Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Revolvers Rule!

Swapping out S&W revolver barrels is not particularly difficult, but does require some care and attention to detail. I use a standard bench vice and a large crescent wrench (sounds scarier than it is). I take care in positioning the barrel in the vice jaws within padding cut from thick old woven nylon gun belt so that no part of the barrel can come in direct contact with the steel jaws and no strain is placed on the front sight of a short barrel. I remove the cylinder, but reinstall the crane to provide left side contact for the wrench. After driving out any barrel retainer pin, I place another section of nylon belt over the top front of the frame, making certain that it extends far enough down each side to prevent any part of the wrench scratching the frame or crane. I tighten the crescent wrench over the nylon onto the frame from the top. Then, I start pulling. The barrel will rotate slightly in the vice until the barrel rib, ejector rod front lug or shroud makes hard contact. I now start pulling in earnest. The “crush fit” barrels require more torque than do pinned barrels. If the bottom rear end of the barrel has been ground flat to allow crane clearance, I’m careful to not pull any more than is absolutely necessary to just break the barrel free, so as not to damage the crane. I can then remove the crane and unthread the barrel the rest of the way.

Assuming the dimension of the cylinder-barrel gap will be acceptable, as is, when installing a barrel, the trick is to achieve proper sight alignment. Ribbed barrels on adjustable sight models are easy; I just match up the barrel serrations with the sight base cuts in the frame. For round barrels, I look down the bore from the muzzle until the firing pin hole appears to be top dead center at the rear of the bore, then quickly shift my vision to see how the front sight appears in relation to the rear notch, turning the barrel minutely in or out till it looks right. Unless there is something peculiar about the barrel or frame, this method works darn well for me, as can be seen in earlier photos.

I’ve heard tell of others using a long chunk of hardwood through the cylinder window as a makeshift “action wrench.” But, that poses a substantial risk of warping the frame at its thin topstrap and crane recess, particularly with stubborn “crush fit” barrels. Best to use a proper action wrench or a method which confines applied torque to the threaded portion of the frame alone, as above.