Prohib BBL change to Restricted

I had Doug at Epps do a few for me including a .380 Walther PP. Some guns lend themselves to this modification and some don't. The PP is a fairly simple process - chop the old barrel off at the lug and destroy it as per CFO regs, drill out the lug and solder in a new piece of 9mm barrel to the desired length. Reblue the new barrel. Have the gun verified and re-registered. The 'smith work was about a week but waiting for the new paperwork to come through was a few months. Rebarreling is done quite often but I am not sure if caliber changes are allowed or not. Someone with a bit more insight might want to chime in regarding caliber changes - I'm thinking that there are lots of .32 autos that could be changed to .22 Flea if it is allowed.

Here's the Walther that Doug did for me. The extension does not look too out of place on the PP but it would be much more pronounced on a smaller gun like the PPK.

WPP1.jpg
 
Epps recently sold me a very nice, perfectly machined .380 barrel PP replacement barrel (108mm). I used a barrel press and removed my prohibited barrel (went to another gun, and THAT worn out barrel got the hammer). It took about an hour, and is the proper way to replace the barrel on a Walther PP or PPK. I can't believe they did this chop drill thing to you when they clearly know better. Do they need a barrel press and lessons from an amateur?

With the right tools and a bit of experience, these guns are an absolute joy to work on. Chop'n Drill? B-U-B-B-A. Sorry.
 
gunzik said:
Epps recently sold me a very nice, perfectly machined .380 barrel PP replacement barrel (108mm). I used a barrel press and removed my prohibited barrel (went to another gun, and THAT worn out barrel got the hammer). It took about an hour, and is the proper way to replace the barrel on a Walther PP or PPK. I can't believe they did this chop drill thing to you when they clearly know better. Do they need a barrel press and lessons from an amateur?

With the right tools and a bit of experience, these guns are an absolute joy to work on. Chop'n Drill? B-U-B-B-A. Sorry.
Click to expand...

im with you on the chop and drill being wrong. especially on something like a walther
 
Hi Canuk,

I have no idea who at Epps actually made my .380 barrel but they did an excellent job. The 9mm model 39 would be made from the same stock, but I think there is a large additon to the barrel that means it's cast and then milled/machined, vs. turned down from the "standard" 9mm blank that comes in 0.800 outside diameter.

It would be pretty scarey if they did the chop and drill with a 9mm, since the model 39 barrel actually moves around and locks, etc.

Questar brings in glock barrels. Maybe one of their suppliers does these, or can do them. You can PM "Questar" -- or click on their banner ad and find their phone. Nobody gets too excited about one of anything in retail, though.

Armco has a couple of model 39s for sale, I recall someone saying Gunnar had made restricted barrels in the past. Another banner ad click!

Good luck, and let us know if you find one.
 
I have emailed at least a dozen places including Epp's and was told that either the barrel is no longer obtainable for the 3906/5906 that I woud like re-classified or they do not have the facilities to produce them.So far only Bits and Pieces said they could do it for around $330.Supply and fit restricted barrel for the S&W 39/59/69 series. I am not so sure if it is worthwhile for me to put that much more into the pistol on top of what I will be paying to purchase the prohib,plus the shipping both ways.
 
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The only company I know of that was making 106mm barrels for the S&W 59 (and 39) series guns was Bar-Sto Precision. Irv used to produce them for us but he stopped offering them about 3 years ago... said there was simply not enough demand to keep it up.

He still has the tooling though he put it in storage. I approached him again about a year ago and he agreed to do a special run for me but he wanted a minimum order of 50 to 100 units and that's just not realistic. Demand for those barrels was about 10 to 15 units per year. I posted a notice to see what kind of "interest" there was last year and got less than 5 people who said they "might" be interested if I actually got them. With that kind of response it's just not feasible.

Bar-Sto barrels are semi-drop-in meaning that they require at least some minor fitting... the barrels were @ $300 Canadian plus the cost of the fitting... shipping... taxes... etc.. Not too many people wanted to spend that kind of money.

Having said all of that, they were fantastic barrels. I have a a couple fo the BarSto 106mm S&W barrels... have one in a 5946 and it shoots unbelievable groups... better than the factory original barrel which is why many of the PPC shooters were using them in the 5946/5906 guns for PPC Duty Pistol matches.

BarSto will make them again but someone will have to order a minimum of 50 units to get him to do so.

Mark
 
gunzik said:
Epps recently sold me a very nice, perfectly machined .380 barrel PP replacement barrel (108mm). I used a barrel press and removed my prohibited barrel (went to another gun, and THAT worn out barrel got the hammer). It took about an hour, and is the proper way to replace the barrel on a Walther PP or PPK. I can't believe they did this chop drill thing to you when they clearly know better. Do they need a barrel press and lessons from an amateur?

With the right tools and a bit of experience, these guns are an absolute joy to work on. Chop'n Drill? B-U-B-B-A. Sorry.
Click to expand...

To be fair to them, it was several years ago that they did this work. I believe that just recently they have become a licenced manufacturer so they can now make barrels for these conversion from scratch. The laws will not allow an extension to be put on a barrel - it must be continuous rifleing. So at the time of this conversion the only way for them to do it was by the cut and replace method. I imagine there has been enough demand to justify them making/having made a batch of restricted length barrels for the Walthers.
 
Model 39 and variants barrels:

It turns out that there were a bunch of "Hush Puppy" version guns which were extended/threaded model 39s used by US Special Forces (SEALS). I'll ask one of the Marine Armorers I know to check into whether there is a stock of spares for these somewhere.

Somewhere there is probably a box of these packed in grease. Maybe more than one.

Here's a hijacked picture of the extended barrel "hush puppy" style model 39:

6s9nom.jpg


These don't command big bucks in the USA. Usually under $400 for the pistol with spare mags. Finding an FFL dealer willing to strip these barrels, replace them with regular barrels, and resell the gun would probably be reasonably inexpensive, but it isn't viable as a commercial effort such as the one Questar suggests.

It would still get expensive to bring in surplus restricted barrels, but surplus is usually cheaper than new manufacture.

Thanks, Questar! At least this gives the OP a starting point.

I understand quality and value it. I would buy a Bar-Sto model 39 barrel, and I don't even have a model 39 (yet). I'm sure if Questar posted an ad in the EE advising that anyone who wants one needs to pre-order with a suitable deposit, this 50 lot order might happen. If Kodiak can sell those ugly little NAA pistols in 50 lots, surely a high quality 9mm model 39 restricted kit should be more than possible.

What fitting needs to be done?

And who licenses barrel manufacture in Canada?
 
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