Customized/Personalized S&W Wheelguns

AJR337 · May 9, 2021

I thought it would be interesting/fun to see/discuss some customized S&W revolvers... here's a summary of the modifications that I've made to my 686+ along with a pic:

Personal Modifications:
- Apex Evolution IV DAO Hammer
- Apex Firing Pin and Spring
- Power Custom Trigger
- NOS Stainless Steel Rebound Slide
- 14# Rebound Spring
- Wilson Combat Mainspring
- Power Custom Cylinder Stop
- Lightly polished contact surfaces
- NOS Stainless Cylinder Release Bolt
- SDM Cylinder Release Thumb Latch
- D&L Sports Fixed Rear Sight
- Original Precision Lock Plug
- Polished Cylinder Ring (just finished this earlier today)
- Texas Grips American Holly Grips
- BK Grip Adapter

Gunsmith Work:
- Bead Blasted
- HIVIZ Green Fiber Optic Front Sight

Post a description and some pics of your personalized Smith.

jbtrucker · May 9, 2021

686-6 Plus Ahrends grips , SDM thumb latch and C&S sight. 586-8 SDM and S&W stocks.

stu1ritter · May 9, 2021

This started as a 6.5" 686-3, square butt 6 shot. It is now a 7 shot, round butt, 3" 686-3 (more or less) with a target hammer and thinned, polished trigger.

Stu

Irate45 · May 9, 2021

This was a 24-3. I bought an unfluted .45 Colt cylinder and turned it over to a gunsmith to install and add a bull barrel. It had an Aimpoint 7000s red dot sight on a Weigand mount which I swapped out for a Burris Fastfire III on an Alchin mount about 3 years ago. The mainspring and 14# rebound spring are from Wolff Gunsprings. A little polishing here and there and light lubing with moly grease make for a great trigger in double and single action and touching off CCI primers is no problem. It has a wide, smooth trigger and target hammer. The grips are Ahrends made from a block of rosewood I sent them. It definitely is a tack driver.

Bumpus13 · May 9, 2021

Changed grips (Ahrends retro target conversion in maple) and shoot the snot out of it.

VictorLouis · May 10, 2021

stu1ritter said:
This started as a .... 686-3, s... It is now a 7 shot,...

Did you get the cylinder from Smith? Pretty much drop-in? I didn't think it would work.

Old ugly here was a square butt that I RB'd myself, and bobbed....

Toyman · May 10, 2021

A question about the APEX hammer: The APEX site is advertising very light double action poundage using their hammer and trigger return spring. Have you measured your single an double action trigger weight? Do you get a reliable trigger return with the APEX spring ?

AzShooter · May 10, 2021

My 617 with a few modifications.

Completely polished interior:
Apex Tactical Mass Drive Hammer
Power Custom Extended Firing Pin.
Hogue Big Butt Grips
11 pound rebound spring
8-32 hex screw replacing stock Mainspring Screw for more power
When shooting with a red dot, Allchin Scope Mount for C-More
C-More Railway with 12 MOA dot
Forcing cone cut to 11 degrees
All cylinders reamed and polished

BAM-BAM · May 10, 2021

Round butted my 4" 617 and 686 and polished actions ...... back in the 80s........ both now sport Spegel checkered Extended Boot Grips.

Mostly shoot, reload, shoot again!!!!!!

steelslaver · May 10, 2021

I have 22 629-1 converted to 45 colt, one with a 4" barrel and the other a 5". The 4" is cut to fire 45 acp in moon clips

I have a Brazilian milled for adjustable sights and fitted with a 44 mag cylinder reamed to 45 colt and a 1950 barrel trimmed to 4 1/2"

a 25-5 with barrel cut to 5" and a recessed 454 mag cylinder reammed to 45 colt for a pinned and recessed 45 colt

A 1917 fitted with a cut down 19050 barrel milled for sights and a cut down round butt grip frame

a model 10-7 milled for adj sights, fitted with a recessed 19-3 cylinder and a 4" Python barrel

a 10-17 with a 22 cylinder reamed to be a recessed 327 Fed mag, with a barrel made from a K 22

a 10-7 made into a pinto 357 with a nickel 13 barrel and recessed cylinder

a 3" 327 federal fix sight made from a 10-7

a 1917 with modified frame stock and a 16 1/2" barrel

There are a few others with minor touches on them
I have a 6" nickel Python barrel that is going to a nice S&W home

Notaglock · May 10, 2021

Ummmm...where to start...

DS-10-SPEED · May 10, 2021

I got this 4" 617 cheap because the side plate was scratched, after polishing it out I decided to experiment with my CNC machine using a diamond drag bit to personalize it.

stu1ritter · May 10, 2021

VictorLouis said:
Did you get the cylinder from Smith? Pretty much drop-in? I didn't think it would work.

I sent the revolver to S&W and they supplied and installed the cylinder.

Stu

Green Frog · May 10, 2021

Other than the grips, both of these look “stock” except for the fact that the 6” blued K32 began life as a 14-3 and was converted, in the same way the factory did, by adding a 32 cal barrel (NOS factory) and cylinder (rebored K22) to make a faux Model 16-3.

The 4” stainless began life as a Model 66 and had a rebored Model 617 barrel and cylinder added to produce a Model 616, “the revolver S&W should have made but never did.”

I kinda like my “custom” guns to look pretty normal, but at the bottom of it all be something special that I can’t just get from the factory. Kind of “sleeper customs.”

Froggie

AJR337 · May 10, 2021

Toyman said:
A question about the APEX hammer: The APEX site is advertising very light double action poundage using their hammer and trigger return spring. Have you measured your single an double action trigger weight? Do you get a reliable trigger return with the APEX spring ?

Apex states that it's possible to get the Evolution IV (dao hammer) pull down to as little as 4# and the hammer ships with two rebound spring options (competition and duty), but they don't list the weights of each.

Since the Wilson Combat spring kit also included 12, 13, and 14# rebound springs, I decided to try those and see which seemed to offer the best balance between pull and return.

The 12# spring had a very nice/light pull but the return was not as "snappy" as I like... the pull with the 13 and 14# springs felt similar enough that I just decided to go with the 14# spring since the return is strong and I wanted to ensure complete reliability.

I don't have a way to measure the pull weight but it's noticeably lighter than stock and extremely smooth/consistent.

Toyman · May 10, 2021

ARJ337
Thanks

BoulderTroll · May 11, 2021

AJR337 said:
I thought it would be interesting/fun to see/discuss some customized S&W revolvers... here's a summary of the modifications that I've made to my 686+ along with a pic:

Post a description and some pics of your personalized Smith.

I like it! I don't have a photo yet, but after trying almost every revolver grip on the planet, I just switched to wood panel grips and a BK grip adapter like you've got on my 66-8, and I absolutely love it now. It looks classy, and is by far the most comfortable grip setup I've had on a S&W.

PS- I have that same rear sight, but have not been able to install it... Mine is WAY too tight to fit in there. Did you have to file it down to get yours installed?

JimCunn · May 11, 2021

I just checked one of my 637-2 Airweights.
Averages
Double Action 3 Lb 6 Oz
Single Action 8 Oz
Internals polished, titanium cylinder, but no work has been done on the sears.

This particular cylinder is .357 Mag reamed for 9mm

Weight with Herrett Shooting Star conversion grips is 12.4 Oz.

AJR337 · May 11, 2021

BoulderTroll said:
I like it! I don't have a photo yet, but after trying almost every revolver grip on the planet, I just switched to wood panel grips and a BK grip adapter like you've got on my 66-8, and I absolutely love it now. It looks classy, and is by far the most comfortable grip setup I've had on a S&W.

PS- I have that same rear sight, but have not been able to install it... Mine is WAY too tight to fit in there. Did you have to file it down to get yours installed?

My D&L Sports rear sight was a snug fit but certainly didn't require any filing... just needed moderate thumb pressure to install/fully seat it.

StrawHat · May 11, 2021

Most know the story behind this Model 28-2. Back in the early 80’s I wanted a 4”, 45 ACP revolver. Tough luck! S&W had built maybe a dozen of them and would not tell me where they were. So, I had a cheap Model 28-2, found a gunsmith who did boring and rifling, unscrewed the barrel and shipped it to him. While the barrel was gone I fitted the new cylinder, smoothed the action and rounded the grip frame. I also removed and replaced the frame lug. When the barrel returned I screwed it back in and found it needed to be set back one thread. Once the barrel was fit the b/c gap needed to be increased. All of these tasks were performed with my portable handheld milling machines. Finally got everything reassembled and adjusted to my satisfaction and have used it ever since. It is my “blame piece” that I blame for starting my avocation regarding the 4”, 45 ACP, N frame!

Kevin

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