Project 616

[Jebus35745]

Charlie, how was the OGCA? Its a cool show that covers a wide range of collecting. Its different then a regular gun show. I went back and looked at you're pics and you have a neat gun. I have a 617-4" that has a good balance to it. I have a B-square scope mount that you can borrow. You can mount a scope on it to see how accurate it shoots then just return the mount to me when your done. Tape the bbl where it clamps to it. My Horvath was all over the target with open sights, the pics are at 50 ft with a red dot on it. My red dot looks like a small peanut, some of these may be flyers because of it . If I could have used a scope, the groups would have been smaller. Larry

 

[gunfan]

I can't wait to see what develops! If S&W is listening, they may learn, once again, how to make money.

Scott

 

[Green Frog]

Roger that, Scott. Thanks for the kind offer, Larry, but I think I have one of those B-square Mounts laying around at my house somewhere already. I have a little 4 power Leupold pistol scope destined for my R-word Bl@ckH@wk in this caliber, and it may get waylaid for duty on 616. Ultimately though, this is destined to be an "old school" revolver with good iron sights aboard.

Froggie

 

[Dale53]

I tried HARD to get Froggie to have the "616" drilled and tapped for optical sights but he wanted to go "old school">(). Since I am vision limited, a Red Dot is on most of my guns. I am sold on them!

However, Froggie's custom "616" is one of the nicest and most practical field pistols (revolver) any one could hope for. If I were going with iron sights, those pictured would be my choice. The revolver is VERY nicely done as the photos show. What DOESN'T show on the photos are the excellent trigger both single and double action. I don't know how much of that trigger job was on the donor gun or how much was Horvath's work but it is a REALLY nice job.

After Froggie and I went through the costs involved, I may have lost a lot of my reluctance to consider a custom. When you consider what Froggie ended up with this coversion appears to be a "value added" piece, all the way.

A fine concept by Froggie and great execution by Mr. Horvath (don't forget the barrel reboring by Jim Dubiel (Dubell?).

Dale53

 

[DCWilson]

Holy Cow, Froggie! I have been waiting to see the outcome of Project 616 for months, and while I expected the gun to look good I didn't expect it to look that good! What a complete triumph. You ought to start a sideline in custom conversions aimed at producing a punchy .32 Kit Gun! I know S&W made a few four-inch target .32s over the years, but they never made enough of them in any era for the idea to sink in. I'd sure buy one. (Or under your influence, may now start looking for the parts to modify in order to build my own.)

A great outcome. Nice work, and my compliments to the specialists you had do the detail work for you.

 

[Jebus35745]

Hey Froggie, I was searching the net for a single shot gunsmith and there was a green frog into Ruger single shots. Is that you? The nice thing abt the B-square mount is that you can put it on and try ammo to see which shoots better in each gun. Then remove the mount and try to use iron sights. Dale, don't you have the nice shooting 625's? Larry

 

[Green Frog]

Hey Froggie, I was searching the net for a single shot gunsmith and there was a green frog into Ruger single shots. Is that you? The nice thing abt the B-square mount is that you can put it on and try ammo to see which shoots better in each gun. Then remove the mount and try to use iron sights. Dale, don't you have the nice shooting 625's? Larry

Guilty as charged, Jebus! My longtime interest in handguns was supplemented by an even longer time interest in single shot rifles of the era from the Civil War to WW I. This put me squarely in line for the American Single Shot Rifle Association on whose website you may have seen some of my posts. In that room of my life, the key players are Winchester, Ballard, and Maynard. The Maynard got me into another aspect of shooting where I now am somewhat active in North-South Skirmish ***'n shooting. Obviously, I'm single!

Back to the project, I am now thinking I really need to scope it temporarily to get a true picture of what the gun can do. Stay tuned for further developments. (oh yeah, I do have one of the old Lee/Mequon pistol machine rests and access to a crony, so I should be able to be fairly scientific about it.

Froggie

 

[gunfan]

Froggie: Roll some 100 grain RNFP cranking out of that 4" barrel @ 1400 fps, yielding 435 fpe and experiment with it in the field.

That should get some tongues wagging!

Scott

 

[Green Frog]

Gunfan, I'm loading a 125 grain hardcast LRNFP (NOE mould after Ideal 3118) over 8.1 grains of Accurate #7 in once- or twice fired Federal cases (Winchester SP primers.) As near as I can estimate, the velocity should be about 1200 FPS. Nobody is likely to ignore that load! I'm just starting to see the beginning of a little pressure, so I will either back off or perhaps resort to a different powder (looking at the equivalent velocity from a charge of H-108)

Froggie

 

[TACC1]

That's a great looking gun. I am in awe of the concept
and the craftsmanship that went into it.
You definitely "walk the walk" when you say you're doing
a custom revolver.
TACC1

 

[Hondo44]

Well Froggie I think I've paced almost as much as you waiting. But to see your vision in 3D makes it all worth while. A great idea and bunch of parts really came together well. You look like one happy soul in that photo!

 

[BUFF]

That is really a tremendous revolver, but does Horvath Custom pay you a royalty for his advertising stamped into the side of your gun?

I think it is going to have been well worth your wait.

 

[Green Frog]

That is really a tremendous revolver, but does Horvath Custom pay you a royalty for his advertising stamped into the side of your gun?

I think it is going to have been well worth your wait.

Royalty payment would be nice, but after all the fine work he did on it, I think a little tooting of his own horn is in order as well. I know I will happily recommend his work to anyone having similar ambitions on a build. While there are a couple of revolver smiths out there who are better known or have bigger reputations, you would have to look pretty hard to find someone doing any better work. Also, as Dale53 observed when he first saw it, "That definitely establishes provenance for the who built it." I like that too! I hope I can get out to my home range Wednesday (if the blizzard subsides... I had to cut my OH trip a day short ) and do some more shooting. I still don't know it's full potential yet, and I'll be trying to see which combination of powder (and charge) and bullet weight it likes best. Of course since it is a freshly rebored barrel, there will probably be some settling in, but since I'll be shooting mostly lead bullets it should go pretty quickly, I hope. Life is good!

Froggie

 

[Dale53]

Hey Froggie, I was searching the net for a single shot gunsmith and there was a green frog into Ruger single shots. Is that you? The nice thing abt the B-square mount is that you can put it on and try ammo to see which shoots better in each gun. Then remove the mount and try to use iron sights. Dale, don't you have the nice shooting 625's? Larry

Larry;
Guilty as charged. The 625's are my most shot revolvers. However, the 16-4 Smith generally goes along for the ride to the range for a bit of "light" practice. It is a superb revolver and it is a shame that they are no longer available.

Back on topic:
Froggie's "616" is about the "perfect packin' pistol" (thanks, John) given it's size, weight, and stainless finish for the field coupled with it's caliber. When Froggie ventures to the field next fall, I suspect it'll be hanging from his belt.

Dale53

 

[Jebus35745]

Single meaning no wife, wow. I'd be at every gun show, abt one each weekend. Home range, we could use some pics of it. I like single shot rifles, SXS shotguns and S&W's. Kinda old fashioned I guess. Larry

 

[Frank46]

Froggie, remember no breech seating on this one. All goofs aside the smile on your face seems to me that you are one extremely happy camper. Beautiful handgun and in a great caliber. Hope you both spend many happy times together. Frank

 

[Tony M.]

Great Job on this one. For years I've wanted exactly what you've created here.

 

[ddixie884]

I have posted in this thread, but haven't said how very impressed I am with your project. Mr. Horvath did you a great job, CONGRATS!

 

[Maximumbob54]

That was a grand adventure to read from the start to the end so far. Froggie, I hope you can share some of that load data once you get it worked up. I don't have the bones to build such a micro beast but that is exactly what I wish S&W would have / could still do with the .327 magnum. I would also like to see Federal or any other ammo manufacturer come up with some heavy bullet loads as well just to get more interest in it as a field gun. I still want to see a more practical cost J frame but that's just the K frame that S&W could still make.

 

[Jebus35745]

Hey Froggie, did you ever mount a scope on it to bee the accuracy it has. Larry