I kind of figured that cutting would be my only option. Can anyone tell me who would be capable of doing this kind of work and what the cost may be. FYI Iam a very fussy person and I would be looking for a perfect job including the bluing at end of barrel. If it didn't look like it came from S&W I wouldn't be happy.
Ron
This would be a bit of a tricky thing, as far as I am concerned. What you want done is certainly possible: Mexican gunsmiths in the Custom Shop in Queretaro got to the point where they could cut a barrel and reinstall the front sight (provided it was originally a "pinned" front sight and ramp and not one machined onto the barrel like some Model 28's and 19's were) so well that you could not tell it was a "cut down".
* They could also fill in the lettering engraved onto the barrel, then polish it smooth and re-engrave the lettering into the proper locations on both sides of the barrel using the proper fonts and then hot-reblue the barrel to almost perfectly match the S&W blueing of the 70's and 80's. However: they did ruin a few barrels to perfect this. I would say an easy half-dozen -- fortunately most of them were the old Numrich Model 23 Outdoorsman barrels that Numrich was flogging out for 49.99 for a few years, of which we bought many. I still have 3 (I think) down there awaiting new projects and those all had pinned on ramps and front sights, although they came unpolished in the rough!
Are there Canadian Gunsmiths who can do this? I don't know although I would like to think there were. I do know it would be pricey. It's a lot of work. I would say I am skeptical but if you find one that can do it, let us all know.
As to the perfection of the work, the Custom Shop guys got good at it because they had a high demand for many of the things that go into doing the job correctly in the first place such as remarking serial numbers and model numbers and caliber designations so that even an expert could not tell it was a remark. Barrel cutting and crowning and blueing they were already good at. They had even built a couple of "Smython" guns -- Colt Python barrels mounted on 586 revolvers -- with total success and ball-bearing lock-up. I know a large part of their "learning curve" came from the rejected failures that occured at the beginning. As a Club, we accepted the fact that if the Custom Shop botched up our barrels, well then we just had to provide another. There are no "claims" for damages or law-suits in Central Mexico over this kind of thing. You pay your money, you take your chances. And you pay for the learning curve. At 49.99, Model 23 barrels were cheap enough that we could throw four or five barrels at the early projects to get what we wanted.
** Model 29 barrels are not cheap, so the learning curve could get expensive if you really are going to be fussy.
* One time the Custom Shop guys phoned me in my Ice Cream Store asking me about the resale price of a S&W Model 67-1 .38 Special
that could shoot .357 power ammo. "Send me a photo or two of it, please," I said and almost instantly got photos of what was obviously a Stainless S&W Model 66 4-inch .357 remarked as a Model 67-1 and with the caliber designation on the barrel perfectly changed to ".38 S&W Special Ctg.". Looking at the photos, I told them it was just a Model 66 remarked to a model 67, which was obvious because of the extractor shroud along the bottom of the barrel. "No," replied the Custom Shop guy, "I am holding it my hand and.......oh, man, is this ever good work!!!" Even the Master remarkers could not easily tell. That is the quality you seem to want. I question you will find it in Canada, but let us know if you do.
** As a matter of note, the Custom Shop guys added on a extra charge for all subsequent barrel-work on the revolver barrels to pay back the guys who invested in those first barrels that they had to learn on. It didn't take that long, and then afterwards, that "extra charge" was a nice "dinner out for them." The movie "Spy Game" was playing in theaters at the time, so the idea of "dinner out" became an inside joke with the Custom Shop guys and the three or four of us who had fronted "learning curve" barrels.
One of the actual photos that was emailed to me from the Custom Shop of the remarked Model 67-1.
