Round butting a mdl 15

[Danny Abernathy]

I have aquired two 2 inch mdl 15s in the last few months. One a 15-6 mint and a 15-2 in exc. cond.
I have a wild idea and wanted to know if anyone else has tried it. I want to round butt one! I have round butting several k frames before and even I with my two left hands didn't have too much trouble and they came out pretty good if I do say so myself.
The square butt doesn't lend itself to very many options when it comes to concelable grips and I have had this in the back of my mind for awhile. Heck, I even though of taking a four inch15 and making it into a three inch round butt.
I think round butting a two inch would make a great carry gun, what do you all think? Anyone did it and does anybody have pics?
Let me know your comments and tips.
Happy New Year everybody.
Danny A.

 

[VM]

Danny - have you considered just buying a rd butt model(s) 10,12, or 13 with two inch barrel? ........they are fixed sight guns but really don't need an adj. rear sight for CCW.
No sense in ruining your Model 15's

 

[texagun]

They made round butt 15's. This is a 15-3 from 1971. You don't see many of them, even in 2".

 

[haris1]

Dont round butt the 15

The 15's are holding their value strongly and you can buy an already roundbutted model 10 or 12. I have a beater model 12
2 inch flatlatch which shoots great that I bought on GB for 250 but its an ugly duckling and i always think of selling it.
Also you can buy a 19 1/2 thats already roundbuttted if you have to have adjustable sights(not needed for what this is designed for)
I still have the 15 that you sold me. You would think I was insane if I round butted it, wouldnt you .
Your friend,
Haris 1
Concealabilty is relative. square vs round in a high ride lobo pancake is a small difference

 

[Danny Abernathy]

haris1, good to hear from you. Glad to hear you still have the 15 you got from me, the one I got yesterday is in the same condition but with service stocks that are ill fitting.
round buttting was just a idea that I had but haven't madew up my mind yet. Am interested in seeing if anyone else has done it before I do it.

 

[squidsix]

I round butted a model 29 a while back. Not terribly hard to do. Easiest thing is buy a set of round butt magna grips and get your outline. GO SLOW, and remember that it will lower the value. Otherwise, it's your gun, and if round butt feels better for you, enjoy it.

 

[saemetric]

If one round butts the square butt, do you recut the backstrap grooves. Anyone have a pic of one rounded. Bruce

 

[BAM-BAM]

Before round-butting, consider;

Greg Spegel makes his "Boot grips" for the k -frame square butt.....in black walnut, standard grade, they are about $50-60.

Keep that 15 origional!!!!!

 

[squidsix]

I did not add the backstrap grooves. Braxton has the thing in his posession, and he had it rechambered for .45 Colt and the smith recut the grooves.
It's beautiful now.

 

[Danny Abernathy]

Never thought about the groves, something to think about. Only Spegel's I can find are at Novak's and they are in the 125-230 price range. Eagle Secert Service grips are another possibility.

 

[Muley Gil]

I roundbutted a M15 for a fellow police officer. It fit his hand much better.

The BIG issue is the location of the serial number. If RBing could get into the SN, DON'T DO IT!!!!!!

 

[Chuck Jones]

Beter yet, don't do it period.

/c

 

[squidsix]

Chuck does have a valid point. Getting a round butt K-frame will be cheaper. You could sell your model 15 here in about ten minutes, and then get what you really want.

 

[Danny Abernathy]

It sounds funny but what I want is a round butt 15 2inch. The 2 inch 15 just feels good to me and balances just right. I have had 2 inch 10's, 12's and 2 1/2 19 and 66's and all of the 3 inch k frames also 10's, 13's, 64's and 65's. I just like the 15 for some reason and could never really get past why they put a square butt on such a short barrelled gun. In my opinion it needs to be round butted. I just can't push myself over the edge to do it that's why I wanted to see if anyone else had done it before I commit myself to do it. Anyone made the plunge?

 

[BAM-BAM]

Go to Spegel's web site. Or call him at 503-368-5653.

A couple of sites like Novack carry a limited number of his higher grade stocks to add to their guns. But Graig is a great guy to talk to and has a much wider range of offerings.

edit: I can't find his web site :craigspegel.com. I used it in november to place an order. Try calling him, he's a great guy to talk to. He's in Oregon.

 

[BUFF]

I like the idea of a round butt, 2 inch Model 15. My department was issuing older Combat Masterpieces and slightly newer Model 15's for the first 10 years of my career. Mine was a blue, 4 inch gun with standard trigger and hammer. It was s/n K522975. It had engraved on the right side of the frame, near the cylinder release: "SLCoSO #72. Bought new in 1963. carried and used by others until issued to me in October, 1981.

The gun had seen hard used. They attempted to rehab the dinged, goughed, rusty parts by oiling, then wirebrushing the rust as best they could. They then polished the gun, using a buffing wheel I assume, then hot-tank blued it. So I ended up with a gun that had ground off sharp edges, dished out screw holes and nearly unreadable roll markings. It WAS shiny, however. Looked like ****. I never shot it, I had and carried better guns.

Another deputy we'll call "Bee" had been issued a Model 15 with square butt and 2 inch barrel when he was assigned to detectives. We had a very talented revolversmith in town, the late Robert Ballard, who had worked at S&W for some time. Robert liked S&W revolvers, had round-butted a deputy's personally owned 4 inch M-66 and had cut the serrations back on the gripstrap. Beautiful work. Deputy "Cee", admiring the work, was inspired by this and had Ballard round-butt his department issued 2 inch M-15 from square butt, cut the striations on the grip straps and then do an excellent polish and hot dip blue on the entire gun. It looked like brand new gun. The armorer never noticed and few were cogniscent of the tasteful alteration of government property.

 

[Art Doc]

Here's a great idea (it's mine so of course it's great).

Buy a 2.5" M19. Effectively the same size as a 2" RB M15 would be but with more power and you wouldn't be lowering the value on the 15 by butchering it. As I have stated before (and correctly, I might add) you are better off buying the gun you want rather than trying to turn the one you have into something else.

 

[jhvaughan2]

... for some reason could never really get past why they put a square butt on such a short barrelled gun.

I agree with that, but some (like me) don't understand the need for adjustable sights on a 2" barrel either.

CC is always a compromise, I suppose it's where you draw your line.

I tried a RB 19 2" for CC. I think the M19 is about the best all round revolver -- but to me, the M12 beats it hands down for every-day wear.

About 9 months ago I had the perfect candidate for you. A 2" 15-3 that was solid and shot well but had enough surface rust that customization and refinish would probably have been acceptable to these guys.

 

[Danny Abernathy]

Well, I don't think I am going to cut this gun to a round butt configuration. It is a very nice gun and would go a 9 on a scale of 10. I don't know what I will eventually do with it, I probably would never get all my money back if I sold it. Might keep it for trading purposes.
Back in the safe it goes.

 

[CelticSire]

The 2 inch 15 just feels good to me and balances just right.

If it feels good and balances just right, why does it need to be changed? Just wonderin'...