Picked this up today

[VenomBaneVonDoomsday]

Any idea how I find info about it? It’s a 28-2 no info on the barrel

 

[pantannojack]

Did you find that in HollyWood?

 

[jringo8769]

well that looks like one of those competition guns
can not remember the letter for it
they were popular
that is a purpose built gun
God Bless,John

 

[jimbo728]

PPC barrel?

Jim

 

[Hair Trigger]

Any idea how I find info about it? It’s a 28-2 no info on the barrel

remove the stocks and look on the bottom of the grip frame, the SN will be there. Starts either with an "S" (1968 or earlier), or an "N" (1968 or later). At least you can date the frame, who knows when the other stuff was done.

 

[colt_saa]

Any idea how I find info about it? It’s a 28-2 no info on the barrel

Welcome to the Forum

That was a Model 28 at one time, now it is a PPC Revolver.

Obviously, you already asked the people that you bought it from and if they did not commission the conversion, did they ask the person that sold it to them what the back story was?

Decades ago (in the ERA before plastic guns) there were tens of thousands of revolvers that looked like that

That one is wearing a Ron Power barrel rib. I would give them a call and see how far back their records go

 

[barbsaurus]

Caliber Conversion?

Do you know if it is a .357 Mag? I've seen some that were converted to other calibers...

 

[rincar]

Highly modified Model 28. I hate to see good revolvers turned into a ugly gun. But to each his own.

 

[Scharfschuetzer]

It should still be in 357. One of the officers on my PD shooting team had a cylinder shaved to the OAL of 38 Special HBWCs. The barrel shank was extended back to the shortened cylinder so that the bullet went right into the rifling from the case. While it looked like a good idea, we never did see any real improvement in accuracy when compared to our PPC revolvers (like the OPs). Most of our PPC revolvers were built on K Frame revolvers and used the standard length cylinders.

The OPs rear sight should have three stops for 7, 25 and 50 yards. The 50 yard zero actually drops the POI something like 12." This is because at 50 yards, you hold 6 O'clock on the head of the B27 target and the bullets drop down into the 10 and X ring. That makes for a more defined sight picture at 50 yards. Competitors hold center mas at the shorter ranges.

One of my old PPC revolvers.

 

[burneyr]

First PPC revolver I have ever seen built on an N-frame.

Has to be a late production 28 - no barrel pin.

 

[StrawHat]

Highly modified Model 28. I hate to see good revolvers turned into a ugly gun. But to each his own.

When you are trying to reach the top of the podium and the factory models fall way short, you build what you need, within the rules. It wasn’t until the end of the PPC era that S&W introduced the Models 586 and 686 that were geared to PPC competition. Until then you built or had built a competitive revolver.

Kevin

 

[Narragansett]

I have one that I had built in 1978 on a 15-3. There was a front page article on the cover of Gun World Magazine about a fellow named John Towle in North Conway, New Hampshire. 6" premium Douglas barrel, full length Bomar rib, polished trigger, and the smoothest action you can imagine, Coiled main spring. Designed to shoot wadcutters. Very accurate. Back then, all the work was 100.00

Sorry I do not have a pic at the moment

 

[stansdds]

That's a custom built PPC revolver, no doubt about it. Most were built on the K-frame 38 Special, unusual to see one built on an N-frame.

 

[Inusuit]

For the unwashed among us, PPC = Precision Pistol Competition.

I had to look it up.

 

[ken158]

Wonder why it was built on an N frame? Hope you got a good deal or have a lot of paper to punch or cans to ventilate…

 

[MarkL_01]

For the unwashed among us, PPC = Precision Pistol Competition.

I had to look it up.

Interesting. I always thought it stood for 'police pistol competition', but the NRA site calls it 'police pistol combat'.

'PPC' may be as good a label as any.

-Mark

 

[Krogen]

PPC is still being shot at one of the local clubs. It's an interesting and somewhat complex course of fire. I've helped out the match director at a couple state championships. Some of those cops are fast AND accurate. Pretty interesting to watch. When they let their hair down and get to telling war stories, it's worth listening. There are classes for semi-autos too. And there are classes for non-LEO folks too.

 

[Pantherclass2004]

PPC, technically a 28, but not any more.

 

[H Richard]

This is what would have been about an $800+ re-barrel and custom PPC sight rib back in the 70-80's (in addition to the cost of the revolver). I would imagine the trigger pull is very smooth and light. It will most probably put all rounds (148 gr HBWC target load) in under 2" groups at 25 yards, some cand do under 2" out at 50 yards.

 

[OLDSTER]

Interesting. I always thought it stood for 'police pistol competition', but the NRA site calls it 'police pistol combat'.

'PPC' may be as good a label as any.

-Mark

Years ago I shot lots of PPC; "Police Pistol Combat."
"

 

[JohnRippert]

I expect that was a PPC revolver for a very big man.

 

[lamarw]

My understanding was PPC stood for Police Pistol Combat as others have stated. I have one done by Master Gunsmith Ken Eversull using a Model 10-7 and using a Bill Davis custom sight rib manufactured by Aristocrat. The front sight is adjusted for 7, 25 & 50 yard mark. It weights approximately 3 lbs. 10 ozs.

 

[stansdds]

Wonder why it was built on an N frame? Hope you got a good deal or have a lot of paper to punch or cans to ventilate…

Maybe it was bought super cheap or just happened to be what was on hand when the owner decided to build a PPC revolver. Also, I think the geometry of the N-frame's lockwork lends itself to having a lighter trigger while maintaining reliability better than that of the K-frame.

 

[StrawHat]

…Also, I think the geometry of the N-frame's lockwork lends itself to having a lighter trigger while maintaining reliability better than that of the K-frame...

Ed McGivern used N frames to set his records, usually a 38/44 of some flavor.

Kevin

 

[CajunBass]

Highly modified Model 28. I hate to see good revolvers turned into a ugly gun. But to each his own.

No different than all the fellows I used to shoot IPSC with who took a Colt 1911 and modded the heck out of it to make a race gun. A lot of what we see today on factory guns came from those cats. And let me tell you. They could shoot. I used to try to fool myself and think if I had a gun like that I could shoot like they did. HA! They could have swapped guns with me, and they'd have still cleaned my clock.

We had a gunsmith in town, Fred Schmidt, who built many a PPC revolver, and ISPC 1911's. He had a waiting list. I never even went into his shop. I knew it was one of those "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" deals.

Oh, and to the OP. That's a cool pickup you've got there. I might have jumped on that one myself.

 

[Pizza Bob]

For the unwashed among us, PPC = Precision Pistol Competition.

I had to look it up.

That may be what it stands for now, as it is still contested, but with bottom-feeders. The original meaning was: Police Practical Combat - that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Adios,

Pizza Bob

 

[Scharfschuetzer]

We had a gunsmith in town, Fred Schmidt, who built many a PPC revolver, and ISPC 1911's. He had a waiting list. I never even went into his shop. I knew it was one of those "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" deals.

I know that name well. He built a couple of our PPC guns for the PD pistol team. He also built up my Series 70 1911 Colt for the action shooting events that we also shot in.

 

[pittpa]

First PPC revolver I have ever seen built on an N-frame.

Has to be a late production 28 - no barrel pin.

Well, here is your second one, my 28-2 with a Witchita rib.

ETA, I'm going to work on the trigger and see if I can do any good with it in Precision Pistol. The heavy weight (about 4# with scope) is good for keeping it steady during one-handed DA firing.

It still has a 357 chambers.

 

[Hair Trigger]

When you are trying to reach the top of the podium and the factory models fall way short, you build what you need, within the rules. Until then you built or had built a competitive revolver.

Or, you changed classes. I shot PPC back in the late 1970's when I worked for the state division of prisons. I had purchased a 6" M19 to use, but after my first couple of matches, saw all these custom guns, and knew if I wanted to be competitive, I'd need to build mine, but I couldn't afford it at the time. So, I traded the 6" M19 for a 4" M66 and shot in Service Revolver class; I think this is called Production Class today.

Interesting. I always thought it stood for 'police pistol competition', but the NRA site calls it 'police pistol combat'.

'PPC' may be as good a label as any.

-Mark

Years ago I shot lots of PPC; "Police Pistol Combat."
"

When I shot PPC, it stood for "Police Pistol Competition"; NRA calls it Police Pistol Combat, and the international body calls it Precision Pistol Competition. They're all pretty accurate descriptions, I suppose.

 

[StrawHat]

…Or, you changed classes…

I shot and was competitive in all of them, Off Duty (Model 36-1, 3” barrel), Distinguished (Model 686, 6” barrel), Duty (Model 15-3, 4” barrel), Open (Davis PPC, 6” barrel). On competition days I went through a lot of ammunition!

Kevin