Is anyone out there still able to convert a Model 28 to 44 Special?

[SGT ROCK 11B]

I converted a 4” Model 28-2 to 45 ACP more than 4 decades ago. Why? I wanted one and S&W had not offered one except on extremely special order. So, I built one.

Kevin

A 25-2 cut down to four inches was popular with cops in the 1960s. I was cheaper and just got a surplus S&W 1917.

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

I certainly missed the boat but I would like a shooter 5 inch Model 28 in 44 Special.

Do you reload? 44 Special is expensive if you don’t.

Like others mentioned the Model 28 is becoming rare and if S&W makes classics it is always will be the premium Model 27 and not the Model 28. Get a 44 Magnum Mountain Gun and you have the option of Specials and Magnums.

 

[StrawHat]

A 25-2 cut down to four inches was popular with cops in the 1960s. I was cheaper and just got a surplus S&W 1917.

Going the route I chose was still cheaper than buying a Model 25-2 and cutting it to 4”.

Here are 5 of my 4”, ACP revolvers,



I customized two of them and had Andy Horvath finish one. My two are the 45 H E Model 1917 (Brazilian Contract) and the Model 28-2. Andy put the finishing touches on the Model 25-2.

The Model 22-4 and the Model 625-6 Mountain Gun are basically stock pieces.

Kevin

 

[Muley Gil]

Why bother you are trying to reinvent the wheel. The Smith .44mag is an "N" frame and so is the M28 Smith and you can shoot .44 specials out of the Smith M29 44 mag and have the 6 inch barrel shortened to 5 inches, why you would do this I do not know. A 4 inch revolver or 3 Inch is the one to carry and the 6 inch gives you more accurate shooting and less recoil and muzzle blast if you are a target shooter or weekend Dirty Harry.

If you got money to burn and that is what you want I am sure you will find a gunsmith to do this just check his reputation out first (and expect at least a year wait) for I have gotten burned with overpricing and shoddy workmanship in my younger years which made me very cautious later in life as well as asking myself "Do I really need this and will anyone want to buy my Frankenmonster gun if I need to sell it in the future"?

I learned the hard way after having a custom built Sako 22-250 built that since it was not "factory original" no one wanted it or knew what they should pay for it as it had no Blue Book Value. Even though it had a custom match barrel on it, no one wanted it. Lesson learned, "what is one man's dream boat is the public's frankenmonster gun that none of them want".

And by the way everyone I ever knew who bought a M28 (because he wanted to save a few bucks over buying the much better M27) regretted it.

A 5" tapered barrel N frame .44 Special has a certain feel and balance that is hard to explain. A 5" barrel carries like a 4" and shoots like a 6". A handloaded .44 Special does everything I need a handgun to do.

 

[StrawHat]

Why bother you are trying to reinvent the wheel. The Smith .44mag is an "N" frame and so is the M28 Smith and you can shoot .44 specials out of the Smith M29 44 mag and have the 6 inch barrel shortened to 5 inches, why you would do this I do not know.

Much like the answer Louis Armstrong gave when asked, “what is jazz?” “If you have to ask, you’ll never know.”

There is a sublime difference of feel between a 5” barrel and either a 4” or 6” of the same taper. I much prefer the 4” but many have found the 5” to be the ideal length for them.

Kevin

 

[TaxPhd]

Hamilton Bowen was known to do first rate, heirloom grade conversions. That being said, I join the other who recommend leaving it alone and finding a Model 24. Or, some version of a Model 29 that is fairly common and you can customize to your specifications. And the .44 Mag would be more versatile. Remember we basically wouldn’t have the Model 29 if Elmer Keith hadn’t kept blowing up .44 Specials.

AFAIK, Bowen is no longer providing services on S&W revolvers.

 

[cstanmiller]

Andy Horvath, Frank Glenn, they are both still in business and can do that work. Either find a 5’” 44 S&W Special barrel or supply a 6” Model 28. The 5” barrel will be fit and installed. The 6” barrel will be cut, bored and rifled. No big deal either way.

Great project and not a huge money pit. The end result may not be the $ sum of the parts but it will be unique and yours!

I converted a 4” Model 28-2 to 45 ACP more than 4 decades ago. Why? I wanted one and S&W had not offered one except on extremely special order. So, I built one.

Kevin

Model 28 converted to 45ACP

 

[Abbotson]

If you can live with a 4" barrel why not just buy one of the new Lipseys 4" no lock stainless steel .44 Mountain guns ?
Will have a factory warranty and probably cost less.
Msrp is $1199.00

Definitely cheaper than any conversion. I had an old Heavy Duty I was toying with turning into a .44 Special. After refinishing etc, etc, etc, etc it was going to be about $2300.

If you can live with a 4" barrel why not just buy one of the new Lipseys 4" no lock stainless steel .44 Mountain guns ?
Will have a factory warranty and probably cost less.
Msrp is $1199.00

 

[Stopsign32v]

How the heck do you find a 5 inch 44 special S&W barrel? Been looking

 

[Mrnurse]

Hamilton Bowen was known to do first rate, heirloom grade conversions. That being said, I join the other who recommend leaving it alone and finding a Model 24. Or, some version of a Model 29 that is fairly common and you can customize to your specifications. And the .44 Mag would be more versatile. Remember we basically wouldn’t have the Model 29 if Elmer Keith hadn’t kept blowing up .44 Specials.

It’s cheaper to buy a 24.

 

[Farmer17]

I had a mint 4" M-24-3 I bought about 20 years ago for $430 and loved the gun but then sold it for $750. I saw the guy I sold it to one day about 5 years later and asked about the gun and he asked if I wanted to buy it back? Said yes and bought it bought it back for the same price then sold it for $1,100. It was a beautiful gun that I liked shooting but just never saw what was so "special" about the .44 Special.

 

[austintexas]

In The middle 70s I picked up a M-28 that someone had screwed up the barrel trying to drill out a stuck bullet. In those days there was a gunsmith in Bear , Deleware that converted Smiths. Or as in my case I sent the barrel and cylinder to him to be converted to 45 Colt. Just a matter of unscrew and screw on the barrel. I think I paid $80 plus postage. I never should have sold that revolver, a nice pencil barrel .45.
SWCA 892

 

[gfors]

If you can live with a 4" barrel why not just buy one of the new Lipseys 4" no lock stainless steel .44 Mountain guns ?
Will have a factory warranty and probably cost less.
Msrp is $1199.00

The specs say the 629 is heavier than the 686. I would think it should be lighter, because of more material being removed, due to larger bore. Typo, or something else?

 

[Jim Watson]

I think that if you have a yen for a .44 (or .45) conversion, it might pay to load
some 200 gr .38-44 or .357. That might get you the thump you want to feel without the cost.

Anecdote Alert
Back about 1977 a "mechanically inclined" friend was converting .357s to .45 LC. He had found 1950 and 1955 .45 barrels and had Bob Snapp rechamber the cylinders. He had the mold for the short nosed Keith and they made up into nice guns.
But I had to be different, I wanted a .44 Special. Problem was, the Skeeterites had used up all the loose barrels. A friend with a home machine shop was in the process of making a barrel from a blank but the friend doing the fitting was killed in a car wreck. I guess that partly turned barrel is laying around somewhere but what I have to shoot is a sawn off M25, so I ended up in .45 anyhow. Sawn off twice chasing IDPA SSR rules.

 

[Muley Gil]

The specs say the 629 is heavier than the 686. I would think it should be lighter, because of more material being removed, due to larger bore. Typo, or something else?

The M629 is an N frame and the M686 is a L frame. N frames are larger, as are the cylinders.

 

[Engine49guy]

If the new 686 Mountain gun is also a 7 shot than even though its L frame cylinder is larger IIRC because of the 7th hole and narrow rib barrel it is also lighter than the smaller 6 shot .357 K frame Model 66.

 

[Sebago Son]

Back in the bad old days of 1976 when J&G Rifle Ranch was listing used 28's for $140 I bit the bullet and made up a .45 Colt. While I still have it here, I would never do that again.... among other things, the front sight height of a .357 is significantly lower than that required for a .45 Colt.

 

[Minshooter]

I have gotten burned with overpricing and shoddy workmanship in my younger years which made me very cautious later in life as well as asking myself "Do I really need this and will anyone want to buy my Frankenmonster gun if I need to sell it in the future"?

I learned the hard way

Boy, do I know that feeling.
Waaay back, George C. Nonte wrote praises for someone who did .44 spl conversions on Smiths (Won't say his name, but it can be found). Can only assume that as a very well known gunwriter, George got special treatment.
So, I sent him a NIB 6" Model 28 (For which I paid $125 total, from a local dealer -excuse me while I go thump my head on the wall).
It came back a massively butchered mess; a barrel liner cut off at the muzzle, presume with a hacksaw, chambers drilled out with a twist drill (not seeing any other way to score them up so badly), and assorted tool marks, on my new in the wrapper 28.
Could never get a single response from the guy. Sold the pistol face to face to someone who wasn't very fussy, but wanted it as is.

 

[gfors]

The M629 is an N frame and the M686 is a L frame. N frames are larger, as are the cylinders.

doh...of course. I never even considered that, and I own examples of each frame. More coffee please!