9mm aftermarket cylinders for S&W revos: expensive?

[MatthewVanitas]

Seeing how much the 9mm Ruger and S&W revos are going for these days, I have to ask: how much do aftermarket 9mm cylinders run?

It seems that a decent number of folks make aftermarket cylinders, or rechamber cylinders, for the Ruger SAs. Is a DA cylinder just as easy to make?

Is it prohibitively expensive? I know a couple folks on the board have put 940 cylinders into various S&Ws and had them timed, which is most cool. (Checks Numrich) Dang, 940 cylinders are only $107, but they're sold out. If they had them in stock I'd be tempted to make me a S&W 949...

-MV

 

[Brian Williams]

Check with the folks at Cylinder and Slide, It will cost you a good bit of Arm and Leg.

 

[461]

Pangs of remorse Matthew? I still love that 9mm SP-101 I bought from you. I actually bought a 9mm cylinder for my Blackhawk too.

Funny you bring up the idea as I was just thinking last night about seeing if my .357 SP-101 cylinder would fit the 9mm or vice versa.

 

[MatthewVanitas]

Pangs of remorse Matthew? I still love that 9mm SP-101 I bought from you.

Not so much pangs or remorse as much as pangs of wallet from buying .38Spl at 20c per vice 9mm at 12c per.

The SP101 9mm is a very cool gun, but I just never warmed up to the SP frame. I have pretty tiny paws, so a J-frame fits me great. I would pay great amounts if S&W made an I-frame 9mm w/ 3" barrel...

Off the top of my head, maybe if there were a Group Buy we could get someone to mill out a few dozen cylinders (minus fluting to save costs) in 9mm, and then folks could install those on their guns.

I'm way too busy to head up a group buy, since I'm working my tail off at the UT campus shooting range. But don't let me get in anyone else's way...

-MV

 

[Jim Watson]

That would be an expensive route just to be able to shoot 9mm econo-ball.

H. Bowen charges $250 for a single action Colt or Ruger unchambered cylinder blank. Add for chambering and fitting, probably $400 or more. Do you think a S&W cylinder with extractor star, etc, would be less?

There might be another approach. Tom Kilhoffer will (would in 2002?) rechamber a S&W 686 to 9x23 Win, to be able to shoot 9mm P through 9x23 with clips, and still fire .38 Special or .357 Magnum as long as you didn't plan on reloading the brass.
http://www.moonclips.com/9x23.htm

I don't see why that couldn't be done on a J-Smith and use 940 clips.
But he still charged $300 for the job.

 

[Brian Williams]

My 642, the cylinder from S&W and the install/fit/timing cost me what I sold my 940 for. The cylinder and all parts for the ejector cost $146 IIRC

Sorry I just had to gloat a little, S&W no longer has one size of 940 cylinder, It came in two different lengths for the J frame and the J Magnum frame. I do not remember whitch one they are out of.

 

[MatthewVanitas]

That would be an expensive route just to be able to shoot 9mm econo-ball.

If, theoretically speaking, Kilhoffer or similar could ream my 649 cylinder for 9x23mm (and thus 9mm Parabellum in clips), for $300:

$300 / 8c savings = ammortized in 3,750 rds

Then figure in the loss I'd take on the gun if I sold it, but plus up for the logistical advantage of not carrying .38Spl. Provided I don't buy another .38 Spl in the rest of my life...

Is $300 a reasonable price for the labor involved, or is it that high because he's the only fella doing such work? Could a moderately talented metalworker w/ a 9x23mm chamber reamer do pretty much the same thing? It wouldn't affect timing or anything, right? Just very, very carefully drilling some holes.

EDIT: emailed TKCustom to ask for a quote on a 649 --> 949 conversion.

-MV

 

[Jim Watson]

Well, he also had to face off the rear of the cylinder by the thickness of the clips. And, to keep it usable for .38s, it had to be done in a pattern that left part of the rear face of the cylinder intact for the rimmed cases to headspace. And we aren't Socialists to worry about a skilled worker making a profit on his time and equipment use, are we? I don't think it unreasonable.

Let us know what he says.

 

[yhtomit]

Hopefully the pendulum will swing again ...

Lots of people are interested in autopistol-round revolvers; Besides the few varieties of Smith & Wesson revolver in .45, are there any currently manufactured options in that category? I'm not sure if Taurus is still making a .45 Tracker; that (to me) is a good-looking gun and very comfy to hold, but I've never fired one.

Since I'm coasting on fumes financially until I get a job post school, I can only sneak a few dollars into the guns-and-related-stuff slushfund, and keeping my small collection confined to just a few ammo types is a big goal; I've enjoyed shooting lots of calibers either borrowed from friends or rented from ranges (.40, .357, .357sig, 38 ... no 44mag yet ), but I don't intend soon to stray from .45ACP and 9mm (well, .22 hardly counts -- it's cheap enough to shoot that it gets an exception ).

I'd really like to see a S&W (or similar high-quality) revolver in 9mm to match my 625 Moonclips are an annoyance, but they're sure cheaper than pistol magazines.

timothy

 

[Jim Watson]

Well good luck.
This is one of those things the magazine writers and internet boards go on and on about, until the marketing people get the idea there are some sales to be made. So they turn some out, and they sell slow, so they drop them. And are careful about going by rumor again.

 

[MatthewVanitas]

And we aren't Socialists to worry about a skilled worker making a profit on his time and equipment use, are we?

Ooh, low blow!

If the Invisible Hand brings XYZGunz customers who pay $2000 for a trigger-job, more power to them.

If Binotzguns.com can offer a service that's 90% as good but costs $50, that's peachy too.

I'm not suggesting that the government force any gunsmith to charge less for his product than he so wishes!

Nothing "anti-capitalist" about looking for a good deal; quite the contrary actually...

-MV

 

[Brian D.]

I did the same thing as Brian Williams up there in post #6. Built my "convertible" using a Model 37 (brushed nickel) and a 940 cylinder from the factory. Almost had the local 'smith--who was at the time a certified S&W armorer and had to get me the parts--do the fitting, but decided to take my time and do it myself. It wasn't all that tough, took some patience is all. I call my creation a "Model 937" btw.

I've only fired a cylinder-full of 9mm +P Hydra-Shoks through it, as sort of a "proof test", all is fine after that and more than a little bit of standard pressure ball.

To those who wonder if shooting .355" bullets down a tube made for .357" pills reduces accuracy, out to 50 ft. anyhow my answer is a big fat 'nope'.

 

[symr00]

I've not had a 9mm and .38 special round side by side. Is it possible to have the 642 cylinder machined to accept the 9mm moonclips and still allow 38 to fit? I'm guessing that the 9mm casing is thinner in diameter than .38 as that would be too easy.

 

[Brian Williams]

NOPE the 9mm base is larger than the 38 Spec and it will cause the 38s to bulge and sometimes split. The best bet is if you can not find a 940 cylinder get an extra 38 spec cylinder and have it reamed to fit 9mm and cut for moonclips. It is an iffy project and the guy who fitted my 940 to my 642 will do it but he will highly recommend a 640 for this type of thing. One of his favorite things to do in this vein is to take a 940 and open it up to shoot 38 Super, this cures all of the 9mm extraction issues that many 940s have.

 

[MatthewVanitas]

One of his favorite things to do in this vein is to take a 940 and open it up to shoot 38 Super, this cures all of the 9mm extraction issues that many 940s have.

Huh, extraction is that bad on a 940?

What is the advantage of converting a 940 to .38 Super? Ammo is more expensive than .357, yes?

Am I missing something here, or is it mainly a conversion done for the purpose of coolness? Coolness is great too, just making sure there's not some strong practical reason for a .38 Super conversion.

-MV