Project gun thread, lets see your 'improved' Smiths,and how did you do it?

[Allen-frame]

First off ,I would like to see any of your project guns. Ones that you've had modified to your own specifications.
Shortened barrels ,rounded butts ,all forms of modifications and improvements. And as importantly ,,
would you do it again? Knowing now ,what you didn't know then.


My current interest is in a recently acquired model 66-5.

Update ,08-08-08 ,dropped the mod 66 off to Bob at Showgun ,in Pembroke Pines this morning.
He didn't have a time frame for me ,as he said he works on projects such as this in his spare time.
. He called it a labor of love. Now that's my kind of guy.

It is a round butt ,4in. heavy barrel ,with all m.i.m. internals.

I have spoken to a professional here in So. Florida who comes highly recommended.
He said it would be no problem to cut and crown the barrel to 3in. and remove the roll stamping on the sides of the barrel.
Then mill a groove into the top of the barrel and fit a patridge front sight, maybe with a neat gold bead or something like that.
All this would cost about $200. ,I am into the gun really right at $270. now. So my figuring would put me at $500. or so for a 3" 66-5.

I've decided to do it, so count this as the official before picture. I will keep you all up to speed on the progress.


The finished project , 9 months later.

Meanwhile ,,,what has been your experience with such projects ???

Thanks ,,,,Al

 

[Wyatt Earp]

I think that would be a cool gun when it's done.

I don't have any major surgeries but this is my latest project:

29-3 before:

And after:

Ahrends grips, action tune up, wide target trigger replaced with narrow combat trigger, trigger faced smoothed and edges radiused.

Detail of trigger work:

 

[Poohgyrr]

Here is a matching set: M66-2 & M640-1:

duty tune
contoured trigger that looks similar to Wyatt's
bead blast type refinish
beveled cylinder
Fitz grips

 

[Culina]

My project gun was this 624. It has a nicely tuned action that has never missfired, Polished external surface, SDM 14k Gold Bead Front sight, and custom smooth coke reproductions made from maccassar ebony.

 

[Allen-frame]

Kurac ,that 624 is fantastic. I take it it started life as a 4in. with the black ramp front sight? Smooth ebony coke shape stocks, very nice also,,expensive??

Thanks to all so far ,,,Al

 

[winchester1]

Does a hacked up, drilled, frosted, tuned Ruger Super B count? I know you've all seen this one before, but it fits Allen-frames post so I thought I'd put it up again.
Jeff

 

[Allen-frame]

Jeff ,sure hope that's an e.e.r. scope you have on her there. I wouldn't want to have my face too close to that thing when it went off

.

What caliber is she ,,cowboy?


Regards ,,,,AL

 

[Guest]

Last step on this one is to cut it for moon clips, then it's off to IDPA/IPSC...

 

[Allen-frame]

Aw , c'mon Rob ,I've not seen that one before .

Is it a 1905 4th. change target ,humpback hammer ,prewar magnas ,transitional? Ser.# in the 800 to 900K range?

Please give details. ,,Moonclips my butt

.

Regards ,,,AL

 

[Guest]

Originally posted by Allen-frame:
Aw , c'mon Rob ,I've not seen that one before .

Is it a 1905 4th. change target ,humpback hammer ,prewar magnas ,transitional? Ser.# in the 800 to 900K range?

Please give details. ,,Moonclips my butt

.

Regards ,,,AL

AL,
It's just a humble project gun, although I lied about the moon clips....

It's an early 4th change, started life as a 6 inch, had the barrel installed, front sight moved to new barrel, added the Humpback hammer and KB pre-war Magnas, period reblue by Dave Chiccoine. Kinda neat, no?

 

[Guest]

Here are some additional pics, I show it with the KB Magnas since the original grip medallions give the age away.

 

[4864]

Very nice 4th Change Smithnut.

 

[Bullseye Smith]

I have showed this "ALOT", but damn still proud of it. I took a Model "10" and made a 32 mag out of it. Put a new cylinder and barrel on it, drilled and tapped for scope. It is a tack driver and I love it. Getting parts put together for the next project.

 

[Bullseye Smith]

SmithNut, that is one nice old Smith. I have a six inch target made at the same time period. I would love to have a set of Grip Adapters like those. I know those are the real McCoy, but I would be very happy with a reproduction set. I like to put them on my new Reg. Mag.

Another Question for you if I can Sir, Do you shoot everything, or you just have shooters?

 

[winchester1]

Allen-frame,
She's a 44Mag, and yes it is a EER scope.
Smithnut,
Very nice!
Jeff

 

[Cayoot]

I have shown this one before, but it is my favorite custom job. I took a long time to figure out exactly what I wanted in my carry gun.

I finally decided about 5 years ago and had this done. To me it is perfect. I carry it pretty much every day (in an Allesi OWB holster) and the only thing I would change is that I would have had the lettering on the barrel taken off so that the barrel would look more "right". However, I put all my money (that I had at the time) into making this the "perfect" carry piece to suit me personally, and did not want to "waste" any money on cosmetics at the time.

Oh well, I'm still thrilled with it, and would do it again in a heart beat!

My 686+ (dash 4)

It has been cut down from 6" to a 3 3/4" barrel, had a SDM gold dot front sight installed, cylinder machined to accept moon clips, ball detent moved from the end of the ejector rod to the crane (for improved consistency in lock-up), Extra large cylinder release, tuned action (of course), forcing cone had the sharp edge on the right side slightly rounded (cuz I kept cutting my finger on the forcing cone during speed reloads), trigger polished, smoothed and rounded, and finally, given a set of S&W PC combat grips.

 

[rimfired]

I did not do this one but it's the reason I joined the Forum for info.

This was my Dad's and he bought it in this configuration @ 1960 from a local Fed. LEO.

BBL has been shortened to 3" and ramp sight milled into a vertical slot atop bbl.

5 screw K .38, ser. #K82172 (frame and bbl match) shipped in my birth year, 1950.

 

[user]

I reckon I'm a minimalist. I don't like changes I can't reverse, so I replace hammer and trigger rebound springs with reduced-power springs first and then replace the sights. I generally prefer rubber grips, so I pack away the wood to keep it nice with a bit of Formby's Lemon Oil in the plastic bag. Depending on the use, I may use tritium or "fiber optic" sights, and/or Crimson Trace lasergrips.

 

[Guest]

Do you shoot everything, or you just have shooters?

I have plenty of guns that are shooters, either because of condition or made in stainless. Not all my collectibles get shot.

 

[tdan]

A couple of suggestions before you go slicing and dicing on your 66: I would not buff the barrel down to get rid of the rollmarks. The contour may come out a bit goofy. Remember that your gunsmith will have to remove metal on that barrel to get out the deepest lettering. What about simply taking about 7/8" off that barrel. Your lettering may not look too off-center........you can always buff it off later. Check out Jack Weigand for a new front sight set-up. He makes a replacement front sight base that is tailor made for folks that like to chop and recrown barrels. It also uses the Smith "Classic DX" interchangeable blade system. I'm thinking this would look better aesthetically, instead of a rather high front sight pinned or dovetailed to the top of the barrel rib. I have always found Weigand products to be flawless in their execution............by the way.......I think that 66 makes for a good choice for your project. Four inch 66's are fairly common and you certainly got yours at a great price...............just my 2 cents!

 

[deanodog]

That is some fine looking iron. Thanks to all for sharing.

 

[okie john]

My custom gun projects seemed great at first but nearly all of them lost quite a bit of luster after delivery. Both five-shot big-bore revolvers are gone now, replaced by a lightly tweaked 5" Model 629 Classic. Several - honestly, I've lost count - serious custom hunting rifles are gone with them, replaced by a lightly tweaked pre-64 Model 70 in 308.

The problem was that I didn't really sit down and think about what I wanted vs. what I needed. I also ignored a lot of conventional wisdom. I read too many gun rags and convinced myself that big game animals were nearly impossible to kill and that the whole hunting process was far more dramatic than it really is. None of that was the case at all. The guns that replaced my custom projects do just about the same thing just about as well, and it's a hell of a lot easier and cheaper to find ammo for them.

If you want a serious 357 carry gun, consider a Model 65 police trade-in from Robertson Trading Post. Have Karl Sokol dovetail a front sight onto the barrel and do an action job. Then you'll have a more durable weapon for serious use. If you just want to spend money, cut up a nice Model 66 and not have much real-world improvement in performance or durability to show for it, you're on the right track.

Originally posted by tdan:
Check out Jack Weigand for a new front sight set-up. He makes a replacement front sight base that is tailor made for folks that like to chop and recrown barrels. It also uses the Smith "Classic DX" interchangeable blade system.

If this will be a serious carry gun, I'd avoid the Weigand front sight system. To remove the front sight blade, you pull it to straight the rear and lift it out of the base. There is no locking mechanism. If you catch the front sight blade on something as you're pushing forward, such as the lip of the holster as you're reholstering, the blade pops out. It can be a real shock to draw the gun and find a long rectangular slot where your front sight used to be.

Fortunately, I figured this out when I was scouting for deer and not in a fight.


Okie John

 

[Guest]

Fortunately, I figured this out when I was scouting for deer and not in a fight.

John,

Did you get him before he got to you?

I guess, if this had been a bear attack, that removeable front sight would be viewed as a positive option!!

 

[feralmerril]

I dont have a picture of my best custom I had done, as I stupidly sold it back to the original owner, (a close friend). It was a 1917 S&W. I had a new .455 clyinder and crane rechambered to .45 colt, makeing it a nice convertable that worked well. Also had a smith target sight installed with a red ramp. Had the hammer beavertailed etc, and target stocks. Looked like the factory done it!
But here is a model 51 that I had called the factory and ordered a .22lr clyinder for. I simply thought if ruger can do it, why not smith? This was about in 1971. Right after that they had it as a option in their new catalog for awhile.

 

[okie john]

Originally posted by SmithNut:

John,

Did you get him before he got to you?

I decided that discretion was the better part of valor, begged forgivness, and slipped away quietly.

I guess, if this had been a bear attack, that removeable front sight would be viewed as a positive option!!

Yeah, it's a Patridge blade, too -- hurts to think about it.


Okie John

 

[Grayfox]

I'm a bit of a tinkerer. Been doing trigger jobs, parts replacement and minor repairs to my guns for years.
The last couple of years I've been tackling bigger projects. Here are two of my S&Ws.

A couple of years back Numrich got a hold of some 5" 686 barrels. When word hit this forum, they sold out in just a couple of days. I was one of the lucky folks who got one. Took me about two years to find a suitable (affordable) donor gun for the project, but I eventually found a well used 8 3/8" 686 at a reasonable price.
Swapped out the barrel, worked over the action and polished it all up nice and pretty.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

This next one I built from scratch. Started with a bare nekked Model 28 frame. Later came across a 6 1/2" 25-2 barrel which I cut back to 3 1/8". Added a Model 25-5 cylinder and internals from various sources. Finshed it off with a set of Cylinder & Slide Extreme Duty sights.
The end result was this .45 Colt snubbie.

 

[Wyatt Earp]

Originally posted by Grayfox:
I'm a bit of a tinkerer. Been doing trigger jobs, parts replacement and minor repairs to my guns for years.
The last couple of years I've been tackling bigger projects. Here are two of my S&Ws.

A couple of years back Numrich got a hold of some 5" 686 barrels. When word hit this forum, they sold out in just a couple of days. I was one of the lucky folks who got one. Took me about two years to find a suitable (affordable) donor gun for the project, but I eventually found a well used 8 3/8" 686 at a reasonable price.
Swapped out the barrel, worked over the action and polished it all up nice and pretty.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

This next one I built from scratch. Started with a bare nekked Model 28 frame. Later came across a 6 1/2" 25-2 barrel which I cut back to 3 1/8". Added a Model 25-5 cylinder and internals from various sources. Finshed it off with a set of Cylinder & Slide Extreme Duty sights.
The end result was this .45 Colt snubbie.

I have to say, of everything I have seen here so far on this thread, these two revolvers really turn my crank.

If I was a peace officer and my department would allow me, I would carry that 5" 686. That is just bad ass!

And the 45 Colt N frame snub is just cool.

 

[Curt Dawson]

Well I am taking my post war M&P with 6" barrel to the gunsmith and having the barrel replaced with a 4"slab sided PPC barrel with full length winged sight.I have already had to replace the cylinder due to bad gunshop reloads.I used a model 64 cylinder.And I had the hammer bobbed.Now I just have to sell the holsters and have replacements made.

 

[Curt Dawson]

Now which holster to choose?I am leaning towards El Paso saddelery but I am unsure about the fit with the winged sight.

 

[rhodnett]

Here is my "improved" model, only because the original owner chose to "deprove" it. It started life as a NYSP(HP?)model 520 that the owner had converted to .44 mag with the installation of a M29 cylinder and barrel. He thought a fixed sight .44 mag needed to be had. I had been lusting after a Hamilton Bowen .45 Colt conversion and spotted this on GunsAmerica; since heavy duties were getting scarce and pricey, this seemed like a good candidate for my project.

Major modifications include a 5" pre-war HD barrel, black powder cylinder chamfer, and front strap modified to resemble a HD. The trigger and hammer were re-color case hardened. It's shown wearing Executioner's bone stag grips.