637-2 in 9mm

J

JimCunn

Member
Joined
Jun 13, 2018
Messages
396
Reaction score
411
New member, this is my first post.

I recently bought my wife a 637-2 Airweight and put a Titanium .38/.357 cylinder and titanium center pin in it to reduce weight (not to get .357 ability).

Liked it enough that I did another for myself. For the second 637, I got an extra yoke assembly and a third titanium cylinder and had TK bore it for moonclip and 9mm Parabellum.

TK says the modified cylinder will still fire .38+P and .357 with or without moon clips.
The S&W titanium 120gr minimum bullet weight restriction with .357 or 9mm applies.

I have two questions.
1) Would you guys fire an occasional .357 in the unmodified Titanium cylinders (will the 637-2 frame handle it)?
2) Would you attempt .38 and/or .357 in the rechambered cylinder (would the cylinder handle it)?

Thanks
P.S. TK service is great.
 
Last edited:
Register to hide this ad
I would not fire .357 in a gun that light anyway. It hurts. The cylinder might handle it, the frame might not. I don't know for sure. Why take a chance on ruining a nice gun?

Also, it will swell the brass near the base. The 9mm base is a few thousandths larger. This may not be a concern if you don't reload, but the brass would be toast, in my opinion.

I agree, TK Custom is one of the greats.
 
In another thread, a gent here talked about his recent manufacture airweight J frame that worked itself loose after about 1000 rounds of 38 +P. I'm guessing it will take far fewer rounds of 357 or 9mm to damage the gun.
 
"Why take a chance on ruining a nice gun?"
I'm not sentimentally attached to the three 637s I have, and they are cheap enough that I'd just replace the damaged one (assuming my hand survived).

I do reload, but would chunk the few .38/.357 hulls that might ever get fired through it. Would be uneasy about resizing the bases by that much..
 
"Only if it had Scandium Alloy Frame".

It's a 637-2. It doesn't.
It does have a Stainless 1-7/8" barrel.
 
Last edited:
As an aside, back in the late 60s, I bought a new .38 round butt Chief's Special for 57 bucks. Put Herrett Shooting Star square butt conversion grips on it. Local Cop liked it and offered to swap for the Chief, a new T-series Browning Hi Power and a box of 9mm. I jumped on that and then went and bought me another $57 Chief and another set of Shooting Stars. I developed a strong attachment to both the Chief and the Hi-Power. The Chief was stolen a couple of years ago (which is why I bought the first 637 as a replacement). I still have the 9mm Hi-Power, and that is the reason I did the 9mm conversion on the 637.
 
Last edited:
Yes, I am aware of that, but rated and capable are two different things.
I don't know if the 637 is capable, though a few people have done it before and claim success.
The .357 titanium cylinder is capable, it is the top strap on the frame that concerns me. It would appear that the addition of 0.05% to 0.15% scandium to the aluminum alloy increases the frame strength by about 35%.
 
Last edited:
There is extremely little gain of terminal performance between 38+p and 357 mag out of snubbie barrel lengths. A lot more recoil, a lot more noise a lot more abuse to the gun. And very little effective velocity increase and expansion of the bullet.

I agree, if you want a 357 buy a 357. In the same vain, if you want a 9mm, buy a semi-auto or at least a gun made and rated for 9mm.

As for 9mm, Dealing with moon clips is of little advantage except for dropping the spent empties with the short sjecrion rod as the entire combined weight and gravity helps quickly remove the entire cylinder of empties. . Reloading with clips offers less advantage than a traditional speed loader. At least in my opinion.
 
As we have posted a number of times, 357 rounds out of a J Frame are a challenge for most of us.
I can shoot them, but really don’t enjoy it!
So as posted above, most of the time you will find 38+P in my J’s.
Like this one.
 

Attachments

  • 81B51563-DBFE-42FE-9CB2-4FB9A1E32F46.jpg
    81B51563-DBFE-42FE-9CB2-4FB9A1E32F46.jpg
    57.9 KB · Views: 40
Please also note that the top strap on the lightweight scandium frame mags (340s, 360) is thicker than that of the .38 Spl aluminum frame guns. So much so, that the .357 gun will fit only with difficulty in a IWB suede pouch holster (IME) while the .38 gun fits no problem.

Also note that the .357 Scandium guns are fitted with a (proper term?) blast shield to protect the top strap at the barrel/cylinder gap from erosion by magnum rounds. The .38s do not have this device.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103
 
"If you want a 357, buy a 357".

Well said. As I mentioned earlier, I did the titanium cylinder and center pin for the weight reduction, not to get the magnum chambering. I did the 9mm conversion because the ammunition is significantly cheaper than .38 special, because I have a 9mm Browning Hi-Power, a Kimber Micro 9, and out of curiousity. Re +P, I'm not interested in the extra power, so regular .38 special is adequate for my puposes (using my other, unconverted titanium cylinder). When I want more power, I've always switched to my Super Blackhawk.

I've been using speed strips with my Chief's Special for years. I've already noticed the moon clips are much faster. Perhaps my speed strip technique has been wrong.

Good point about the blast shield.
 
Last edited:
Yeah, what I want out of our 637s is small enough to fit in a pocket, and light enough to carry without being a nuisance. They fill that purpose. As an aside, my brother recently used his to scare off a home invader who woke him up in his bed in the wee hours by beating him in the face with a metal bar. Three shots, and my brother says he didn't notice the recoil at all (he deliberately missed all three shots - didn't want to kill anyone). He has the titanium cylinder as well. Lightens the pistol up by a bit over two ounces.

Another aside - I admit a sentimental fondness for the Tom Threepersons open toe holsters.
 
JimCunn said:
...As an aside, my brother recently used his to scare off a home invader who woke him up in his bed in the wee hours by beating him in the face with a metal bar. Three shots, and my brother says he didn't notice the recoil at all (he deliberately missed all three shots - didn't want to kill anyone)...
Click to expand...

I mean no disrespect to your brother; but if, heaven forbid, I ever find myself in that kind of situation, I will be forced do my best to make every shot hit the assailant. I don't want to kill anybody either, the thought horrifies me; but I damn sure would have to do all I could to stop a savage attack like that. I have an aversion to being killed or brain damaged.

Sorry for the thread drift, but that image disturbed me.

As for the 9mm conversion, I would much prefer a steel gun made for the round. That wouldn't be because of fearing a kaboom in a lightweight, but would be about control. And, at my age, comfort in practicing.
 
Thread drift doesn't bother me. The guy was running away after the first shot, and you can't legally shoot someone who has disengaged. I'm only 76, and my brother 79, so we haven't reached the age where we are recoil sensitive yet.

My Dad was killed in a robbery of his store when he was 86, on a day when he wasn't carrying his guns. He wasn't recoil sensitive either.

Re the conversion, it takes less than two minutes to swap out the cylinder and yoke to my other, stock titanium cylinder and stainless yoke when I want to shoot .38 Special, so no big deal there.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

G
  • Locked
FS: Model 642 PC, Model 625-8 JM 4” (sold), Model 15-2 4” (sold), Model 340PD (sold)
Replies
3
Views
2K
mike56
M
E
.38 Spl vs. 9mm. I don't understand.....
2
Replies
21
Views
2K
LVSteve
LVSteve
H
New Performance Center Model 60 first impressions
Replies
2
Views
172
houndstooth300
H
4
Will we ever see a Polymer cylinder revolver in 22
2
Replies
27
Views
1K
Mike SC Hunter
M
Lou_the_welder
10,000+ rounds on scandium frame
Replies
4
Views
1K
Lou_the_welder
Lou_the_welder

Latest posts

Back
Top