Whats A Pinned Barrel?

cortez kid

New member
I just picked up a mod 64 38 special ctg ss 4" barrel S&W.It's former life was a police range gun.It's a turn in. Anyway after a good cleaning, I have a very nice and accurate little firearm. I've heard of pinned barrels through reading TFL. What does it mean and what's good or bad? Paid $150 from an honest dealer. Should get another.
good shootin
kid
 
Up until approx. the early 80s (others more expert than I will be able to answer more precisely), S&W pinned their barrels to prevent them from basically unscrewing themselves from the frame of the gun. You can tell by looking at the rounded, foreward portion of the frame into which the barrel screws, you'll see the ends of the pin protruding slightly on both sides. They switched over to a "crush" fit whereby the barrels no longer required pinning. I suspect that it was more about cutting costs as the companies realized that few barrels came unscrewed, pinned or not.
 
Pinned Barrel

A pinned barrel is a barrel that is either pressed or screwed into an S&W frame. Then S&W placed a pin through the frame and barrel, so the barrel would not turn.
 
At the end of each arrow you will notice a small dot. That is the pin. As others have said it is driven in to keep the barrel from loosening.
 

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A pinned barrel is a sign of quality and durability. (Some S&W fan HAD to say it!) The best part of a pinned barrel is that they can be changed relatively easy. The modern two-piece crushfit barrels are difficult to impossible to change. A pinned frame is also not overstressed and prone to fracture due to the crushfitting of the barrel.
 
Model 28 and Model 63.
The finishes actually look better than they do in the pix. I just laid them on the flatbed and scanned them. The 28 actually has a very nice, deep blue, smooth finish. The 63 could almost pass for nickle. For some reason when on the scanner they come out a bit dulled.
 
Thanx For Clearing That Up For Me. Had To Buy This Shooter.my Dad Passed On A Cheif's Special 38 To Me. My Late Uncle John And I Were The Only Ones To Shoot It From New. On A Whim I Took It Out And Passed 10 More Rnds Through It.it Probably Has 30 Rds Total Through It. My Wife Likes The Cal. Very Happy With "new" Gun And Put Dads "old" Gun Back In The Safe .thanx Dad And All You Other "dads" Out There.
Good Shootin
Kid
 
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