Barrel change?

[280PLUS]

I have this old Colt Challenger. On it is a 6" barrel that looks like someone put on with a pipe wrench. It wasn't me. Anyhow, with this gun came the original 4.5" bull barrel in new condition save just a couple of the same but lighter teethmarks, which can hopefully be touched up. How do I swap these barrels? I've heard clamp the barrel in a soft jawed vise and spin the receiver off. Can I use copper as a protector? Or should it be brass? Or some other material? Should I touch up the teeth marks on the original barrel? Would I be smarter to let a real gunsmith do all this? It's a sweet little piece. It'd be even sweeter if I could get that bull barrel on there.

Signed,

Trying not to make it worse in Ct

 

[Big Az Al]

it should be fairly simple

I checked Numrich gunparts Corp.

They list a barrel for just under $80.00, it has a star on the parts list, but when opened they say they have a barrel.

Any smith with a good barrel vice should be able to do the change with no more damge to any parts.

 

[rcmodel]

That you have the original short barrel makes this a pretty simple matter.
No fitting or lathe work would be necessary, as would likely be the case with a new replacement barrel.

You could try drilling a hardwood block to just a frog-hair under barrel diameter, then saw it in half down the hole.
This will make your non-marring vice blocks for the barrel.

You can use sheet lead, copper, or brass, or even thick leather to protect the frame from an adjustable wrence.

Since the barrel has been off & on, it is doubtful it is very tight.

If you decide to try it, go easy, and if it won't come off without excess force, find a gunsmith.


One other thought though.
You said:

this gun came the original 4.5" bull barrel

Is the 4 1/2" barrel round?
Or square / flat with a full under-lug?

If round, it is probably the orginial Challenger barrel.
If square it is a Woodsman Match Target barrel and may have never been on your gun.

Perhaps the stock 6" barrel is so tight that the wrench "pipe-wrench guy" tried wouldn't take it off.

rcmodel

 

[Jim K]

The main thing with that gun is to have a properly fitting receiver wrench, as the frame is very thin and easily twisted.

The wrench marks lead me to believe the current barrel was put on by someone without experience who had to use great force to get it to line up. That means that considerable force will be needed to remove it, so be careful and, as rcmodel says, if it doesn't come easy get help.

In fact, I don't even recommend a general gunsmith; I would call Colt and ask if they will do the work, even if it is a discontinued model.

Jim

 

[280PLUS]

Interesting replies, thanks. The barrel IS round and I'm pretty sure it's the original. I've even got the holster for it and it's marked "4 1/2". The part about using a lot of force to line the 6" up makes sense, I couldn't figure WHY there were so many deep teeth marks in it but that would be an explanation. I'll give it a cursory try and if it seems like I'm using too much force I'll stop and refer it to Colt. Fortunately, they're not very far from here. The original owner worked for a subsidiary of colt in QC or something like that. He was a bit of a tinkerer but not a very good one. I've got another gun of his where it looks like he tried to remove the barrel in the same manner. A nice Arisaka T-38 that he traded for a 16mm movie projector. I THINK he wanted to cut down the barrel but thankfully he never did. It's a real sweet shooter itself.

 

[280PLUS]

Okie dokie...

So I went down to the range and what should they have but a soft jawed vise. Rubber lined jaws. The barrel spun out rather easily but it was obviously forced into position because now the original barrel spins in just a hair too far. Suggestions I've heard:

Prick punch either mating surface to create slight bumps.

Shim it, it would have to be a very thin shim. Would brass work or should it be steel?

In either case, red loctite should be applied "sparingly".

or just red loctite alone.

any opinions or other ideas?

I did shoot it with the short barrel, sweet little gun, I'll post pics...

Would it be a mistake to dab some bluing into the teeth marks on the small barrel?

Looks like it dates to early 1951. Maybe first Q? 25XXX-C

 

[rcmodel]

I would probably "peen" the barrel shoulder back just a tad.

Use a smooth hardwood block on end to support the barrel, and a polished small hammer, and just go round & round the barrel going tap-tap-tap-tap until you have moved enough metal to get it to tighten up where it should.

If done carefully and lightly with the polished face hammer, you won't even harm the finish.

Don't use Red Lock-Tight.

Blue Lock-Tight will do just fine, and will allow the barrel to be removed again without heating the receiver if someone, sometime in the future needs to remove it for whatever reason.

No harm in cold-bluing the wrench marks.
What you have now after "pipe-wrench guy" got done, is a very nice old Colt Challenger, "shooter", not a Colt "collector" anyway.

rcmodel

 

[280PLUS]

Thanks...

Here's a couple pics. It IS a good little shooter.

Ah well, I just couldn't get a good shot of it. I'm no photog that's for sure...

 

[rcmodel]

Look'n good!

Here is a lot of good information on the Woodsman series.

http://www.eskimo.com/~rayburn/woodsman/cwpg.html

rcmodel

 

[280PLUS]

Thank you!

I love that logo...