929 got a little shorter

[tomjerry1]

Finally finished, had to get the wife's open gun finished first. I shortened 1.5 inches, which reduced the weight by 2.5 oz. Bowen front site base and SDM DX front site. Haven't had it to the range yet, but it points and moves faster, or that's what I tell myself. Also had TK Customs chamfer the cylinder, what a difference. Will post how it shoots after I get to the range, will take the chrono to see how much the bullet velocity changed.

 

[gargoil66]

TJ1:

 

Looks pretty serious.

 

I hear you about the shorter length barrel making the revolver more nimble.  A big difference between my 627 with five inch barrel and my 627 with a four inch barrel.  Of course that can go too far and the lighter one gets to be more difficult to deal with.  Kind of like a vehicle that oversteers.  I bet the one you have is super well balanced and is really close to if not at just the right weight.

 

With the rifle you lose about 30 fps per inch of barrel length.  I don't see why it would be much different with a revolver as long as the load is getting burned fully.

 

GG

 

 

Edited April 12, 2023 by gargoil66
Technical mistake.

[Alleycatdad]

That's sweet!  I've been thinking about shortening up the backup gun....you're not helping.

 

SA

[ysrracer]

I had mine cut to five inches.

 

929 top, 627 bottom.

 

 

[Sinister4]

the gun they should have built, 5 inch no comp 9mm

[ysrracer]

29 minutes ago, Sinister4 said:

the gun they should have built, 5 inch no comp 9mm

 

Agreed

[ysrracer]

The factory comp is useless.

 

Did their R & D department test it and say, "ok this has zero effect on muzzle rise and recoil, let's go with it?"

[MWP]

Before the 929 the gun everyone was building or wanted was a 627 with a 6-6.5” model 27 barrel on it. Everyone just wants to shoot whatever doesn’t exist from the factory…

[Distant Thunder]

I believe it's called 'Chasing the unicorn'.

[Sinister4]

And I wont even start on the horrid actions these new custom shop guns have, really sad to see the total crap they produce now. (and ive done smith actions for decades) 

[Sniperboy]

Did you send the barrel to the shop or did you do it yourself? 

How did you do the work if I may ask?

[mwx40x40]

6 hours ago, Sinister4 said:

the gun they should have built, 5 inch no comp 9mm

Exactly 

[delta6]

7 hours ago, Sinister4 said:

the gun they should have built, 5 inch no comp 9mm

Also agree.. not sure what the comp does on this pistol..doesn't even look that "cool".

[ysrracer]

1 hour ago, Sniperboy said:

Did you send the barrel to the shop or did you do it yourself? 

How did you do the work if I may ask?

 

Me? I had a tractor mechanic in Phoenix butcher it, then I had a gunsmith in California re do it correctly.

[testosterone]

8 hours ago, MWP said:

Before the 929 the gun everyone was building or wanted was a 627 with a 6-6.5” model 27 barrel on it. Everyone just wants to shoot whatever doesn’t exist from the factory…

Exactly.  But we all got 6-6.5 barrels from where we could and rebarreled 625's and then 627's after the 8 shot rule.

I actually knew the main product designer for the 929, he would come to matches here and there.  He ended up leaving s&w.  anyhow, the thing i hated about it was the weight but the underlug was a supposedly a jerry thing, he thinks it makes the gun more stable.

[Makicjf]

On 4/12/2023 at 7:03 AM, gargoil66 said:

big difference between my 627 with five inch barrel and my 627 with a four inch barrel. 

Which do you prefer? I love  my 627 5 inch, but I'm seriously about picking up a 4 inch for OSR.

Jason

[Squirrel45]

27 minutes ago, Makicjf said:

Which do you prefer? I love  my 627 5 inch, but I'm seriously about picking up a 4 inch for OSR.

Jason

I' like 4" for OSR. The balance for me is near perfect. 

[tomjerry1]

I did it myself, am a machinist, used a Haas mill and fixtured it with the barrel still attached. Don't know that I'd do it that way again. I did purchase another barrel just in case I didn't like the outcome. I must say that 1911s are much easier to fixture, not as many contours to deal with. I chose 5 inch barrel just because of my 1911 experience? The 929 is pretty close to the weight of my open pistols and hope that moving and transitioning is similar, at 6.5 inches, it was harder to get in and out of ports, or around walls.

[ysrracer]

My tractor mechanic in Phoenix broke off a tap in the sight block mounting hole, then JB Welded in place (crooked).

 

Then he smashed the ribs on the top of the barrel.

 

Never have a guy that's name rhymes with Glank Frenn work on your revolver. You'll be sorry.

 

I was

[Sniperboy]

Thanks guys.  I figured it was an involved process but you gents talked about it so casually I began to doubt myself : )

Good thing I waited before I took out my hacksaw and sandpaper!

[Vic]

Racer......I get it, you have a hardon for Glenn; but did you ever take it back for an explanation or discuss a fix? The man has built some of the finest revolvers over the years for lots of the name guys, Brian Enos and Rob Leatham just to name two whose name would be familiar here.

  I have a S&W M14 revolver he built back in 1991 for me, a Bianchi Cup style, absolute flawless work and an action that no other revolver Ive handled can hold a candle to. Accuracy when I first got it was a tad less than 1/2" @ 25 yards with wad cutters.  Still shoot it to this day in NRA action matches and Steel Challenge.

   He's been around a long time, maybe age has caught up to him and he just doesn't have it any longer.....who knows. I sure as hell would have returned it to the shop and had it made right?

[tomjerry1]

It doesn't surprise me about the tap, I actually broke one off while I was milling the slot for the sight base, there were a few cuss words, and had to machine it out. #6-48 is very small, took an hour to get it out. 

[gargoil66]

12 hours ago, Makicjf said:

Which do you prefer? I love  my 627 5 inch, but I'm seriously about picking up a 4 inch for OSR.

Jason

Jason:

 

Well, the five inch one was the one that TK fixed up for me and it has been super dependable so I use it with the dot sight.  

 

I have a Rev Up Action hammer and some springs in the four inch one and I will admit it is a close second to the five inch barrel.  However it is much more effected by recoil in my opinion.   

 

I have recorded data on both of them and the five inch has a slight edge in time for SC.  My draw times with first round hit are higher with the four inch but the five inch has a higher hit probability ovreall.  Reasons are trigger and recoil.  Particularly recoil.  

 

 

If I wanted to be more competitive with the four inch model, I am sure I could be just as good as with the five inch but it would take a lot more work.  The five inch I have is more forgiving to slight errors in trigger control due to its weight and TK trigger.

 

I don't think you would go wrong with the four inch model though.  Just use the same trigger as the five inch and develop a super hard and consistent grip.  Then its lighter weight will give an edge IMHO.

 

GG

 

 

[Makicjf]

15 minutes ago, gargoil66 said:

The five inch I have is more forgiving to slight errors in trigger control due to its weight and TK trigger.

That is what I needed to hear.  I struggle with my R8: the 4 inch might just become a steel version of those struggles. 

 I tore the R8 down, cleaned out all of the accumulated gunk, polished some more and used the "federal only" strain screw yesterday. ( I actually have a decent supply of federal SPP at the moment). Dry fire shows way less dot movement. 

  I'll just stick with my five inch .

 Thanks,

Jason