6" .38 Special M & P Barrel Wanted

[Niederlander]

Gentlemen,  I'm looking for a six inch barrel for a blue Smith & Wesson M & P in .38 Special.  Figured maybe one of you guys has one laying in a drawer, unloved and looking for a home and a job..........

Let me know what you have!

[Baltimore Ed]

I might have one if my HE is the same as your MP. I plan on having Fords swap out the 6 inch for a 2 inch and nickle the revolver. Gotta love a snubby. The gun looks better than it photographed.

[Niederlander]

How wide is the front sight on yours?  Is it the real narrow early one or the wider one you see in the '30's?  (The later one's blade looks to measure about 3/32 wide.)

[Baltimore Ed]

Looks to be the thinner blade between .070 where the blade meets the base to a hair less than .060 at the top.

[Niederlander]

Looks like a nice barrel, but I need the wider blade, since my eyes aren't what they used to be.

[Baltimore Ed]

No problem, I hadn't even thought about the difference between the front sights so I'll need to compare the blades and open up the rear notch if my 2 inch bbls blade is bigger. I'd hate to get this back from Fords with a nice nickle plating only to find the sights were incorrect.

[Niederlander]

Definitely makes a difference.  If you've got the smaller notch and the wider sight it doesn't work at all.  If you have the wider sight, I'd consider having the notch cut to match the later square notch.   Makes sighting much easier!

[Niederlander]

Ed,  I sent you a private message.

[Baltimore Ed]

Got the bbls swapped with no damage but lack about 20 degrees to true so in my photo I'm 1 thread shy. I'll let Fords do the final fit and refinish. Sent you a pm Niederlander.

[Niederlander]

Cool!  Can't wait!

[Baltimore Ed]

Niederlander, did you ever get your frame blocks to swap out the bbls? I ran into a snag and spent my S&W redo funds on another project gun. I'm letting Accuracy Systems work on my old y2k Mini 30. Time they get done with it it'll look like a M1A and shoot a lot better I hope. So my bbl swap nickle snubnose job is delayed for now.

[Niederlander]

I'm at a temporary standstill myself.  Waiting on funds to continue.

[PJ Hardtack]

Gotta love a snubby.

Amen to that! I've got four S&W snubs - two blued, one nickle, one stainless. Three are .357 M19s, the SS a M66. I can't bring myself to call a .357 a "snubby", hence the term "snub".

I shoot them all in IDPA/IPSC with +P  loads and they perform as well as my 4" M19 and M15, even at 20m. The sight picture is great due to the short barrel.

I wanted to see what they would do at 25m offhand in DA mode. They can keep all 6 rds in the 'A'/down '0' zone of the target. On a challenge, I went prone at 50m and did the same thing, but firing in SA mode.

I've since installed reduced power hammer springs and rebound slide springs which made a good thing even better.

Barrel length has nothing to do with accuracy. If you think not, consider the bore of a 105mm Howitzer compared to the barrel length. You don't want these guys lobbing shells at you at any range!

[Baltimore Ed]

Here's a few of mine. Also have a Webley Metropolitan Police, a Detonics and a New Agent Colt.

[PJ Hardtack]

I recall Seattle based Team Detonics shooting in a Canadian IPSC Championship match at Vancouver, BC.

One of the events was a man-on-man stage at 7 yds requiring 6 shots, a reload and 6 more. You switched sides and repeated. I was shooting my S&W M66 4" with IPSC Major loads. I beat the guy each pass, finishing my string while he was still reloading. All 'A's.

I was Top 'B' class overall and my prize was a Buxton hard aluminum gun case with the Detonics logo on it. The guy I beat presented it to me saying that he was sure he was going to win it.

Team Detonics shot their little guns thru' the whole match and did credibly well. This was the days of single draw and fire at 25 yds.

A couple of years later they came out with their 'Match Master' 5" 1911, a really nice gun.

[Baltimore Ed]

Sounds like you're a pretty good shot there PJ, I was only a c-d class IPSC shooter. Too slow I'm afraid. But as a liker of oddball guns I'd always wanted a Detonics.45 just couldn't afford one but when I got out of a jeep scrambler project a couple of years ago I used the proceeds and found a nice S/S Combat Master, picked up a couple of Detonics mags for it too. Changing the subject slightly. Do you still have your Webley Pryse? I read about it in an old thread of yours. I found a Webley Wilkinson 1900 Self Ejecting Revolver years ago in a local pawn shop. I was able to get a provenance through Wilkinson Sword. Guns are neat but guns with a history are neater. Changing the subject slightly. I spent a very nice summer in Seattle in 1973. Would have stayed if I could have found decent work. Returning to the subject, gotta love a snubby.

[PJ Hardtack]

The Webley-Pryse I had is now in the hands of 'Rattlesnake Jack'.

I do still have my gorgeous .450 Tranter Army, a five shot 'gentleman's revolver' that looks like something Sherlock Holmes would have had in his great coat pocket.

This is a real gem. I'd rate it overall at 95% condition. I shoot it occasionally to remind me what a joy it is to shoot a class revolver.

[Baltimore Ed]

My favorites are an altered to .45 lc Webley Greene Target and a .450 Metropolitan Police. I'll probably shoot the W-G next weekend at our clubs monthly shoot along with my newly purchased 66 musket. Going to be a cold one so my wool Royal Engineers tunic will feel good. Ala my avatar.