Got my 586 back from Hamilton Bowen today! (pic heavy)

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Dave

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For over a decade now, I've been wanting a revolver chambered in .41 special. I had a decent 586 no dash I'd decided on as a donor gun, The finish was a bit tired, but the action was superb, and I figured it would make a fine .41 special. Well, 9 months ago I decided to take the plunge, and sent in my 586. I'm very fortunate I did so. About 6 weeks after I sent my 586 to Bowen Classic Arms, they announced they would no longer accept S&W projects after May 1st. I hope they reconsider, because after this one, I'm sure I want another! Mr. Bowen does incredible work. The new .41 caliber bore is like a mirror. The action, which was already excellent, is now even better. There is ZERO end shake, and I have utterly failed to capture the beauty of the satin blue finish.

Here is the before photo:



Brown Santa delivered my transformed 586 this morning! Here she is, please pardon the poor cell phone photos!

I put on some nice Kuracs Circassian walnut grips I had on my 14-2




Rollmarked for .41 Special


Black powder bevel on the cylinder










 
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So rare there are no factory models at all (a defect I have been hoping for many years that S&W would remedy!)

.41 Special is a wildcat caliber created by reducing the length of .41 magnum brass to .44 Special length. The only guns chambered for it are those made by custom gunsmiths like Hamilton Bowen, David Clements and John Gallagher.
 
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SLT223 said:
Why did they stop taking S&W projects?
Click to expand...

From the bowenclassicarms.com website:

March 15, 2016 | CATALOG REVISION — Effective May 1st 2016, we will no longer accept S&W revolver projects and will take down the S&W catalog section. A great many of our S&W offerings involve barrel work, particularly sight and caliber conversion. More and more of the newer guns have barrels set so tightly that the factory service department refuses to remove them because of the risks of receiver damage. Unfortunately, it is impossible to know when guns are suitable candidates for barrel removal until you put a barrel wrench to one. Due to the untimely loss of friend and colleague Jim Dubell who did our reboring, we also have a considerable backlog of S&W caliber conversions to address as we are able to get barrels rebored; these are our top priority. We also expect to concentrate more on our parts business. With a couple of new machine shops hard at it now on our behalf, the sight and part situation is improving which will enable us to bring on line some needed new sight parts.
 
Dave said:
So rare there are no factory models at all (a defect I have been hoping for many years that S&W would remedy!)

.41 Special is a wildcat caliber created by reducing the length of .41 magnum brass to .44 Special length. The only guns chambered for it are those made by custom gunsmiths like Hamilton Bowen, David Clements and John Gallagher.
Click to expand...

What about the head stamp in your pictures.....???????

What are the benefits over the .44special?????


Overall cool; a 6 shot (?) +.40 cal. Lframe.........................did I just answer my own question?????????????? :D
 
"What about the head stamp in your pictures.....???????"

Starline made a limited run of these. I think I remember that they made them after one guy agreed to purchase the entire lot, and now they are available for resale if you can find them.

"What are the benefits over the .44special?????"

Six rounds in an L frame, .44 Special will only fit 5 in there.

I think that this is the gun and cartridge that Bill Jordan, Elmer Keith, Skeeter Skelton and others really wanted when they lobbied S&W for the perfect law enforcement revolver. S&W and Remington, of course, developed the .41 Magnum and the M-57 and M-58, which were just the .44 Magnum M-29 with smaller holes in it. Skelton wrote that they had hoped the new gun would have been built on a then-new frame size, somewhere between the K and N frames, but S&W probably thought that was too risky an investment. So we had to wait 20 years for the L frame, another 10 years for the .40 S&W cartridge and another almost 10 years for S&W to put the .40 in an L frame revolver. By then, the police market for service revolvers was dead and gone.

Dave, that's a beautiful gun. You were smart and lucky to get on Bowen's to-do list whaile he was still taking S&W's.
 
That is a beautiful revolver and one that S&W should have made back in the 1980's. What length is the barrel now ? The overall proportions of the finished gun are perfect to my eye.
 
Walter Rego said:
That is a beautiful revolver and one that S&W should have made back in the 1980's. What length is the barrel now ? The overall proportions of the finished gun are perfect to my eye.
Click to expand...

Barrel is now 4 1/8"
 
That's a beauty! Very practical caliber too. I can't imagine much you couldn't do with it from two to four legged predators.

One of my dreams is to have those guys make me a bisley .475 Linebaugh 4 5/8". Ultimate woods gun.
 
That is a beautiful revolver. Great idea on your part and beautiful craftsmanship on their part.
 
Dave said:
From the bowenclassicarms.com website:

March 15, 2016 | CATALOG REVISION — Effective May 1st 2016, we will no longer accept S&W revolver projects and will take down the S&W catalog section. A great many of our S&W offerings involve barrel work, particularly sight and caliber conversion. More and more of the newer guns have barrels set so tightly that the factory service department refuses to remove them because of the risks of receiver damage. Unfortunately, it is impossible to know when guns are suitable candidates for barrel removal until you put a barrel wrench to one. Due to the untimely loss of friend and colleague Jim Dubell who did our reboring, we also have a considerable backlog of S&W caliber conversions to address as we are able to get barrels rebored; these are our top priority. We also expect to concentrate more on our parts business. With a couple of new machine shops hard at it now on our behalf, the sight and part situation is improving which will enable us to bring on line some needed new sight parts.
Click to expand...

That is unfortunate as the tightness issue isn't hard to mitigate. Machining a set of frame holders for each frame size that would support the entire frame securely should resolve the problem and if not, addition of heat or cold (or a combination of the two) should also aid in removal of the barrel from the frame. Perhaps the more driving factor is they've found parts are more lucrative with less labor.
 
BUFF said:
"What about the head stamp in your pictures.....???????"

Starline made a limited run of these. I think I remember that they made them after one guy agreed to purchase the entire lot, and now they are available for resale if you can find them.

"What are the benefits over the .44special?????"

Six rounds in an L frame, .44 Special will only fit 5 in there.

I think that this is the gun and cartridge that Bill Jordan, Elmer Keith, Skeeter Skelton and others really wanted when they lobbied S&W for the perfect law enforcement revolver. S&W and Remington, of course, developed the .41 Magnum and the M-57 and M-58, which were just the .44 Magnum M-29 with smaller holes in it. Skelton wrote that they had hoped the new gun would have been built on a then-new frame size, somewhere between the K and N frames, but S&W probably thought that was too risky an investment. So we had to wait 20 years for the L frame, another 10 years for the .40 S&W cartridge and another almost 10 years for S&W to put the .40 in an L frame revolver. By then, the police market for service revolvers was dead and gone.

Dave, that's a beautiful gun. You were smart and lucky to get on Bowen's to-do list whaile he was still taking S&W's.
Click to expand...

I shoot these in my Model 57...I bought a bunch when they first started making them..and the website still shows them available....By Caliber - Starline Brass - Maker of America's Finest Handgun Brass
 
That is a beautiful revolver. And it gives you a six-shot .41 in an L frame, a little smaller and handier than the "standard" S&W .41 Magnum, the N frame Model 57.

I love the champhered front edge of the cylinder; that is a small touch that looks great.
 
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