A heads up on Bits of Pieces. Barry is a very decent fellow. So is the lady that answers the phone and takes the orders.
Now for some more truth.
They take slow to another dimension.
I ordered a barrel for an M39 S&W in restricted length. Two years later and twice the cost I was originally quoted, they contacted me and told me they had the barrel on hand and inquired if I was still interested. I told him that it was twice what I had been previously quoted and of course his reply was take it or leave it. Not point blank but that was my impression.
He would have fitted the barrel for the price included. That meant getting an ATT, shipping the pistol to him at my cost both ways etc. Add another $75 to the cost.
In the end, the barrel was just over $400 delivered to me. Very pricey and you really need to figure out if the pistol is worth the extra cost. In my case, I had bought the pistol cheap enough to justify the extra expense.
Since then, I have purchased some barrel blanks from Green River and will attempt my next conversion on my own equipment.
In all reality, I can understand the cost of the barrel. Unless you can run off a few dozen or more on a CNC machine, set up times would be prohibitive at best. Even then, unless you have a sale for a couple of hundred costs will be high.
Making up revolver barrels is fairly simple in contrast to making up semi auto barrels such as those that work on a Browning style system. The nice thing about Brownings, is that the chambers end is silver soldered into a sleeve. I am going to pull one apart and see exactly what is involved. This isn't rocket science but there have to be some precautions taken.
Also, for a one off and if you can justify the expense, there is no better person to get to do the job. Barry's shop produces excellent work.