Modified Cut down 25-2

[RILEY31]

I purchased this S&W model 25-2 today from the estate sale.This gun has been sitting in a gun rug since 2003. The original owners son said he thought the gun was was sent back to S&W for the modifications.I am wondering if S&W did this kind of modifications to gun in the late 1970's or early 80's. This gun has had the barrel cut down to 4 inch and has the smoothest action job of any gun I have ever pulled the trigger on, also the hammer has been bobbed and there is a trigger stop on the back of the trigger. Anyway did S&W do this kind of modifications or did someone else do them?If it was someone else does anyone know who?

 

[RILEY31]

Here is a couple of pics of the grip frame maybe some of the markings will help

 

[arjay]

I think they were still putting a date stamp on the left side of the grip frame then (I have one marked in '80)

 

[daddy bear]

Not saying no, but the crown does not look like S&W work to me. Most barrel changes that I have dealings with from the factory were barrel changes. No matter, it should be a good shooter.

Best,

Jack

 

[Doc44]

S&W did not do the work on the 25-2. The crown on the barrel is not factory, but as posted above, the 45 should be a great shooter and carry revolver.

Bill

 

[Tom C]

I confess I have a 25-2 that I got in ’75. It had the 6.5” barrel, which I felt was too long, so I had it cut down to 5” which I think is a terrific length for an N frame. It also had bad chamber alignment, which when fixed, resulted in a very accurate revo, even with .456” chamber throats.

 

[ExcitableBoy]

Love the mods. Keep the strain screw cranked... without the extra weight of the spur there might be problems with hard primers. Beautiful revolver.

 

[younggun22]

Looks like a great gun! Stocks appear to be jigged bone and the tyler T is a nice touch.

I have something similar in 45 colt

 

[deyomatic]

I love it. What is the purpose of a trigger stop?

 

[mhg2tld]

I recently bought a 25-2 that also was modified.....to a 44 magnum and a 3 inch barrel replaced the factory 6 1/2 inch barrel.
Congrats on your find.

 

[lebomm]

deyomatic;
The purpose of the trigger stop is to halt the rearward motion of the trigger after hammer release (sometimes called backlash or overtravel).

Larry

 

[sodacan]

Personally, I don't care for those modifications, but what I think is irrelevant. Hope you enjoy it.

 

[RILEY31]

Thanks everyone! I didn't think it was done by S&W but I thought I would ask. The man who owned the gun was a rancher and a deputy sheriff. There is no telling who did the modifications. His son said he remembered him sending it off and it was his primary carry gun.

 

[RILEY31]

Keep the strain screw cranked... without the extra weight of the spur there might be problems with hard primers.

ExcitableBoy I was a little bit worried about that but so far I have shot 4 brands of ammo with no problems.

 

[ExcitableBoy]

RILEY31:

Good to hear. The problem is more prevalent with J's, but I've seen it come up occasionally on their big brothers when someone tries to lighten trigger pull by backing off the mainspring tension. Light strikes suck... you just never know if you've got a hang-fire, a dud, or what.

Enjoy your 25-2.

 

[tug700]

Love it!!!!! Go forth, shoot and enjoy a piece of history.

 

[RILEY31]

I had a model 28 one time that the strain screw kept backing out and I had to lock tight it to fix the problem.Light strikes do suck

 

[Taj]

Love the mods. Keep the strain screw cranked... without the extra weight of the spur there might be problems with hard primers. Beautiful revolver.

Actually, we found after 40 years of building PPC guns, that we could get by with a lighter mainspring when the hammer had been bobbed or lightened. Seems we get more "snap" from from the lighter hammer. Hammer speed seems to be the key, and of course a lighter hammer doesn't need as much mainspring. Some of the mainsprings were so light on some of my PPC guns, you'd think they'd never work. Yet, I never had a failure to fire. All of my hammers are bobbed and extremely light.

 

[jack the toad]

Yet, I never had a failure to fire. All of my hammers are bobbed and extremely light.

Interesting, did you use Federal primers or where they primer selective?

 

[ExcitableBoy]

TAJ:

Were the "lightened" springs stock S&Ws that were trimmed, or were they specifically engineered aftermarket units of different alloys? I know that many of the old PPC revolvers had some pretty funky stuff done to them.

Just curious.