rechanbering an antique revolver?

S

saber22

New member
I have an old revolver 44 double action revolver that was sleaved for 22short. I love the revolver as it has a splended double action but the wieght is rather anoying and the chambers tend to allow the casing to swell.
I have read that it is possible to rechamber these older revolvers. I would be interested in either a 44russian, 45scholfield, or 455 eley rechambering. Do any of you know a gunsmith that could do this.

I have been told before that the prices would not be worth it for such an old gun, but that is not really an issue with me.
 
Depending on it's age and condition you first have to consider if it's strong enough for those cartridges.
 
Most of those resleeved 44s (S&W?) were NOT chambered for 22 Shorts. They were chambered for crimped 22 blanks that often had walnut shell media in the cases. These were theatrical use only revolvers. Targets would be balloons, fragile items or paper. The handmade blanks were loaded and then it seemed like a marksman was shooting targets with a 44 revolver. The work was usually done by local blacksmiths and varied widely in quality. I used to own one myself. It was unsafe to fire in my opinion. I would hang it on a wall myself.
 
This isnt a S&W this is a french 1873 MLE revlover. Caliber was originally 11mm which works out to either a true 44 or a 45. The barrel is thick enough for rerifleing but the clinder is very short so the only options for rechambering would be in the realm of the 44russian or 455 eley length cartidges. The gun is plenty strong for light black powder loads, as there are quite a few that have been redone to 45acp (though definetly not a good Idea.

I am not capable of rechambering this gun myself and I have no gunsmiths that I would trust with this job. I am looking for one.
 
The first problem is strength. The barrel would have been drilled out to install the .22 liner, so it is likely to be merely a shell and the rifling is no longer there. The same would be true of the cylinder as far as being only a shell. Depending on how the .22 conversion was done, the firing pin might need to be replaced also. Note that those old guns were iron, not steel, so they were not very strong to begin with.

I very much doubt you could get any gunsmith to tackle the job of trying to convert that gun back to a large caliber. You MIGHT be able to get someone to convert the gun to something like .32 S&W, but I don't know of anyone who would do it. If you can find anyone, the cost would likely be well in excess of $200.

You have stated that you don't want questions about the wisdom of any such course, so I will only say that if you have money you just want to spend, it is your business how you do it.

Jim
 
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