Bring back the tapered barrels!
- Thread starter Lavan
- Start date
Bob Wright
New member
Since I have, or had, every worthwhile, to me, Smith & wesson, that would be fine with me. But I fail to appreciate you desire for pencil slim barrels. My own druthers are for heavy barrels, even full lug barrels.
Orn of my special pet Smiths, a 5" Full Lug Model 29:
Bob Wright
Orn of my special pet Smiths, a 5" Full Lug Model 29:
Bob Wright
jetinteriorguy
New member
I too am a fan of tapered barrels and no underlug. This just seems like such a classic look. I also would love to find a nice older pencil barrel Smith, just so elegant.
44caliberkid
New member
I’m betting the tapered barrels were discontinued because of increased machining expense. Love that 5 inch 29!
HighValleyRanch
New member
Lets see some pics of tapered barrels!
bamaranger
New member
tapers
Lugged barrels, and heavy barrels are great to shoot. But if you carry one all day, perhaps even combined with other gear on a belt, every ounce begins to count. Back when nearly everybody took a revolver afield, and the 6-gun was the duty gun for most, I covered a lot of ground toting either an issue L-frame or a personal N-frame for my own jaunts. Like Skeeter, I was pretty convinced that the N-frames were big heavy guns, the K-frame carried better, but was not available in big bore......and Elmer and Ross were .44 advocates and I was too.
I jumped at the chance to buy an early production .44 Mtn. Gun in '88, priced right ($350) and have kept it since. A handful to shoot with full house ammo, I ran a simple 240/LSWC load for GP at 1000 fps and a 240 half-jacket SWC load a bit faster for more serious applications (deer). Just like Ross stated in his article on the original, that sufficed for most all my revolver shooting. It needs a trimmer grip and the Speer bullet I used is long since discontinued but that was its only flaws.
I called on a .45 version for sale, which would have been even a wee bit lighter, but did not follow through as I just did not want to start with another cartridge. To this day I do not own a .45 Colt, but should have bought that .45 Mtn Gun regardless. The Mtn Gun is a just a wee bit lighter than my Hwy Patrolman, due to bigger bore and chambers and when I get the urge to carry a bigbore wheelgun again, the Mtn Gun answers the call.
Recently, I noted on Gunbroker that Ross Seyfried's original Mtn Gun, the one appearing in the article in "Guns and Ammo" was for sale, along with a letter of povenance from Seyfried himself. Asking price was $3500 if I recall (sure could be wrong) and it ran for several months before disappearing.
Lugged barrels, and heavy barrels are great to shoot. But if you carry one all day, perhaps even combined with other gear on a belt, every ounce begins to count. Back when nearly everybody took a revolver afield, and the 6-gun was the duty gun for most, I covered a lot of ground toting either an issue L-frame or a personal N-frame for my own jaunts. Like Skeeter, I was pretty convinced that the N-frames were big heavy guns, the K-frame carried better, but was not available in big bore......and Elmer and Ross were .44 advocates and I was too.
I jumped at the chance to buy an early production .44 Mtn. Gun in '88, priced right ($350) and have kept it since. A handful to shoot with full house ammo, I ran a simple 240/LSWC load for GP at 1000 fps and a 240 half-jacket SWC load a bit faster for more serious applications (deer). Just like Ross stated in his article on the original, that sufficed for most all my revolver shooting. It needs a trimmer grip and the Speer bullet I used is long since discontinued but that was its only flaws.
I called on a .45 version for sale, which would have been even a wee bit lighter, but did not follow through as I just did not want to start with another cartridge. To this day I do not own a .45 Colt, but should have bought that .45 Mtn Gun regardless. The Mtn Gun is a just a wee bit lighter than my Hwy Patrolman, due to bigger bore and chambers and when I get the urge to carry a bigbore wheelgun again, the Mtn Gun answers the call.
Recently, I noted on Gunbroker that Ross Seyfried's original Mtn Gun, the one appearing in the article in "Guns and Ammo" was for sale, along with a letter of povenance from Seyfried himself. Asking price was $3500 if I recall (sure could be wrong) and it ran for several months before disappearing.
Jim Watson
New member
A friend came across some .45 barrels and used them to convert .357s to .45 LC.
Two were tapered 1950s, one a straight 1955. He fitted them to M27s and M28s and had Bob Snapp rechamber the cylinders. The tapered barrels and big holes gave a lively balance, still enough mass for the ammo. The heavy barrel handled recoil of the big loads better.
My only .45 revolver is a sawn off M25-2 (twice!) for cliploading ACP in IDPA.
I failed to get one of the M625 Springfield Armory Commemoratives with 4" tapered barrel. I know a guy who carries one, he has a particular holster that makes it ride well.
Two were tapered 1950s, one a straight 1955. He fitted them to M27s and M28s and had Bob Snapp rechamber the cylinders. The tapered barrels and big holes gave a lively balance, still enough mass for the ammo. The heavy barrel handled recoil of the big loads better.
My only .45 revolver is a sawn off M25-2 (twice!) for cliploading ACP in IDPA.
I failed to get one of the M625 Springfield Armory Commemoratives with 4" tapered barrel. I know a guy who carries one, he has a particular holster that makes it ride well.
I'll agree that I'd prefer the 1950 Smith's slender bbl. to the '55's heavy weight, just for the comfort factor when carrying. My 1955 balances fairly well in the hand but I have a distant memory of a friend's 1950 that felt better in the hand and hung just as steady in offhand. Below are a cpl of my slim bbl'd Smiths.
Here's one of mine a 4th variation of Smith's Hand Ejectors in .32-20.
And another, a 67-1 turn-in from Louisville Pd.
Here's one of mine a 4th variation of Smith's Hand Ejectors in .32-20.
And another, a 67-1 turn-in from Louisville Pd.
I’ve had both but after trading off some, the one I will never let go is my M29 Mountain Gun. A sweet gun to handle and shoot. Longer and heavier is nice at the range to an extant. Add in carrying and the MG rules for me. Plus the MG is round butt which I prefer.
I probably should get a 10mm for woods use, but having the MG makes that harder to justify another caliber setup and supply at my age.
I agree with the OP that it is a great loss to not have tapered barrel as an off the shelf option!
I probably should get a 10mm for woods use, but having the MG makes that harder to justify another caliber setup and supply at my age.
I agree with the OP that it is a great loss to not have tapered barrel as an off the shelf option!
I’ve got a few S&Ws. The 27 and 24 both feel better balanced that 29, 25 and 57. I had all the models with under lug, don’t like them at all. To muzzle heavy for my taste. There were a few S&W with 5” tapered barrels and adj sights in 45Colt. Finding one of these would be like finding a diamond in a goats butt. Seems like I been shooting 38-44-45 target loads and hardly ever shoot the magnums. I do hunch and shot WCs in the 27s.
I do enjoy my Mountain guns (44 & 45Colt) with their tapered barrels, they do "look" just right, but I also have a few full-lug barreled guns. Unless I am going to carry them all day, the weight difference is irrelevant to me.
The 45Colt MG is my never-sell gun and is one of my personal favorites, it wears a pair of Ahrends grips and was cut for 45acp moon clips. Both rounds are pretty close to POI 230 Vs 250 grain ammo.
The 45Colt MG is my never-sell gun and is one of my personal favorites, it wears a pair of Ahrends grips and was cut for 45acp moon clips. Both rounds are pretty close to POI 230 Vs 250 grain ammo.