Sad day for an old gun.

[Highridinyota]

I replied to the pm . Hope it gets there .

 

[DWalt]

It's best if you get a gunsmith to do the job. Removal of the existing barrel and installation of a different barrel is more complicated than it appears, and unless you have both the skill and the required tools, you probably won't be able to do it yourself. It's even possible you could spring the frame making it a total loss.

 

[Ed Fowler]

You have nothing to loose, why not cut the barrel off at an angle from the rupture down to the cylinder latch, shoot it and see how she shoots! Just fun stuff!

If you don't like it just go ahead and change barrels.

 

[iPac]

I was going to suggest making it into a snub also, but the S&W extractor design eliminates that possibility.

Sounds like you got a barrel anyway. If you need a good smith to do that job, send it to Frank Glenn in AZ. Very affordable and a true expert pistolsmith. Turn around time is amazing too.

 

[Biggfoot44]

It's hard to tell from the pictures viewed on my phone, but check with gunsmith if there is enough good bbl left to cut & cown at aprox 3in , and retain the front lug. If so, you could call it a Period Correct gunsmith Repair with a straight face.

 

[cowboy4evr]

as a guy once told me , " changing out barrels is as easy as changing out a light bulb " . He told me to just get 2 pipe wrenches -- simple . He said the teeth marks from the pipe wrenches didn't bother him as he didn't intend to sell his guns anyway .
Seriously , I strongly suggest getting a good gunsmith to change it . The frame can easily be sprung without proper tools .

 

[jmace57]

cowboy - I think I've seen some of that guy's work!

 

[JSR III]

Welcome to the forum.

So if I am hearing you guys correctly, you are saying that this is beyond the realm of JB weld????

 

[gwpercle]

Welcome to the forum.

So if I am hearing you guys correctly, you are saying that this is beyond the realm of JB weld????

I don't think J. B. Weld , Duct Tape and Super Glue is going to fix it.
Replace the barrel , there will not be enough barrel to retain the latch and cutting them back so as to eliminating it has been done before but it's not a great idea .
Gary

 

[JH1951]

Welcome to the forum, High.
You are already experiencing the kind of folks that reside here.
Likely the best place on the Interweb for S&W issues (and many more) I am interested to learn how this turns out for you. Please keep us posted.

 

[BC38]

OK - how about....free. Look for a PM.

MAN! That is what I absolutely LOVE about this place. A member volunteers to GIVE parts to a complete stranger - and a new forum member to boot - to help them out with repairing their old gun.

I am a member of several other gun forums, and that kind of thing just does NOT happen in any of them - even in the local forum that is right here in my home town where a lot of the people know each other.

If this were the first time I'd seen it, that would be one thing. But it isn't, I've seen it multiple times, and have even been the recipient of these acts of generosity myself.

There is no other place like this place anyplace else. This group is a real class act. My hat's off to ya Gents!

 

[Daver7]

You guys are "WAY COOL"

 

[DocB]

Wow. This looks like the reason why I don't reload or shoot reloads in my guns anymore. Back in the day when we all reloaded (me, my friends, the guy who owned the LGS) strange things were most always going on when we went out shooting.

 

[ralph7]

I don't think J. B. Weld , Duct Tape and Super Glue is going to fix it.
.
Gary

Leave it as is for a poor man's magna port!

 

[Big Cholla]

IMHO, that handgun deserves a replacement barrel period. The remnants of the original barrel just won't make a proper snubby. Be aware to ask any potential pistolsmith if they have the proper frame wrench. That frame is slightly wimpier than later frames and unless the proper frame wrench is used tweaking of the frame is almost inevitable. Get it done right. ....

 

[Jim Watson]

I have seen a lot of bulged barrels from shooting out stuck bullets, but that is the first ruptured barrel.

 

[gmborkovic]

I have to agree. With the cost and time, Just accept a lesson learned and hang it up in the shop. I know it is a bitter lesson. Just my 2 cents. Best

 

[BigBill]

I'd buy a barrel from numrich egun parts and get it fixed.

MILITARY & POLICE. Accessories | Numrich Gun Parts

 

[BC38]

I'd buy a barrel from numrich egun parts and get it fixed.

MILITARY & POLICE. Accessories | Numrich Gun Parts

I'm with you on that one. For $35 and the cost of installing it, it would be worth it.

For all you more experienced home gunsmiths, do you think this would work:
1) Drive the barrel pin out
2) Remove the cylinder
3) Reinstall the crane without the cylinder
4) Make a jig from a block of hardwood or high-density plastic to fit around the front of the frame/crane to clamp it into a vice
5) Apply some Kroil or PB Blaster etc. to the barrel/frame joint
6) Apply some light heat to the frame with a small butane torch and some ice to the barrel
7) Use a pipe wrench on the barrel at the ejector rod lug to remove the old barrel.
8) Put the new barrel back on using the pipe wrench WITH a piece of thick leather wrapped around it at the ejector rod locking lug as padding to protect it from the pipe wrench teeth
9) Re-drill the barrel pin hole with a drill press
10) Re-insert the barrel pin

Think that would work to change the barrel without tweaking the frame?

 

[Big Cholla]

IMHO, not without damaging something that will get expensive to get fixed. IF you are willing to buy the Jerry Kuhnhausen book and go line by line you might luck out and get the job done. I wouldn't count on it. There are just too many factors to fitting a new barrel properly to hope for a 'drop in' fit.

This is a straight forward job for a pistolsmith. Hand it over and get it done promptly and correctly. ....... Again, that is a wonderful old S&W with a lot of service yet to give. It deserves to be fixed right. .....