'37 Brazilian Chop Job????

A.Brown · Aug 1, 2020

After reading a lot of previous posts I've 90% decided to chop up my '37 Brazilian. I've always thought that the best combat revolvers had a 3-4" barrel. 3" puts the barrel even with the end of the shroud. I'll be making my own grips, kinda like the WW1 smooth but long enough to get my pinky on them. Soooo, I need help. A blank grip supplier so I can reshape w/o having to fit the inside contours myself, and pictures of your shortened pencil barrel prewar revolvers, ie 1917s, Victories, pre 10s, ect. These would help me visualize the end result before cutting. Thanks in advance for any suggestions, photos, or advice.

Green Frog · Aug 1, 2020

I don’t have any pictures for you, but a trashed pair of N frame targets should be fairly easy to find and cheap enough, and they would give you plenty of wood to do what you want to do.

You don’t mention what you plan to do about a front sight... this would be a good thing to measure and plan for before you cut the barrel... just sayin’.

Froggie

andy52 · Aug 1, 2020

If I could find a badly worn 1917/37 for a decent price I would do a chop down to a "Indy" type revolver in a heart beat.
The 1937 I have now is way to nice to do that with.

mikerjf · Aug 1, 2020

Two that I like. Note that on one, there seems to be a pin sticking out of the end - what's up with that?

sceva · Aug 1, 2020

The pin is the Front Cylinder lock pin. They usually do not stick out so far; perhaps it's stuck or not correctly fitted?

I like the idea of the shorter barrel bit I'm not a fan of the cut-away trigger guard.

steelslaver · Aug 1, 2020

Here are a couple, but I used adjustable sight 1950 barrels and added adjustable sights to the frame.

I would be easirer to just chop a stock barrel. For a front sight cut the original one off the barrel piece. But, don't cut it off flush. make a cut on each sidee of it down into the barrel, so you get extra depth then file the exta depth down to about 1/8". Make a 1/8" groove in the end of cut barrel that your salvaged sight will just fit into and silver solder in place.

On the one with the blood wood grips I cut the grip frame down. The original serial number is still there. I just moved the bottom piece of the grip frame up and welded it in place. The one with the fake stags is now a 45 colt, using a reamed 44 mag cylinder

rjm6120 · Aug 1, 2020

A Brown......I happen to have a set of N frame square butt targets that are, shall we say, "modified", and may suit your grip needs as Green Frog suggested. I bought these grips at OGCA about 18 months ago. Someone got halfway through trying to sand the checkering out, and recontoured the speedloader cut out a bit.

I picked them up, finished the sanding and put a few coats of lacquer on them. They really don't look too bad but I haven't really found anything to put them on and they're just laying in my "extra grips" box.

Let me know if you're interested.

J. R. WEEMS · Aug 1, 2020

GRIPS?SHOOTING

Believe I can come up with a trashed pair of N frame targets if you need them. Would like to get shipping but NC for the grips. Just send me an email with addy. GOOD LUCK!

Kurusu · Aug 1, 2020

andy52 said:
If I could find a badly worn 1917/37 for a decent price I would do a chop down to a "Indy" type revolver in a heart beat.
The 1937 I have now is way to nice to do that with.

If you are lucky enough to have a "Brazilian Contract" in good original condition. Do not tamper with it. You may thank me later.

clang444 · Aug 1, 2020

Here is some inspiration:

My .455 Hand Ejector reamed to .45 Colt and chopped:

My commercial 1917 chopped to 4" barrel

For the record, I didn't chop either. There are plenty of already modified guns out there.

A.Brown · Aug 1, 2020

mikerjf said:
Two that I like. Note that on one, there seems to be a pin sticking out of the end - what's up with that?

I like the barrel length on the second picture. At most another 1/4" or so.

Pig Hunter · Aug 1, 2020

For mine I cut the rib off a crapped out 28 barrel and soldered it on the top of the barrel. This one was from the later shipment with the older round top frame so I fitted a drift adjustable rear sight leaf. Sorry, no pics. Service grips with a Pachmayr grip adapter work well.

A.Brown · Aug 1, 2020

Sight

[QUOTE=steelslaver;1408For a front sight cut the original one off the barrel piece. But, don't cut it off flush. make a cut on each sidee of it down into the barrel, so you get extra depth then file the exta depth down to about 1/8". Make a 1/8" groove in the end of cut barrel that your salvaged sight will just fit into and silver solder in place.

Thanks for the idea. I had planned to use the original sight, but it will be lowered considerably, reshaped, and white lined.

A.Brown · Aug 1, 2020

N frame grips

Pig Hunter said:
Service grips with a Pachmayr grip adapter work well.

I plan to use a T-grip adapter. Will have to see how reshaping the grips turn out before that's decided for sure though.

Wiregrassguy · Aug 1, 2020

Make sure you don't bob that barrel too much. This 1917 came to me missing 1/8" of the locking bolt frame which pretty much kills the forward lock. They also didn't put a tall enough front sight blade on it. I have a Brazilian replacement barrel I'm mulling over whether to make an Indy gun out of it or not.

wiregrassguy-albums-large-frame-revolvers-2-a-picture17021-left-elkhorn.jpg

wiregrassguy-albums-large-frame-revolvers-2-a-picture22068-1917-cutlug.jpg

A.Brown · Aug 1, 2020

'37 chop job

My 37 is a parkerized round top with the smooth WW1 style grips. I am trying to chop it the way I would have if I were a soldier home from WW2 and I needed a concealable piece. Using mods available at the time, reusing the original sight, stuff that theoretically a home Smith could have done for himself.

schutzen-jager · Aug 1, 2020

when i was building them back when Century arms was selling the gunsmith's specials one of them had a bent barrel - chopped + crowned it - worked well , but did not feel right - sold it to neighbor -

Kinman · Aug 1, 2020

I own this one, barrel measures 3-1/4". Whoever did the modification did a great job on the front sight. Yes the pin does stick out a bit further than normal but does not hinder operation or in my view create a problem. Not being a S&W mechanic I cannot explain the reason other than the possibility a different model pin may have been used.

This one was also a Brazilian Model of 1917 I picked up from a friend, it had been nicely refinished which made it a candidate for further modification, I had a friend of mine cut it down to 4" and mill a Baughman style front sight regulated for the Wondersight rear.

LLOYD17 · Aug 1, 2020

Here’s a couple chopped N Frames. The blued one is a 1917 with a custom barrel. The nickel one is a 44 3rd.

BlackAgnes · Aug 1, 2020

My "Indy" gun, service stocks were just too painful!

'37 Brazilian Chop Job????

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