S&W revolver barrel lining

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Jersey Doug

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Back in the early 1970's when a M-29 .44mag was on the forever waiting list I instead modified my then new M-28 Highway Patrolman .357 by converting it to .44 special.The barrel and cylinder were sent out and part of the process was to open up the .357 barrel and install a .44 liner. I was wondering if they still offer this conversion process anywhere?? With the cost of what a 70's vintage Model 16 S&W six inch .32 long cal has gone up to would like to make my own.
 
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I would think that reboring and cutting new rifling would be preferable to lining. But I understand that most smiths may not be able to cut rifling, but are able to bore a hole and insert an already rifled liner.

Finding someone to do that may be the tougher part of the equation. Hamilton Bowen just stopped doing that kind of work and he would have been my first recommendation. Time to exercise your Google-fu. Good luck.

Adios,

Pizza Bob
 
I have understood that lining revolver barrels is possible, but I have never seen one. Don't know if I would trust one to stay in place unless maybe it is silver-soldered. It's more feasible to reline a semi-auto barrel.
 
I can't believe you all never heard of "Redman's barrel liners". This is the premiere barrel liner used by most gunsmith when the job is to reline a rifled barrel. Here is his website; [url=http://www.redmansrifling.com/liners; Any thing from revolver cylinders to 30" long black powder rifles. I have used his barrel liners several times with total satisfaction. ......
 
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I think everyone knows very well what a barrel liner is. In fact I have two guns with lined barrels, a .22 pistol and a .32-20 rifle. The question is how well do they work in revolvers? I have never seen one with a lined barrel. No doubt it is possible to line a revolver barrel quite easily, but do they stand up?
 
I think if you carefully read Redman's web page you will find that relining is done with only low pressure barrels when you wish to keep the original markings. Reboring is recommended for what the OP is wishing to do. High pressure cartridges have the nasty habit of blowing high pressure gases between the liner and the barrel proper.

Nobody ever called the .44mag low pressure.
 
cmj8591 said:
Try these guys:

+ Bowen Classic Arms + Home
Click to expand...

As I pointed out in my post, Bowen is no longer doing any Smith & Wesson barrel work.

Michigan Scott makes a good point. When re-lining a rifle or semi-auto handgun the chamber is integral with the barrel. Re-lining a revolver, with the chambers separate from the barrel, would possibly allow high pressure gases to intrude between the liner and the original barrel.

I believe the OP wasn't talking about high pressure cartridges. The initial conversion was to .44 Spl and the one under consideration is .32 S&W long.

Adios,

Pizza Bob
 
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Exactly,,, I would like to take a like new center fire K frame like a M-14 then take a M-17 bored out cylinder and barrel (with a .32 caliber sleeve/ liner) to make a duplicate of the super expensive super sought after fun to shoot M-16 32 long target version.
 
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In the 70s I had a M-28 6 inch converted to 45 Colt. I found a gunsmith in Delaware that reamed the Cylinder to 45 Colt and relined the barrel. I had no problems with that pistol. I replaced It when S&W came out with the 25-5 in .45 Colt. The gunsmith retired not long after and I don't know who does it now.

SWCA 892
 
That's the Gunsmith,, I'd recognize their name if I heard it again. Only thing I didn't like about the job was when they re-stamped the side of the barrel the .44 numbers where noticeably staggered.
Later,, I considered mine surpassed (for the lack of a better term) when supply caught up to demand and brand new beautiful (at that time mesmerizing) M-29s became plentiful.
 
Jersey Doug said:
Exactly,,, I would like to take a like new center fire K frame like a M-14 then take a M-17 bored out cylinder and barrel (with a .32 caliber sleeve/ liner) to make a duplicate of the super expensive super sought after fun to shoot M-16 32 long target version.
Click to expand...

This is similar to what I had done as recounted in this thread: http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-revolvers-1961-1980/472728-seldom-seen-8-3-8-k32.html Except I had a Model 17 barrel rebored to .32 caliber and had a .32 H&R cylinder reamed to .327 Magnum. Andy Horvath did the work, but I supplied the barrel and cylinder and base gun.

The hitch in doing it this way is to find someone who can rebore a barrel. Jim Dubell who had done mine has died, and I don't know who may have taken up the work. Even Bowen apparently has trouble finding someone to do barrel work.

I have seen larger bore barrels relined to .22 caliber (and I have a couple) but never anything larger than that.
 
Google TJ's barrel liners and see what pops up. A lot of shooters on the [email protected] have used his liners for low pressure cartridges like 25-20 and 32-20 and similar cartridges. John Taylor@Taylor machines does do liner installations on rifles and single shots as well as lever actions and has an excellent reputation. But don't know if he relines revolver barrels. Frank
 
Thanks Frank, I'm probably not the only one that's thought of cloning the out of sight priced .32 cal. vintage M-16 target revolvers that now cost $2,500- $5,000 for the real deal. To me this situation is exactly the same as why we covered M-28s to M-29s in the '70's.
AND of course,,the best "FIX" to the whole situation would be S&W reviving the very needed and wanted M-16 revolver and sought after J frame counter part the M-35 in a Classic Series form. I'm not up to speed on how well the Classic Series did for S&W, but believe bringing these two back would be even more beneficial. The model M-17s (and other models they did) seem to be over prolific subjects flooding every on-line sales outlet with availability verse these needed rare ones?
 
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I did a 3 screw Ruger .357 to 45 acp this way. Never had any problem. The fellow that ended up with it shoots it a lot, no problems. I see when people mention the Classic Series they usually say..Don't know how well S&W did with them. Well, they sold every one they made.
 
Try Dave (Charles) Clements in Virginia? At one time he rebored the barrel and reamed the host cylinder, even changed the caliber markings on barrel.
Steve
 
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austintexas said:
In the 70s I had a M-28 6 inch converted to 45 Colt. I found a gunsmith in Delaware that reamed the Cylinder to 45 Colt and relined the barrel. I had no problems with that pistol. I replaced It when S&W came out with the 25-5 in .45 Colt. The gunsmith retired not long after and I don't know who does it now.

SWCA 892
Click to expand...

I'm wondering if that was David Woodruff of Bear, DE (as best as I can recall after four decades) who relined a M28 barrel for me. The barrel worked perfectly, without any of the problems previous posters have postulated. Having said that, the cost of converting a revolver from one caliber to another is disproportionate to the gain, so should be considered an indulgence.
 
YES, David Woodruff that's right! Haven't heard his name since back then. Understand well the term "disproportionate" from dealing with the early M-29 days, many went over to the Ruger .44 mag rather than wait without a delivery date even being hypothetical. Others converted the 28 and maxed out hot special loads,, mine handled every round just fine too. As far as the present day need for a .32 Long -32 mag target version (long barrel target sights) in that same way like the Ruger being the only option then, I'm beginning to think trying to find the (also rare) Taurus 761 could fill in for now?
 
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Jersey Doug said:
YES, David Woodruff that's right! Haven't heard his name since back then. Understand well the term "disproportionate" from dealing with the early M-29 days, many went over to the Ruger .44 mag rather than wait without a delivery date even being hypothetical. Others converted the 28 and maxed out hot special loads,, mine handled every round just fine too. As far as the present day need for a .32 Long -32 mag target version (long barrel target sights) in that same way like the Ruger being the only option then, I'm beginning to think trying to find the (also rare) Taurus 761 could fill in for now?
Click to expand...

Good luck finding a Taurus 76 or 761. I stumbled onto one at the Wanenmacher gun show in Tulsa last year, but that was the only I've ever seen in real life. http://smith-wessonforum.com/firear...52411-tulsa-found-exactly-what-i-looking.html Prior to that I had been watching one on Gunbroker that was priced at $750 or so, which was more than I wanted to pay. Someone else did though.

As with Ruger being an option back then (in single action guise) for a .44 Mag, Ruger is an option for a .32 today. They recently released the stainless Single Seven in .327 Magnum in varying barrel lengths - of course you can also shoot .32 Long and .32 H&R in it. And there are still quite a few Single Six guns in .32 H&R around on Gunbroker and other auction sites. http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-hand-ejectors-1896-1961/326851-shot-batch-32-guns-other-day.html

Ruger also has the SP101 for a shorter barrel experience.
 
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