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The Big Iron project has hit a snag


H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619

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Some of you may recall how I have discussed a project where I am trying to create a replica of the "Big Iron" pistol that inspired the Marty Robbins song of the same name.

 

Instead of using a Great Western revolver and a cut down Marlin barrel, I am using an Armi San Marco revolver and an Armi San Marco 92 barrel.   

Took the barrel and the revolver to a local gunsmith and said how I want to have the barrel threaded to fit the revolver frame and shortened to an over all length of 9-1/2 inches.   I figured that would mean you go back about 10 inches or so from the muzzle, chop off the rest, and then machine some threads to match, cutting off the excess when you are done.

 

Well, I just heard back from the gunsmith I took it too, and he said that the machinist that he took the barrel to to do the cutting and threading would charge beteen $3000 and $4000 do it!  (Because it would take 4 days of very detailed work.)

 

Needless to say, I told him never mind.

I can't help but thing that this just doesn't make any sense.   I figured it might cost at least $200 but probably not more than $400.   Going for 10 times that amount just seems inconceivable to me.   

Okay, all of that being said, was this an inflated quote that was so inflated for some reason I don't understand, or was my idea of how much it would cost horribly underestimated?   

 

For the record, this guy is a general gunsmith, not a Cowboy smith, but he has done some very basic work for me in the recent past for a reasonable price.  My favorite Cowboy smith is retired, and I am not sure of where else I could go.

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Go somewhere else.   To cut and turn down the barrel would take less than two hours at our shop. It's not that detailed of work.  

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What Evil said!!  That’s past rip off price by a LARGE margin !!

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1 hour ago, Dutch Wheeler said:

Like Evil Dogooder said, go somewhere else.

I think the $3000 - $4000 quote was a WE-REALLY-DON'T-WANT-TO-DO-THE-WORK price.


That is exactly what it means.

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Call Lassiter ? 

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Create a "Looking for a Gunsmith to Thread a Barrel" post here on the wire.  I know there are a bunch of cowboy gunsmiths that can do this. 

 

For starters contact Boomstick Jay at www.boomstickarms.com He  can do this kind of work. Maybe Slick McClade and if I remember correctly there is a smith in Oklahoma that can do it as well.

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Round barrel, or was it an Octagonal barrel?    What is the width of the back end of the barrel...the end to be threaded, compared to the frame width?  I’m sure you checked that.  

 

  Maybe the machinist is trying to machine the whole barrel down into a “thinner” profile.  Before you wildly go looking for the “perfect gunsmith,” and then find yourself so deeply involved in artificial project requirements that you’ve become over-committed and can’t turn the money faucet off.   Maybe you should consider a more rigid budget and substitute an invisibly-different barrel, if need be. 

 

BUT, This project is pretty exciting.  It’s your call.  I’m simply making a suggestion, because it’s obvious that some barracudas will attempt to take advantage.  I don’t believe the machinist didn’t WANT the job, I think he was tying to &#£¥% you.

Stay the course!

 

Cat Brules

 

 

 

 

 

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Numrich Arms has a .45 12" barrel for a Colt Single Action Army for $76.00. I'm sure it could be re-threaded if necessary. You might contact Alan Harton in Houston TX. He fitted a Colt New Frontier barrel to an Old Model Ruger Blackhawk for me years ago.

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8 hours ago, Cat Brules said:

Round barrel, or was it an Octagonal barrel?    What is the width of the back end of the barrel...the end to be threaded, compared to the frame width?  I’m sure you checked that.  

 

  Maybe the machinist is trying to machine the whole barrel down into a “thinner” profile.  Before you wildly go looking for the “perfect gunsmith,” and then find yourself so deeply involved in artificial project requirements that you’ve become over-committed and can’t turn the money faucet off.   Maybe you should consider a more rigid budget and substitute an invisibly-different barrel, if need be. 

 

BUT, This project is pretty exciting.  It’s your call.  I’m simply making a suggestion, because it’s obvious that some barracudas will attempt to take advantage.  I don’t believe the machinist didn’t WANT the job, I think he was tying to &#£¥% you.

Stay the course!

 

Cat Brules

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's an octagon barrel.  The back end of the barrel is noticeably thicker than the muzzle.  That's why I figured you would go from the muzzle back and then cut some new threads, not try to rethread the size of the threads already there.

 

Besides that, there's another reason not to keep the existing back end of the barrel, it's has a chamber in it and that would not be wanted on a revolver.

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Cutting and threading a barrel is not a huge job, but you do have to factor in that it has to mate to the ejector housing with everything fitting together as the original. I wondered about this job when you first started the other thread. I know you are trying to replicate something from a story but converting a rifle barrel to a pistol barrel? And if its an octagon barrel, all flats may have to be worked down to the right size to match the frame and accommodate the ejector housing. The housing itself probably would require machining, especially if its from a round barrel config. $3k-$4k is absurd, but its more of a job than just lopping off the barrel and cutting some threads.

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1 hour ago, The Rainmaker, SASS #11631 said:

Cutting and threading a barrel is not a huge job, but you do have to factor in that it has to mate to the ejector housing with everything fitting together as the original. I wondered about this job when you first started the other thread. I know you are trying to replicate something from a story but converting a rifle barrel to a pistol barrel? And if its an octagon barrel, all flats may have to be worked down to the right size to match the frame and accommodate the ejector housing. The housing itself probably would require machining, especially if its from a round barrel config. $3k-$4k is absurd, but its more of a job than just lopping off the barrel and cutting some threads.

 

Why does the original ejector housing even matter?   You go back oh so many inches from the muzzle and then thread the new back end of the barrel to fit the frame.   At the desired length, the new back of the barrel is the same size as the front, and the old threads and housing are on the floor as discarded excess.   Or am I missing something?

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The ejector housing attaches to the barrel with at least one screw and fits the contour of the barrel. If the original barrel was round, the ejector housing was mated to that round barrel; now it needs to be mated to an octagon barrel with a flat and the centering of it needs to be precise so the ejector will work (and punch out empties through the frame).

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1 hour ago, The Rainmaker, SASS #11631 said:

The ejector housing attaches to the barrel with at least one screw and fits the contour of the barrel. If the original barrel was round, the ejector housing was mated to that round barrel; now it needs to be mated to an octagon barrel with a flat and the centering of it needs to be precise so the ejector will work (and punch out empties through the frame).

 

ARGH....

 

As I was typing my response, I suddenly understood what you meant.   Silly me.   I was somehow thinking of the notch in the original thread that the rifle's ejector fits in.


From the get go, while I have hoped to retain the ejector for visual reasons, it is has been in the back of my mind that it might not fit on there with the octagon barrel.   My .45 loads will usually just fall out of the cylinder on their own without using the ejector; I don't use very a very heavy load.  That being said, if keeping the ejector proved to be problematic due to the barrel change, I was figuring on unloading Sheriff's model style if the need should arise.

 

Thank you for being patient and explaining everything, and please excuse my own inability to understand.  :)

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