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Thread: .32 suprise

  1. #21
    Boolit Grand Master
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    STOP!! I CAN'T STAND IT!!

    I had promised myself that I had made up or purchased all of the 32s I could possibly want or need and then you guys start in with all of this madness. OK, now I have to take one of my pre-War RPs with 6" non-original barrel, replace the barrel with a 4" and add a set of post War micro adjustable rear sights... my dream 32 Kit Gun... and it's all you guys' fault, all your fault! Please, somebody stage an intervention, I'm weakening!

    Maybe I could find a rich patron who would be excited about having some great ideas like these and would like to support them with large numbers of dollar$$$...

    Froggie
    "It aint easy being green!"

  2. #22
    Boolit Grand Master
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    OK, nobody stepped up to intervene, so it looks like I’m going to be moving forward.

    I was looking for something else yesterday and found a J-frame adjustable rear sight that I stashed away several years ago for a rainy day. I examined the underside and was reminded of the difference in how the elevation screw works and immediately consulted with my California e-friend and S&W gunsmithing guru about how it needed to be set up. It actually looks like if and when I get to the well equipped machine shop I hope to use, the actual machine work will be simpler than that for a K-frame.

    The barrels I am seeing so far are NOS pre-War stock that have excellent bores but are totally unfinished (read “rough as a cob”) on the outside. If I can’t find something more suitable, I’ll have to spend (or pay for) a lot of polishing time. The only advantage of this would be a “clean” barrel I could have engraved to suit.

    As mentioned previously, I’m expecting to use as my donor gun a rebarreled 1920s vintage Regulation Police Model I picked up cheap at a local auction several years ago. On the plus side of the ledger, it is already a good shooter grade gun with good action, most of its blue (no pitting) and a very nice set of original RP grips like I like them. The 6” barrel is good, but is not original and Bubba cut the notch for the extractor rod knob poorly by hand... it won’t be a big loss!

    So there you have it, my “Christmas present” to myself. Since I already have the donor gun and adjustable sights in hand, I only have one major part to find, and the actual gunsmithing should be pretty straightforward. Hopefully I’ll be able to open a new thread to show off the finished product in a few months. Stay tuned!

    Froggie
    "It aint easy being green!"

  3. #23
    Boolit Master Thumbcocker's Avatar
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    I have a 4" stainless .22 kit gun that really wants to be a .32 long. Reassignment surgery is a possibility. Keep us posted.

    Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
    Paper targets aren't your friends. They won't lie for you and they don't care if your feelings get hurt.

  4. #24
    Boolit Grand Master Outpost75's Avatar
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    The ENEMY is listening.
    HE wants to know what YOU know.
    Keep it to yourself.

  5. #25
    Boolit Grand Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Thumbcocker View Post
    I have a 4" stainless .22 kit gun that really wants to be a .32 long. Reassignment surgery is a possibility. Keep us posted.

    Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
    You are in luck, Thumbcocker. You can go over to the S&W Forum and seek out my e-friend Jebus35745. He did exactly what you propose a few years ago, only using a blue K-22 instead of a stainless J-frame. Like my Project 616, his work on this and another custom 32 revolver was done by Andy Horvath of LaGrange, OH. The only fly in the ointment is that Andy used the late Jim DuBell of Washington for all of his barrel rebores... I don't know whether he has established a new pipeline yet. Other than that, your job would actually be more simple than either of my previous builds in 32. You would be using the original barrel (no fitting required) and already have adjustable sights. Boring out the chambers is a straightforward job, and Andy seems to know how to do the sex change from rim- to centerfire with minimum muss and fuss.

    Of course I would be remiss to not mention that what you will end up with is a Model 631 (except in 32 S&W instead of H&R) which you can see pictured in Dale53's post above (12/16.) So before you commit to spend the money, you might look around and see what it will cost for the conversion vs buying a factory original. It may be prohibitively expensive to buy a Model 631, but then again you may find it more economical to buy a sibling for your Model 63... then you would have two desirable S&W revolvers! I'm stuck with doing a full build to get the combination of adjustable sights and barrel length I want, since like the Project 616, S&W never built exactly what I want. Then again, I had my recreation of a Model 16-3 built because the originals are so expensive and hard to find... you may find this to be the case with your 63 to 631 project.

    Froggie
    "It aint easy being green!"

  6. #26
    Boolit Master Thumbcocker's Avatar
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    Looks like 631's go for 4 figures

    Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
    Paper targets aren't your friends. They won't lie for you and they don't care if your feelings get hurt.

  7. #27
    Boolit Grand Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Thumbcocker View Post
    Looks like 631's go for 4 figures

    Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
    Have you priced Model 63s lately? When I am considering a project as we are discussing here, I look at the cost of the donor gun and figure that into the overall cost of the project. I'm seeing Model 63s pushing the low 4 figure range around here, so if you could put a few hundred with it and swap for a factory Model 631, the result would be the gun you desire, factory built, and probably more likely to hold its value... of course this would involve finding a 631! The conversion you propose will run you approximately $500 as a WAG, so if your donor gun is valued at, say, $900 on top of that... just doing a little ciphering here.

    Froggie
    "It aint easy being green!"

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check