Anyone Had the Barrel Lug Milled Off?

[jspick]

I have been away from this forum for a while since summer has made other demads of my time. This is the most heated thread I have seen on this forum.

locogringo, I definaltely want to see the work when done. I too dislike the full lug barrel and see no sense in it at all. I have several stainless full lug models and do not care for the full lug on them. I carry my 629 in 5" for woods protection and wish it was a half lug gun and it does make more sense and it less weight. My Ruger Redhawk is a half lug gun but weighs A LOT more than the 629.

Keep us posted and by the way where is Cylinder & Slide located?

John

 

[CALREB]

There are good reasons for having a heavier barrel/full lug, in fast D/A shooting helps hold the muzzle down,and in fine target work it holds the barrel steadier even if you slap the trigger,like bull barrel PPC revolvers.I know that the 90s 14-5/14-6's are shooting machines.
Almost all calibers/ frame sizes come with or without a barrel lug ,except L frames( excluding the few newer models they have had out in the last few years) .
So if you hate em,why buy one,or buy one and modify it or buy another barrel and modify that one and your good to go, if you want to return it to original later.
Ive seen some modified 686's and they looked good. Pay for what you want then be proud of being different.

 

[Stan]

Keep us posted and by the way where is Cylinder & Slide located?

Cylinder and Slide is located in Fremont, Nebraska.

Cylinder & Slide Inc

 

[Alx]

My 617 4" had a full lug, which I ground down to a taper, and finished it up to match the rest of the gun.
With a belt sander, and a lot of care, and then hand sanded with progressively finer grit.

 

[jspick]

I like it!

John

 

[peyton]

ALX, that came out looking good, did you get a before and after weight? I (gasp) am thinking of doing this with my 16-4 that I am converting to .327 federal.

 

[Snowbandit]

I've been wanting a model 610 but hate the lug too. What I really want is the Mountain Revolver profile. Think I might start looking for one again and have Cylinder and Slide work their magic on it. I'll bet Mag-Na-Port would do it too.

 

[andyo5]

I would not do it on a 357 Magnum revolver. The purpose of the full underlug is to reduce the shock of recoil, which is considerable with 357 Magnum loads. The underlug is actually a blessing, assuming that you are more of a shooter than a looker. For a carry gun it would be OK, so long as you don't plan to shoot it much with full power loads.
Models 19, 66, 27, and 28 are (or were) available without the full underlug.
I had a Model 620 for awhile, but sold it because with full power loads it beat the hell out of my hand.
I replaced it with a 4" 686 no-dash.

 

[Alx]

Here is the original thread where I previously posted this lug reduction.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-revolvers-1980-present/145887-partial-lug-617-a.html

 

[Pontiaker]

I'll do it for you for $50 plus shipping. I am a custom knifemaker but do lots of pistol and revolver work too. I have some pics of my work if you want to see it.
Matt

www.cucchiaraknives.com

 

[jimmyj]

In 2003/2004 a forum member did this and posted photos.
The finished product looked good.

 

[M29since14]

I talked with Cylinder & Slide and they are going to do the work for me for $250...

Does it enhance the collector value of the revolver and will I ever see this money out of this revolver? No. Do I care? No...

Cookie-cutter guns are fine and I like to look at Doc44's beautiful guns as much as anyone, but as the poster said, the current crop hardly qualifies as some sort of religious artifact. I think there is also a lot of interest in an S&W (to me, at least) that has been carefully modified to suit a purpose and received corresponding use by its owner. I'll be pleased to see your revolver when it is done and hear your shooting results. So don't forget to post the pics and info.

The barrel is probably not going to look like a 66 barrel because the 686 barrel does not have a lot of taper, so it will be somewhere between what it is now and a big 66-looking barrel - but it should be just fine.

As to cost, good work is never cheap. If you are going to do a project like this, it should be done carefully, by someone with an eye for such things. People spend $250 on worthless junk like cokes or french fries in a year. It's just money. At least your modified gun won't be clogging your arteries.

 

[Alx]

Can we find the link to that other old thread anymore ?

In 2003/2004 a forum member did this and posted photos.
The finished product looked good.

I'd like to find those posted photos mentioned, and any of the info.
But as of yet no success in searching.

 

[sorits]

This thread got me thinking about cutting lug my 6" 617-6 that I bought couple years ago. I don't have CNC at home, so I just did it with handsaw, file, sandpaper and dremel.
I kinda liked the result, so I decided also polish it, replace hummer and grips .

Here is how it looks now:

 

[kamloops67]

This thread got me thinking about cutting lug my 6" 617-6 that I bought couple years ago. I don't have CNC at home, so I just did it with handsaw, file, sandpaper and dremel.
I kinda liked the result, so I decided also polish it, replace hummer and grips .

Here is how it looks now:
View attachment 89274

View attachment 89275

View attachment 89276

View attachment 89277

you are a brave man! i couldnt attack one of my pieces with a hacksaw..no way thats a $950 gun new!. my media is wood, but its tough to make a decent gun out of wood..

i would say you havent diminished the value of that 617 one cent . i would buy it

 

[S.B.]

Sorry double post
Steve

 

[DAinTX]

I'm pretty sure that "collectors" would indeed turn their noses up at such an animal, but I'll bet the average Joe looking for a .357 Smith & Wesson wouldn't know or care if the barrel lug has been ground/machined off.
(IMHO).

I suspect you're right about that, Cajun.

 

[TAROMAN]

This thread got me thinking about cutting lug my 6" 617-6 that I bought couple years ago. I don't have CNC at home, so I just did it with handsaw, file, sandpaper and dremel.
I kinda liked the result, so I decided also polish it, replace hummer and grips .Here is how it looks now:

I'd say its a 100% improvement, especially with a 6" barrel.
For one like that I could even overlook the IL (I think!)

 

[SweetMK]

Well, for everyone that posted the desire of S&W to make a less than full lug 617,,,,
S&W finally did it,,,

 

[jspick]

Well time has passed since I last saw this thread. I have taken a gunsmithing course and a Smith & Wesson armourer's class. I have made two half lug guns in the mean time and going to do a third.

I made my 686 no dash into a half lug 5" and it is by far my all time favorite handgun ever. And I have had a lot of handguns in my 40 plus years of buying and trading for guns.

I also put a 5" barrel on my 629-3 square butt and made it a half lug too. I love it. I am going to do the same to a second 629-3 square butt that I bought a 5" barrel for.

A hack saw to cut the lug off, a good file to profile it, a dremel tool to profile the full lug to half lug and a stone to smooth it up and emery cloth to finish the job. I must say I wore out one hack saw blade and used another to cut the lugs off with. That stainless steel is very hard!!

This second 629 is going to half to have the barrel set back as the gap is just a tad too big so that will take some lathe work. The 686 and first 629 barrel/cylinder gaps were very tight and I had to slightly remove some of the forcing cone to make the gap large enough so shooting lead bullets would cause problems.

Oh and I bought a 629 Mountain Gun!

John