Back when you could only get the SRH in 7 1/2 and 9 1/2 barrel lengths we were cutting the 454s and 480s to 5” and doing the slab side treatment to get rid of the billboards. Exactly where Ruger got the idea for the Toklat which was a VF Grace special order initially IIRC.
Anyway a good buddy got a smoker of a deal on a long barreled SRH in 44 Mag. Basically nobody wanted it because it had a long spout AND it was just a 44 so he got it for a song. He had me cut it at 5” and move the sight back and remount it. And he insisted that I draw file and polish the markings off the barrel because he didn’t want it slabbed. It was a pain but he was a good friend so I did what he wanted plus a clean up of the seat surfaces and a rebound spring swap.
It turned out to be a very nice rig with a very good trigger. But the most impressive thing was how it shot. My goodness it would shoot groups like a rifle with 300gr LFNs driven hard over 296.
I don’t know where it ended up after his passing but if I ever run into a deal on one I plan to duplicate it.
