Sow’s ear to silk purse? A custom project with John Powers.

SouthNarc · May 30, 2025

Two years ago I got this 38/44 HD on GB pretty cheap.

Thread '38/44 HD 45 Colt conversion'

Jul 13, 2023

I picked up a curious revolver from GB the other day and am trying to figure some things out about it.

It’s a 38/44 converted to 45 Colt. It’s definitely not a Bowen conversion. It has a pinned front sight and the “45 Long Colt” marking on the right side of the barrel appears to be laser etched or at least really shallow. The action is super slick.

Outside of Bowen who else did conversions on these revolvers like this? Certainly not more than a handful of ‘smiths?

Any help on ID’ing the work would be appreciated. Regardless looking forward to getting this to the range.

It had been converted to .45 Colt and had a dull re-finish.

Great shooter, and a phenomenal action.

After some thought I decided to initiate a custom project with John Powers and give this old gun a facelift.

Now I’m fully aware that one will never get their money back on something like this and the point was not to increase the resale value. The point is to get something I want and collaborate with a custom revolver smith. A fun project that’s satisfying.

Here are the before photos.

SouthNarc · May 30, 2025

In all my gun browsing I spotted a cool 38/44 that had gone on Amoskeag a few years ago. It had been cut to 3.5”, had a King’s base installed and a blade front. A drift adjustable rear completed the sighting system and then the old gal was nicely engraved.

Here’s that old gun.

https://live.amoskeagauction.com/lot-details/index/catalog/18/lot/6934/Engraved-Smith-Wesson-38-44-Heavy-Duty-Hand-Ejector-Revolver

I was very taken with that modification. 3.5” fixed sight N frame in my opinion is the epitome of a fighting service handgun.

So with John’s help I initiated this project to kind of replicate that look.

After 20 months I picked it up yesterday after driving over to his shop.

Here’s what it looks like now.

SouthNarc · May 30, 2025

John stripped off the old finish and charcoal blued the gun. Cut the barrel to 3.5” and fashioned a King’s style base from scratch. He actually found a King’s sight to drop in.

I have a ton of custom stocks but I think this one looks perfect with a pair of NOS unused factory magnas in a dark chocolate brown. They really makes it look like something from the era that a lawman would have had done.

I'm happy with how this turned out and what my money spent got me, especially considering the kind of shape it was in. It's better looking but I'm perfectly okay with shooting the snot out of this one. The only thing that's off is the stamping on the right side of the barrel which should say ".45 COLT CTG." and not ".45 LONG COLT". But that's minor and honestly this custom piece could say whatever I want it to say.

Enjoy the photos. John is excellent at what he does and he really rescued this old gun.