I am seeking enlightenment from those of you who have .44 Special conversions on M27's or M28's. I am in the middle of a .44 special conversion on a beater Model 28. It's been aftermarket nickelled to include the complete rear sight assembly. Barrel slightly overpolished around front sight but I have a spare M28 barrel and a couple of .44 special cylinders. I got into it very cheaply so I'm not going to put an exhorbitant amount into the completed project. I can do all the work (de-nickeling,reblue, grips, fitting) with the exception of the rebore. My main concern is the wall thickness of the M28 barrel after reboring to .44 and how to remark the caliber without reducing the wall thickness even further by removing the original caliber markings. Will the barrel wall be too thin after reboring? Will welding the old caliber markings full(protecting the bore with anti scale compound) and draw filing the excess give problems in the rebore process? Or should I just keep looking for a 4" M24 barrel? S&W does list a 6 or 6 1/2" barrel as repair parts, but no 4" which is what I want.
Rebore Question
- Thread starter wlmccann
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I'd ask the person doing the rebore what they think about welding up the markings before the rebore is done.
I'm guessing they'd not want it done before they work on the barrel as the possibility of a hard spot in the steel will mess up their process.
Most all use some sort of automated machinery now and can't stop it fast enough to avoid damage to either their tooling and/or the bore if a hard spot is encountered.
They usually have some sort of disclaimer for such unforseen damage somewhere in their workorder or website.
If you're confident in tig welding the marking up with no damage to the bore, then I'd do it after the rebore.
Some of the conversions done in the 80's used to mill a small area out to remove the old marking then restamp the new caliber in that flat.
Not the slickest looking but it does show that the material can be removed without worry. There are limits though!
Do the 6" or 6 1/2" barrels have their markings in a position that would make them look correct if they were to be cut down to 4" length?
I'm guessing they'd not want it done before they work on the barrel as the possibility of a hard spot in the steel will mess up their process.
Most all use some sort of automated machinery now and can't stop it fast enough to avoid damage to either their tooling and/or the bore if a hard spot is encountered.
They usually have some sort of disclaimer for such unforseen damage somewhere in their workorder or website.
If you're confident in tig welding the marking up with no damage to the bore, then I'd do it after the rebore.
Some of the conversions done in the 80's used to mill a small area out to remove the old marking then restamp the new caliber in that flat.
Not the slickest looking but it does show that the material can be removed without worry. There are limits though!
Do the 6" or 6 1/2" barrels have their markings in a position that would make them look correct if they were to be cut down to 4" length?
Marksman
Member
Hamiton Bowen did a .44 Special conversion of my pre-27, the old caliber markings were drawfiled off and new markings appplied. I have a custom made steel stamp that will remark exactly like a M/24, I will loan it for your project. E-mail me if interested. I would not weld the old markings.
Thank you both for your replys. Marksman, I appreciate your offer of the stamp and will keep it in mind. 2152hq, I don't have a longer barrel on hand to see where the caliber markings are located. Mostly I think the longer barrels regardless of caliber end up with markings offset to the muzzle end when shortened. I have not called the reborer yet, but I need to. I had been thinking that welding before reboring might give problems in consistency It also can warp barrels with the uneven cooling caused by heating just one side. The possibility of warping may be greater after the rebore because of the thinner barrel wall. I may be better off to get the 6" or 6 1/2" barrel, draw file the old markings and restamp it.
I may have a M24 barrel left over and if I do I'll post a pic of the markings to see if they'll be off centered if the bbl were cut.
Don't know if you have a rebore gunsmith yet but
ClearWater Reboring does Bowens work. I had him do a couple jobs for me and they are as advertised. Wait time was a 6months +.
Another rebore firm is Classic Barrel Works. I've never used them but those that have are pleased with his work. I don't know if he works on handgun barrels or not. An email would clear that up quick.
Here's his website.
Classic Barrel Works
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added pics of 44spl M24 bbl. OAL is 6 1/2".
I don't know if this is the same as being offered for sale now. This was bought many years ago from J&G Rifle Ranch. Not currently for sale.
Pics show a 4" mark on either side and where the original markings would fall if cut. Hope these help.
Don't know if you have a rebore gunsmith yet but
ClearWater Reboring does Bowens work. I had him do a couple jobs for me and they are as advertised. Wait time was a 6months +.
Another rebore firm is Classic Barrel Works. I've never used them but those that have are pleased with his work. I don't know if he works on handgun barrels or not. An email would clear that up quick.
Here's his website.
Classic Barrel Works
****
added pics of 44spl M24 bbl. OAL is 6 1/2".
I don't know if this is the same as being offered for sale now. This was bought many years ago from J&G Rifle Ranch. Not currently for sale.
Pics show a 4" mark on either side and where the original markings would fall if cut. Hope these help.
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2152hq,thank you. Clearwater was who I was considering. I hadn't thought of Dan Pederson. Randall Redmond used to reline or rebore Broomhandle barrels depending on desired caliber, but I can't find a website. There is at least one other I haven't talked to yet and that is, I think, Norm Johnson with High Plains Reboring or Gunshop. Sonny France, who Turnbull recommended for relining, can rebore, but his quote was substantially higher than Clearwaters posted price. Sonny says setup is a pain and I understand that. I think the majority of his work is relining long guns and in a wide range of calibers. His relines are very good and I think his prices for that are fair. I did locate pictures of some 24-3's on the auction sites today. It appears the markings on the 6 1/2 " will be out of place for a 4" configuration. I'm not trying to fake a 24 so the simplest thing for me to do is get the 6 1/2" from S&W and cut to 4", recrown and remount the front sight. Cost of the barrel and the Clearwater rebore are almost the same. I appreciate the effort to post pics for me.
The pistol bbl rebore runs around $125 the last time I looked but I don't remember if that included recrowning, etc. Sometimes it's a basic price for just that,,a rebore/rerifle. Costs can add up quickly. It helps that you can do alot of the work yourself.
BTW the name Sonny LaFrance is a blast for the past! Turnbull was using him back in '91/'94 when I work there.
Rebores and new barrels in mostly Winchester lever configurations were the main thing we needed. Can't recall any relining jobs.
He had a couple of operators on the line for that type of work and at least one I wouldn't have used the barrels for pry bars. They were that bad,, both inside and out. But onto the guns they went!
Don't recall exactly which barrel cutter made those up. Seems they came from out west somewhere,,Silver City Barrel,,Silver something...
Anyway,,good luck with your project. Be sure to post pics!
BTW the name Sonny LaFrance is a blast for the past! Turnbull was using him back in '91/'94 when I work there.
Rebores and new barrels in mostly Winchester lever configurations were the main thing we needed. Can't recall any relining jobs.
He had a couple of operators on the line for that type of work and at least one I wouldn't have used the barrels for pry bars. They were that bad,, both inside and out. But onto the guns they went!
Don't recall exactly which barrel cutter made those up. Seems they came from out west somewhere,,Silver City Barrel,,Silver something...
Anyway,,good luck with your project. Be sure to post pics!
Clearwater was at $150 the last time I checked the website. S&W wants about $152 for a new 6 1/2" M24 barrel.
I attended the restoration seminar Doug taught at Montgomery Community College in May of '99. I learned some and found out I wasn't quite as ignorant as I thought on restoration. Mostly,I just haven't been able to examine enough good examples to know what the finish should look like. My customers have a tendency to bring me stuff that was junk before great grandpa took it out of the box. That's before he shot 2 cases of black powder or semi smokeless shells through it and drug it through a hog lot on the way to the barn where it was stored on the floor of a horse stall for 75 years.
I don't have a lot of examples of Sonny France's work to really judge by, but what I have seen was done well. Had a customers Low Wall in .38 WCF done and it both looked and shot well. As I recall, it looked pretty decent when I borescoped it. Good enough I intend to send him my 1876 Winchester in .45-60 to reline. As the bore is now I don't think it would group on a #3 washtub at 50 yards.
Again, thanks for the help. I mostly needed to bounce ideas off of somebody else.
I attended the restoration seminar Doug taught at Montgomery Community College in May of '99. I learned some and found out I wasn't quite as ignorant as I thought on restoration. Mostly,I just haven't been able to examine enough good examples to know what the finish should look like. My customers have a tendency to bring me stuff that was junk before great grandpa took it out of the box. That's before he shot 2 cases of black powder or semi smokeless shells through it and drug it through a hog lot on the way to the barn where it was stored on the floor of a horse stall for 75 years.
I don't have a lot of examples of Sonny France's work to really judge by, but what I have seen was done well. Had a customers Low Wall in .38 WCF done and it both looked and shot well. As I recall, it looked pretty decent when I borescoped it. Good enough I intend to send him my 1876 Winchester in .45-60 to reline. As the bore is now I don't think it would group on a #3 washtub at 50 yards.
Again, thanks for the help. I mostly needed to bounce ideas off of somebody else.
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