K 32 Magnum 'Distinguished' Combat Masterpiece Grips and Range report added 4/20

[Allen-frame]

Thanks to Engine 49 Guy, my good friend, he found me a cylinder and barrel from a model 16-4.
He bought them , and I joined him for dinner at his house Friday evening.

We hit the garage with a finish challenged model 19-5 2.5''
that he had in his collection.
We tore it apart and re created it as a round butt

K-32 Magnum 'Distinguished' Combat Masterpiece.

I fit the cylinder to the frame with a new hand, setting the timing,
Then fit the barrel to the frame setting the barrel cylinder gap.

I still have to test fire it so we will see how it all came together.




Here are the pictures.

You can see how the rear sight comes all the way to the front of the frame tipping us off that this started life as a short barrel model 19.





Here with my original model 16-4 bought years ago before the prices went nuts.















Here now after days of working in the action and a range trip on Friday.

K round combats added and shooting my 115 gr. 32 Magnum semi wadcutters.




No you don't need glasses, this picture is fuzzy,,





36 rounds fired double action, 30 feet, in a dimly lit indoor range.
I scored a 350 10X out of 360.
..Not bad for these old eyes.

Very happy with the work.





And here as an added little bonus,
A model 30-1 3 inch I bought from a friend for the princely sum of $200.

Shot with Fiocci 32 wadcutters double action at 7 yards_ 25 feet....

No Squirrel on the farm will be safe any longer !
















Good Luck, and God bless you all.

Allen Frame

 

[Jebus35745]

Very nice, you saved some money doing it yourself. A range report will be great but I'm sure it will shoot OK. Larry

 

[Duskykiller]

Beautiful I want one.

 

[Engine49guy]

That was a fun project and I got to experience a barrel swap,
Have to admit my heart was in my throat with the amount of torque it took for you to remove the 19 snub barrel with a 2' long spanner wrench but suddenly went "TICK" and off it came...Phew....and exhale.


Hows about a pic wearing some RB FG Combats ?

 

[Green Frog]

You got to use an existing 16-4 barrel and cylinder? That's cheating! You should have to go through the expense and wait of reboring stuff and trying to get it all together... it's just not fair, I tell you!

Congratulations on a fine acquisition. Please keep us informed of your continued progress (you lucky so-and-so, you!) We just love 32 caliber projects!

Regards,
Froggie
http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-revolvers-1980-present/260686-project-616-a.html

 

[Doubless]

I saw a Model 14 on gunsamerica a year or so ago that had been turned into a 327 Federal. The work was done by David Clements if memory serves. I didn't buy it, but boy, was I tempted. The barrel came off a 16-4. It bothers me to know that some of that rare model Smith are being cannibalized to make these custom guns, but that is just me, I guess...

 

[Joe Kent]

I would be surprised to think Guys were cannibalizing Model 16's to make Model 19's into Model 16's. My guess is they ,like me buy new spare barrels and cylinders from Smith, Colt, Brownells and for that matter other collectors and tinkerers who have done the same thing. Right now I have mailed a check to a fellow Forum member for a complete Model 17 cylinder and crane assembly as well as a shrouded 22 caliber barrel. The cylinder is for a 32-20/327 upcoming project and the barrel is for a 3/4 scale,give or take, duplication of a Model 27. I like many here squirrel away parts for all kind of, some may say, scatterbrain future projects. Joe.

 

[Green Frog]

I would be surprised to think Guys were cannibalizing Model 16's to make Model 19's into Model 16's. My guess is they ,like me buy new spare barrels and cylinders from Smith, Colt, Brownells and for that matter other collectors and tinkerers who have done the same thing. Right now I have mailed a check to a fellow Forum member for a complete Model 17 cylinder and crane assembly as well as a shrouded 22 caliber barrel. The cylinder is for a 32-20/327 upcoming project and the barrel is for a 3/4 scale,give or take, duplication of a Model 27. I like many here squirrel away parts for all kind of, some may say, scatterbrain future projects. Joe.

+1 to what Joe said. I just wish I had better luck finding some of these orphan, unused Model 16 parts (any dash #)

Froggie

 

[Engine49guy]

We got lucky on the timing and barrel and cylinder ad had no pics just said 16-4 barrel and cylinder....turned out to be a 4"er.

Allen pondered using an older 14 SB frame but pre 14-5's have non underlug barrels so the 16-4 barrel would have overhung the frames yoke area and since I owe Allen a favour (or two) and had a 19-5 snub with a dime sized spot of pitting on the cylinder it really all made sense to use the 19-5 snub as the donor frame.

I believe his intention is to have the cylinder reamed to 327 Federal although there was discussion of having a 32 caliber insert made for the 2.5" snub 19 barrel at some point as well....IMO a 327 Fed RB snub magnum would also be a very interesting variation

 

[Allen-frame]

I would be surprised to think Guys were cannibalizing Model 16's to make Model 19's into Model 16's. My guess is they ,like me buy new spare barrels and cylinders from Smith, Colt, Brownells and for that matter other collectors and tinkerers who have done the same thing. Right now I have mailed a check to a fellow Forum member for a complete Model 17 cylinder and crane assembly as well as a shrouded 22 caliber barrel. The cylinder is for a 32-20/327 upcoming project and the barrel is for a 3/4 scale,give or take, duplication of a Model 27. I like many here squirrel away parts for all kind of, some may say, scatterbrain future projects. Joe.

Fine minds think alike . .

Brothers in Arms,

Allen Frame

 

[Green Frog]

Engine49guy and Allen-frame,

Can I assume you have seen this thread?

Converting a S&W 64-7 to .327 Federal

I went to a couple of well known builders who absolutely refused to talk to me about sleeving a barrel for 327, but "Crank" is doing it with his project discussed in that thread. You'll have to decide for yourselves about the pressure issues. I will say with a fair degree of certainty that the 4" Model 66 cum 616 that I have discussed gets pretty loud with anything over mid level loads, and when you get into the high performance range, most of the other shooters will move a little farther away! I've had to back off to what would be good 32 H&R loads in mine for the sake of keeping my friends close by. If you build a 2 1/2" snubbie and light off a full house 327 Magnum round, you will definitely get the neighbors' attention.

Sounds like fun to me, though, so keep us informed on your progress.

Froggie

PS Since AFAIK all of the Model 16-4s came from the factory with square butt smooth combat grips like the set shown on your original, I wonder how your project gun would do with the round butt combats from the same era? My guess is they would finish it off nicely. HMMMMM?

 

[peyton]

Thanks for the tip about which version of model 19 you used. I also have an extra barrel and cylinder at home. I wonder if a model 66 frame could be used, it would be a "Pinto in reverse"??

 

[Green Frog]

Thanks for the tip about which version of model 19 you used. I also have an extra barrel and cylinder at home. I wonder if a model 66 frame could be used, it would be a "Pinto in reverse"??

See http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-revolvers-1980-present/260686-project-616-a.html for lots of details on the Model 66 to 327 FM conversion... it turns out that the only adjustable sighted stainless K-frame that works for this seems to be the Model 66, so I think you are on the right track. I used an old 66 no dash with a rebored 617 barrel and cylinder, but a 66-1, -2 or -3 should all work fine. I don't know how much later you can go, but I suspect any of them would work. It would be worth a look.

Froggie

 

[Engine49guy]

As stated a 66 frame should also work just fine but considering the 16-4 barrel was not cross cut for a set pin using a 19-4 or lower pinned frame would have required cutting a channel slot on the barrel threads or snipping down a pin into two short dummy pins to fill the frame hole.

The 19-5 also seemed to have the same blueing as the 16-4 barrel where the 19-3 and older would be darker.

This is Allens baby and he has tried to explain to me the benefits of the
32 caliber but I am too heavily into the 22lr and 38/357 to turn back at this point.

 

[Jim Watson]

Slightly OT, but I would like a full lug M15.
Real ones are very scarce.
Are there any barrels running around loose?

 

[Dale53]

I always enjoy reading about ANY .32's. I sure do like my original 16-4 (6" barrel) and shoot it often.

Allen;
Thanks for sharing with us!

Dale53

 

[Engine49guy]

Just finished all 3 threads....Phew...yes we got off VERY easy .

BTW I was a consciences observer in the project with a big bench vise and a small amount of encouragement,

Allen footed the bill for the project and did all the hands on work as it slowly (or actually rather quickly) took shape..

 

[Engine49guy]

Slightly OT, but I would like a full lug M15.
Real ones are very scarce.
Are there any barrels running around loose?

Jim there are no full lug 15's that exist from S&W,
there are HB 2" snubs, 4", 5" tapered barrels and 4" 6" and 8 3/8" wide ribs in the 15-5 and above.

The full underlug K38 you seek is actually a 14-5 or above.
They do come up for sale on rare occasions but are pricey.

For me the L frame 586/686 although just slightly larger is close enough for half the price and can shoot 357 as well.

 

[peyton]

I got two model 66 no dash sitting in my safe. I have not fired either. They look great but are not the 32 I love.

 

[Green Frog]

I got two model 66 no dash sitting in my safe. I have not fired either. They look great but are not the 32 I love.

To paraphrase Jimmy Buffett, "All it takes is lookin' and a whole lot of money!" The one correction I would make to my Project 616 referenced above is to start with a 617 or 648 no dash cylinder to get a good extractor for modification to the 32 head and rim size. Pick a stainless barrel from a 617 or 648 in the length of your choice and settle down to wait for it to be rebored. Good work takes time and the few good shops that do this kind of work are slammed. Once you have the rebored barrel and the proper cylinder in hand, you can give the whole project to your 'smith to rechamber the cylinder and fit it all up AND, there will be no permanent alteration to your Mod 66!

Would I do it again? Youbetcha!

Froggie

PS First picture shows early (correct style) extractor, you should avoid later style (in second picture) to save a lot of extra work.