Yesterday's Weapons Forums

Bought the revolver on sale with no barrel. Gunborker had a 2" for not a lot & it was in great shape when it showed up here. My concerns were that the frame would be sprung from some bonehead armorer not using a fixture, but it was straight as could be. I was also concerned the threads wouldn't be compatible - no worries there, either.

Of course, it needed to be hand fitted to line up right. It came up about 1/3 turn short of the front sight lining up Top Dead Center. The cure for that? Please pass the large Mill Bastage file.

As always, you can take it off, but you can't put it back, so I did the cut & try bit. File, file, file - put the barrel on... take it back off and file again. It didn't take all that much to get it lined up just right. Then it was adjust the barrel/cylinder gap. That didn't take much, either. Got it to an eyeball .003" with same said Mill Bastage file.

I was set to cut the forcing cone again but will wait until I do the test fire for that.

Kinda hard to see, but this is the gap from the barrel not lining up right.

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After mucho CAREFUL filing, I had it this close. Next try was dead nutz on.

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There! Close enough for RR work!

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The finished product cleaned and ready to test fire.

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This was like so many of these projects - once you jump in, there's no going back. But I'm happy with it. I have a decent 2" model 10 for actual hundreds less than I saw them on Gunborker. Now to score a set of decent grips! SW

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Slava Ukraini!!

I'd be interested in the velocity you'd get with mild handloads. There was a 4" stainless k-66 well into my distant past that was pretty astounding with fart powered wad cutters. Hard to believe that accuracy came from a wheel gun with a shorter than 6" pipe...

Regards ,

Doc Sharptail

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"Ain't no Half-Way" -S.R.V.

"Oh Yeah!.....All Right!" -Paul Simon

nice job , you have an enviable revolver in that one , what caliber did you say it was ?

38 Special

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Slava Ukraini!!

love it , i would be happy with that ,

LGS had a set of Pachmayr grips & they make it fit my hand a lot better. Found my forcing cone cutter and did that while it was apart. I'll get out tomorrow & run more ammo through it. SW

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Slava Ukraini!!

wonderful job , show us photos of the finished product when you get time , i am home till the 13th and will need a little entertainment between cleaning projects , hoping all goes back to normal after that but a bit of distraction can never hurt what ?

I meant to do that today, but it took most of the day getting a care package off to Belgium. Turns out they won't ship hand sanitizer because it has a lot of alcohol in it.

But after going home & removing it - then re-typing the customs declaration, it finally passed muster. The Easter candy, books and MAGA cap are on the way! SW

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Slava Ukraini!!

thats OK , sounds as you had your hands full , they are really picky these days are they not ? some stuff seems really dumb in the big picture - fingernail clippers in TSA line ? im sure there is a good reason behind them that might make sense but "FOR THE GREATER GOOD" jumps up in my face when i try to say that out loud "COMMON SENSE" right after that , i know the founding fathers did not see today when they wrote it but what awesome foresight in the actual wording - now we just need lawyers that can actually read .........

Fitting /timing a barrel. Formula: 1" didvided by number of threads per inch = the amount to remove to do one complete turn of the barrel. Divide that by 3 (in your case you said 1/3 turn to line up) and that is the amount you need to remove to get sight line up. A little less stock removal say .002 -.003 will give you torque on the barrel.
I do have the formula for torqueing a Mauser barrel if you need it.
Did you check the forcing cone to cylinder gap?

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"Like a tank with it's tracks blown off, my turret still swivels and my cannon fires, so whenever the fight kicks off, I'll likely live or die right there, where the fight begins and ends"
John Connor

I knew there was a mathematical way to figure thread pitch vs distance, but math is my weak spot. I just did the cut and try bit - must have taken the barrel off 15 times before I got it just right.

The thread pitch is very fine - it amazed me how much difference 5 file strokes would make, and I wasn't leaning on the file too hard.

My closest friend was a self-taught machinist and math whiz... he could have told me how much to remove without batting an eye. But he couldn't have gone without chucking the barrel up and carefully machining it to spec.

After cutting the forcing cone, I gave it another 3 file strokes & my automotive feeler gauge shows about .003" barrel/cylinder gap.

I really shouldn't try stunts like this - I am NOT any kind of gunsmith. SW

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Slava Ukraini!!

The story continues. Took the 2" Model 10 and my "race revolver" out for a velocity comparison. Load was 158 grain LSWC over 3.0/Titegroup. All these were loaded on my Dillon at the same time which should mean minimum variation. In theory, anyway.


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2" Model 10
1. 651fps
2. 789
3. 692
4. 665
5. 678 for an average of 695 fps

6" heavy barrel
1. 700 fps
2. 788
3. 744
4. 743
5. 803 for an average of 755 fps

I'm not sure what to make of it... I figured velocity difference would be more than that.

I forgot a target, but I smacked top of a beer can @ about 7 paces with shot #1 - next 4 shots hit the can but no group to report. Whatever it's doing, I'm still way happy with it. SW

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Slava Ukraini!!

i would be happy with that but then im not the shootist you are , im aiming at 12"-18" square or rounds at that distance in my venue not a beer can , congrats

i too would have guessed a bigger spread between the two , but then i have never tried it either , i tend to a 5 1/2" or 4 3/4" barrel length in what i shoot , i do have the 8" 1858 with the conversion cylinder but have only plinked with it so far not really tried it in a real setting , i had always thought it might be more accurate , i am pushing a 45colt through a 44 barrel ,

Finally made it out with a target just now to see how well the amateur barrel installation worked. Smaller group was fired from about 10 paces single action. Larger group was 25 paces or so & I was trying to be cool and shoot double action... looks like I better stick with single action until I get practiced up with it.

The gun hasn't been shot much at all & has a heavy trigger pull. Since this is intended to be a concealed carry gat, I'll leave well enough alone.

Overall, I'm happy how the project turned out. Close enough for RR work! SW


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Slava Ukraini!!

i would not be unhappy with those results , looks like success to me with that short barrel , as a CCW it should serve fine , you obviously have one for accurate target work , i dont have my chart handy for low left hits ,