Model 1955 N Frame, the Good, the Interesting, the Ugly

[Muley Gil]

The 5 on the left toe tells us the gun shipped as a 45 cal originally. The cyl is a rechambered 357 or 44 Mag.

I tried the W and the U back in the .......70s?.....80s? I did not like them. Can't remember exactly why- something about the feel did not suit me. Bill Orr had a big box of each on his table at gun shows back then, so it's a safe bet many have been added to guns that did not ship with them.

The cylinder is too short to be a .44 magnum, unless the front has been milled back.

 

[hibbs]

Thanks Murdock I’ll keep an eye out for M25 45 acp cylinder since it would be neat to have both capabilities. I’ll measure the OAL of the current cylinder with calipers to see if it matches M27 or M28.

Hibbs, I agree the action is as smooth as silk. It is definitely heavier though on my particular example. Single action hammer release is heavier than other examples from the same era. Is yours also like this? I’m wondering if the W mainspring has anything to do with that. I could swap strain screws and traditional leaf spring to find out.

BC38 you asked if it had a strain screw. Yes it does but cut shorter so as not to make contact with the mainspring when fully screwed in.

The double action and single action are both smooth and rather light. The gun may have had an action job somewhere down the line. No matter, it's a keeper!

 

[Casual Smith Nut]

Got a chance to shoot it today. Shoots like a champ at tin cans 25 yds. Ran well with 230gr LRN over 6 gr bullseye. My brother had his chrono. The loads ran 860s avg. I generally shot it better in double action rather than single action.

 

[Jim Watson]

Elmer liked the W mainspring but said he had to put in a clipped rebound spring to get good trigger return.

If you are seeing dings from over rotation it may be from rapid fire overcoming the soft springs.