21-2020, 08:18 AM
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The British Arms trade/business was old and honored, in spite of idiotic laws that began in about the first quarter of the Twentieth Century. After the Second World War, rebuilding revolvers from the glut of surplus was a way to provide a relatively steady income during those tough post-War days... people certainly weren’t buying many Best Grade shotguns!
Just because the prices they commanded then seem paltry to our eyes, many of the surplus revolvers opened the door to the shooting sports for our fathers and grandfathers, and kept the shops open for their builders. Further, since many were built by highly skilled British craftsmen, the quality was often quite good.
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05-21-2020, 09:55 AM
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Interesting!
I would love to see that gun up close! I look at the pictures and ask "How did they do that", in regards to the firing pin and extractor. It appears to be the original firing pin but slightly reshaped. What did they do to the nose bushing to make the gun rim fire? How did they make the extractor larger in the cartridge area? The people that done this conversion were NOT shade tree mechanics!
OP, look at the link to an ended auction that Red9 posted. The guns appear to be identical down to the large rear sight screw!
jcelect
Last edited by jcelect; 05-21-2020 at 10:03 AM.
Reason: added comment
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05-21-2020, 11:40 AM
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Yep...exactly like the one I have.
The work is top notch.
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05-21-2020, 12:09 PM
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I'm also curious about how the geometry of the firing pin works.
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05-23-2020, 06:13 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MrG5122
I'm also curious about how the geometry of the firing pin works.
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I was wondering about this as well.
Quite a lot of work in doing this conversion.
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05-23-2020, 06:33 AM
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I always wondered how those shot. They appear very professionally done and it should be a good shooter.
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05-23-2020, 07:05 AM
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Yes, some close ups of the firing pin bushing would be interesting.
Neat gun and nice work by someone. Be nice to have just for the curio aspect, but probably shoots well.
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05-23-2020, 10:26 AM
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And did they put stronger springs in for the rimfire?
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05-23-2020, 10:41 AM
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Nice pick up. I would verify that there is a spring under the sight first off.
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05-23-2020, 06:34 PM
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I'd love to find one of those....neat.
Robert
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05-24-2020, 09:09 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by raljr1
I'd love to find one of those....neat.
Robert
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I know a guy....
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05-26-2020, 01:28 PM
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Thanks folks. Lots of very good questions which I don’t know much about. I would say the firing pin bushing is a new insert with a slot for the rim fire firing pin. The pin itself in the hammer looks to me to be a modified original pin, maybe a .38. Looking at the cylinder, I don’t see how they could modify a 38 extractor for this job that wouldn’t be more work than just making a new one, and that seems remarkable. See the new pictures. Operation of the piece is very smooth and tight and the trigger is very good. One of the things I have found is that a good many of these conversions were made by the British firm of Parker-Hale.
IMG_0439.jpg
IMG_0442.jpg
IMG_0444.jpg
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05-26-2020, 02:01 PM
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Interesting to see how the firing pin was modified for .22 RF. Labor must have been cheap in Great Britain at that time. I'll guess there was a considerable number of man-hours which went into making each of those conversions.
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05-26-2020, 02:30 PM
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My brother has a Parker/Hale that is a very good shooter.
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05-26-2020, 09:56 PM
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Very cool shooter - well worth that price. A bargain , I'd say.
I would have no interest in a Victory reamed from 38S&W to .38 special , but that .22 target conversion - and it truly is a conversion - is pretty neat.
Your ramped front sight is actually more of a Patridge , good choice for a target revolver.
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