S&W Model 53 Remington Jet Question

[italiansport]

Here's mine just the way I bought it. I used the 22 inserts once just to see how they worked and that was enough for me. The original owner of this pistol bought it for coyote hunting! Every time I fire this on an indoor range it shuts the place down!
Jim

 

[DFrame]

I like mine. I jokingly refer to it as the worlds loudest 22. Seriously, It's easy to load for and as long as loads are kept reasonable and chambers oil free it's a great shooter.

 

[Engine49guy]

I liked the lugged barrel as well but have no use for a Jet. Found a 4" Jet lugged barrel on Gunbroker and swapped barrels on my K22 Combat Mstp. Looks cool. Interesting that the Mod 48 .22 Mag doesn't have a lugged barrel but that's another option for you. Occasionally they are found with an auxillary 22 LR cylinder or can be sent back to have one fitted.

I see this is an old thread but I have been debating a similar project.. wondering ,

Did S&W cut back your 53 barrel shoulder or did you use a 53 aux cylinder as the Model 53 barrel is meant to work with a longer magnum length cylinder.
Also did the underlug overhang the frame by the yoke?

Do you have this gun still and any pics ?

Best regards
Brad

 

[Club Gun Fan]

This is one of my Model 53's. I actually carried this one on duty. Mass State Police would meet me at our local range and fire it.
I took this to the Smith & Wesson range. I brought 100 rounds, I left with 100 once fires brass. Everyone loved shooting it. We almost had top brass convinced to bring it out again. For some reason it never happened, too bad.

 

[PA Guns & Ammo]

This is one of my Model 53's. I actually carried this one on duty. Mass State Police would meet me at our local range and fire it.
I took this to the Smith & Wesson range. I brought 100 rounds, I left with 100 once fires brass. Everyone loved shooting it. We almost had top brass convinced to bring it out again. For some reason it never happened, too bad.

You carried an 8" barreled revolver? If you had to use it you would have been deaf. I cannot see how the 22 Jet would be a good personal defense round. Cool gun though!

James

 

[Donald Paul]

.22 jet model 53

...thousand word pictures.

 

[davegarage]

I have several hundred rounds of OEM Remington Jet ammo.

Boo bah.



Dave

 

[flundertaker]

This is one of my Model 53's. I actually carried this one on duty. Mass State Police would meet me at our local range and fire it.
I took this to the Smith & Wesson range. I brought 100 rounds, I left with 100 once fires brass. Everyone loved shooting it. We almost had top brass convinced to bring it out again. For some reason it never happened, too bad.

Dont have a 53 or any opinion on the them but those stocks are unbelievable!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk

 

[Hondo44]

I see this is an old thread but I have been debating a similar project.. wondering ,

Did S&W cut back your 53 barrel shoulder or did you use a 53 aux cylinder as the Model 53 barrel is meant to work with a longer magnum length cylinder.
Also did the underlug overhang the frame by the yoke?

Do you have this gun still and any pics ?

Best regards
Brad

Hi Brad,

Great questions. I had to mount the barrel in my lathe and cut the barrel shoulder back for almost one full turn because it tightened up past 12 o'clock. That was OK because it also solved the problem of the barrel/cyl gap which was way too large with the Mod 18 shorter cyl, so I killed two birds with one stone.

And yes, the shroud hung way over the flat front face of the frame. But there's quite a bit of metal on the bottom of the shroud under the cutout for the Extractor rod. I carefully removed metal and re-contoured the bottom of the shroud on my son's knife maker's belt grinder; a wonderful machine! It came out very close and looks good. Of course I had to re-blue the barrel, but I had to anyway.....read on.

The biggest issue is the wide rib on the Jet barrel did not match up with the front of the top strap either! So I had to mill down the sides of the barrel rib to match. Fortunately, the grooves in the rib don't go all the way to the edge of the rib because the rib tapers to the muzzle! By milling off the sides right up to the grooves, the rib is now straight like the original M 18-4 barrel and matches the top strap perfectly.

What I really wanted is the tapered barrel look of the of the '50s and the M 18 before it was discontinued and came out with the full lug as a M 17 4". But that was too much hand work and I'd have lost the roll stamp on both sides of the barrel. Although I could have spent a few bucks to have Fords blue it and re-roll stamp both sides.

Plan B: I hardly ever shoot Mags, but since the barrel is roll stamped .22 Magnum, I'd like to find a M 48 .22 WRM cyl or spare .22 LR cyl to ream out to WRM and make it a convertible....just because. But in no real hurry with so many other irons on the fire.

Frankly, if I had it to do over again, I believe I'd start with the original tapered barrel, mill off the lug, cut the shroud from a scrap barrel, and silver solder in place. But still have some re-contouring of the bottom of the shroud. No lathe work and no milling of the rib.

It's usually mistaken for a M 19. My son takes pictures and loads them into Foto time for me but he's so busy making his custom folders, I have to bug him 'til he gets it done.
http://www.cucchiaraknives.com/

 

[Club Gun Fan]

You carried an 8" barreled revolver? If you had to use it you would have been deaf. I cannot see how the 22 Jet would be a good personal defense round. Cool gun though!

James

James
I carried an 8 3/8 27 and a 29, both nickel plated, gold bead front sight and full target done for me at Smith & Wesson. Of all the custom work I had done by them, I never paid a penny. Smith & Wesson took care of police officers. I had to switch holsters for the 53.
My chief questioned my carrying a .22, until we went to the range.
After he shot a cylinder full, he asked "Can I get one?" He never did, of course I rarely carried the 53, I did carry the 29 for about 3 years, switching to a 4 inch 27.

 

[29-1]

Here are a few from 1962 and the way they came from the factory. Neat revolver, fun to collect and shoot. The 4 inch version is a blast, literally.
Chuk

One of 2 original shipped nickel jets. No longer in my collection

 

[Club Gun Fan]

Dont have a 53 or any opinion on the them but those stocks are unbelievable!

I carried it with those stocks.

 

[PA Guns & Ammo]

One of 2 original shipped nickel jets. No longer in my collection

 

[planojack]

I've owned several Jets and have really enjoyed them. Trying to match the inflated factory loads is not a realistic goal. I shoot a 45 grain cast/gascheck bullet with a reasonable load and love it.

 

[galena]

You carried an 8" barreled revolver? If you had to use it you would have been deaf. I cannot see how the 22 Jet would be a good personal defense round. Cool gun though!

James

I never carried a M-53 on duty; however, I carried mine a lot for personal defense. Having seen what the Jet could do to Jack Rabbits, coyotes, and a couple of pronghorn antelope I never had any doubt that it would work. The following quotes are from an article in the 1966 GUN DIGEST TREASURY entitled "The Modern Sporting Pistol." "...............A really striking advantage of the Jet is its ability to shoot rimfire ammunition for practice, by means of steel sleeves inserted in the chambers. This is an enormous asset to the one-gun man, providing him a plinker and a hunting gun for the price of one revolver. (And don't underrate its combat potential ---- the Jet hits about twice as hard as a 38 Special." And later: ".........The four sporting pistol cartridges, then, stack up about like this: 1) The 22 Jet. Excellent for small game, larger than squirrels, ditto for varmints of the woodchuck-fox-coyote class. The only "triple-purpose" handgun equally useful for plinking, field shooting, and self defense..........". Oh yeah, the article was written by none other than Lt Col Jeff Cooper. I'd say that is a pretty good endorsement.

I have had my M-53 since 1965 and it will be the last gun I'll ever give up.

For DocAnyday: If you PM me with a snail mail address, I will send a copy of the 4 page Owner Instruction/Spec sheet that came with my M-53.

 

[samnev]

I've had my 53 for 25 years now and reload for it. Love the 53. Every time I go to the range with it it gathers a crowd. Very few know what it is or have ever heard of it.

 

[PA Guns & Ammo]

I've had my 53 for 25 years now and reload for it. Love the 53. Every time I go to the range with it it gathers a crowd. Very few know what it is or have ever heard of it.

And they do not believe you when you tell them it is a 22 Magnum