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Thread: Converting a .38 Special to .41 Long Colt?

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy
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    Converting a .38 Special to .41 Long Colt?

    Okay, I know this is totally impractical. But I would really like to have a .41 Long Colt revolver built on a modern action. I already reload it, and I have a nice old Colt to shoot it in. But can a .38 Special be converted to .41 Long Colt? I know that reamers are available. It looks like they run about $60. And a .40 caliber barrel should work just fine, as the bullets themselves are 0.386" hollow-based bullets designed to expand to fit the bore. So them expanding to fill a 0.401" bore versus a 0.408" bore is more or less moot. Is there something I am overlooking here? Is there some mechanical reason something like this wouldn't work?

    Assuming that I am not having a total brain-fart here, what actions would be the most likely candidates here? I mean, I know a Ruger New Vaquero would be fairly straightforward, as they already come in .38 Special/.357 mag, and .40 caliber Ruger Vaquero barrels for these already exist out there. But what about double action revolvers? Are there any that would likely be a good starting place for a project like this? And does anybody have a recommendation for a shop that might be willing/able to do a conversion like this?

    -Mb

  2. #2
    Boolit Grand Master Outpost75's Avatar
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    I don't see the point, but if you are already into .41 Long Colt and really want to do it all it takes is money.

    Once John Taylor gets his new shop built in Idaho, he would be my choice to do this kind of thing.

    It really isn't any more crazy than my 10x25mm wildcat using .44 Russian brass necked to .40 cal. and using shortened .38-40 dies...

    Yeah, I had a matching rook rifle built for it too!

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  3. #3
    Boolit Master
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    A GP100 would certainly be able to accommodate the round, I have one in 41Special. Ruger made 5 shot 44specials and they are quite nice. Dave Clements did my GP but I understand he is no longer doing them.
    “You don’t practice until you get it right. You practice until you can’t get it wrong.” Jason Elam, All-Pro kicker, Denver Broncos

  4. #4
    Boolit Buddy

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    Gun toting monkeyboy,
    I am having one built on a New Model .357 Blackhawk.
    I am also having cylinders chambered .38/40, .40 S&W, and 10mm.
    It's been a long process.
    John Gallagher was doing it until he died last year. I have a pretty decent local smith finishing it up.
    I hope to get it back this year. It's been 6 years in the making.
    Blkpwdrbuff
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    "Time to take Brandon to the train station"
    "The right of citizens to bear arms is just one guarantee against arbitrary government, one more safeguard against the tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which historically has proved to be always possible." ~ Hubert H. Humphrey

  5. #5
    Boolit Grand Master
    Mk42gunner's Avatar
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    For a DA, my choice would be a GP100 or an L frame six shot S&W. I don't think a K frame has quite enough beef for a .400" bore round.

    Robert

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    Excuse the ignorance but what is the difference with a Ruger Blackhawk in 41 vs what you are looking for? Is it DA? I am not a revolver guy.
    Thanks,
    Ron

  7. #7
    Boolit Buddy
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    The old Vaqueros used to simply be a Blackhawk with fixed sights, and normally a shiny finish instead of a matte one. Ruger redesigned the New Vaquero to be slightly smaller and lighter, so they are now a bit different from the Blackhawks in size and strength. But still more or less the same design.

    I was actually hoping for something a but smaller than a GP 100. If the Colt Official Police were still in production, I would look for one of those. I am also thinking about a S&W Model 10 of some sort, as those should have enough metal in the cylinder to allow the removal of some material without compromising the safety with such a low pressure round.

  8. #8
    Boolit Grand Master Outpost75's Avatar
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    Used Colt Official Police revolvers are fairly common and affordable.
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  9. #9
    Boolit Grand Master
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    If the Official Police is the same frame as the Officer's Model Match, there won't be enough difference between it and a GP-100 for you to tell in the hand or on your belt.

    Plus, I personally believe the GP-100 to be a lot more rugged than the Colt mechanism. They can both be slicked up nicely with a few hours of trained attention.

    IIRC the Official Police/ Officer's Model Match/ Python were built on what was called the .41 Frame, from you guessed it the .41 Long Colt.

    I still don't think a K Frame S&W is large enough for the .41 Long Colt round.

    Robert

  10. #10
    Boolit Master
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    MrWolf,, a Ruger Blackhawk is a single-action revolver,, the OP is wanting to do this in a double action design. DIfferent revolver designs.

    For the OP.
    I would look LONG & HARD at the cylinder, with attention to the chamber wall thickness. Specifically,, the latch notches. That's the thin section of a chamber.
    When stuff like this gets discussed,, I often ask; "What about the future? Who's kids are going to inherit this gun & what loads will they use in it? Who's going to be liable,, or better yet,, who's kids are going to get injured or killed?"

    I recently found a different, kinda new gun forum. Seeing all the new, uneducated gun owners comments is SCARY. Some of the things I see people posting about what they do where handloading is concerned,, or what they want to do to firearms,, makes me think we'll be seeing all kinds of firearm related injuries & even deaths in the next few years.

    There are reasons custom gunsmiths like Clements, Linebaugh, Bowen, Tyler, Gallagher, and many other KNOWLEDGEABLE smiths won't do certain things.

    I teach shooting, reloading, & hunter safety. One of my teaching aids is a blown up Ruger Super Blackhawk in 44 magnum. The cylinder has 2 chambers blown apart. One still has part of the brass stuck in it. The topstrap has buckled upwards enough to be completely broken through. But the best part is one chamber SHOWS the thin walls where the latch notch is/was.

    If you persist in your idea of using a Colt,, here's what I'd do.
    Using PIN gauges,, check the internal diameter of each chamber. Next,, using a pin head depth micrometer,, check the depth of each cylinder notch. Follow that with a measurement of the wall thickness of each chamber on the outer edge.
    Using those 3 dimensions,, you can get an idea as to the chamber wall thickness under the notches.
    Then subtract 1/2 of the diameter needed to get the chambering you desire. That will give you the amount of wall thickness left.

    Lastly,,, look up the highest SAMMI specs for .41 Long Colt in relation to pressure.

    Then ask yourself; "Can this be done safely for my kids to enjoy?"

  11. #11
    Boolit Master Baltimoreed's Avatar
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    Another thought in the same vein, I just got through disassembling 50 X .44 magnum rds of unknown origin given to me and now I’ve got 150 rds of unknown .45 autorim to do. What we reload and the guns we build are not always ours and but will live on without us. With all the newbys out there we all need to be even more cautious.

  12. #12
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    Thanks contender1 for confirming what I thought.

  13. #13
    Boolit Master
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    You are welcome.

  14. #14
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Doesn't Uberti still make the 41 Colt in the Lightening? I have one and it fits in a 22 holster.
    Wayne the Shrink

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  15. #15
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    Rather than hacking around, and chopping up a good Colt, I'd just save up and buy what I wanted in .41.
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  16. #16
    Boolit Buddy
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    Okay, a couple of things. First, as much as I want to do this project, I do not want to chop up an old gun to do it. That is why I was looking an new guns. Second, the .41 Long Colt is nearly identical to the size of the .38 Special. And Colt built it on the exact same frame size as their larger.38 Special guns. The Official Police model was their .41 Colt frame. The same size frame that they would later use for their Snake-series Python .357 Magnum guns. So the amount of metal between the chambers was addressed almost a century ago. For a low-pressure cartridge like .41 Colt, there is plenty.

    It is beginning to look like the easiest way to do something like this is to just find a .40 caliber Ruger Vaquero/Blackhawk, and have an extra cylinder made for .41 Long Colt. That would save on a lot of headaches and worries about action strength.

    -Mb
    Last edited by gun toting monkeyboy; 02-01-2021 at 03:53 PM.

  17. #17
    Boolit Grand Master Outpost75's Avatar
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    You could also do a .357 Vaquero, line bore and rechamber the cylinder and fabricate a new barrel from a piece of Green Mountain .40 cal. blank. That's what I had John Taylor do to make my 10x25mm Rimmed (.44 Russian necked to .40).

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  18. #18
    Boolit Master
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    get a modern repro in 38-40. get a .38 cylinder rechamber cylinder to .41 colt.




























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  19. #19
    Boolit Grand Master
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    Up until about 1930, COLT made the Official Police/Army Special in 41 Long Colt. I had an Army Special that dated to about 1925 in the 41 cal. Making a 38 Special into a 41 is doable. This would be the easiest and cheapest route to go. BUT IT would still be $$$. Re-chambering the cylinder and fitting a new, or re-lining the old, barrel would easily run to 500-600 dollars + the 400-600 dollars for the 38 to work on. In fact, you could probably take a Python and have it rechambered, if you have champagne tastes and the pocket book to match...
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  20. #20
    Boolit Master
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    One of the fellows that supplies and fits conversion cylinders for C&B revolvers does this conversion using a 38 S&W Special cylinder and the .380ish barrel of an 1851 or 1861 Colt clone. He rechambers the cylinder and throats the barrel for the larger boolit.

    Kevin
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BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
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