Michael Tinker Pearce
Member
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2016
- Messages
- 1,578
...without it becoming impractical?
This was the question that spurred me to attack my Rossi M68 and do bad things to it. I've had this gun for several years and it has become my 'bench gun,' a gun that play with and experiment on. It's been through several incarnations but this is probably the last one- there's not much room left for further changes.
I modified the grip-frame (twice,) modified the mainspring system and fitted a cut-down grip I had leftover from another project. I also shortened the barrel to 1-3/4" by re-cutting the threads and the forcing cone, shortened the ejector to fit, and beveled the chamber lips. I also bobbed the hammer and serrated the top so that the gun can still be thumb-cocked (if you start it moving with the trigger) though frankly I can't imagine wanting to.
I still need to mount a front sight, but just pointing it at a target at five yards and blazing away still kept all the rounds in a 5" group. The handle actually provides a surprisingly good grip and manages the recoil of standard-pressure loads fine; even rapid-fire is quite manageable.
Here's a picture of the result-
Here it is with a grip-panel removed so you can see the frame and modifications
Next I need to mount a new front-sight, make a dedicated custom grip and refinish the gun. I'm pretty happy with how this has come out.
It is possible to make a J-frame smaller, but only at the cost of practicality; Taurus makes a variant of their model 85 with a 1" barrel and tiny grip but the ejector is too short, the grip (in my hand at least) is not comfortable even with standard pressure loads and makes for slow follow-up shots. For me at least this Rossi is as small as it can get.
This was the question that spurred me to attack my Rossi M68 and do bad things to it. I've had this gun for several years and it has become my 'bench gun,' a gun that play with and experiment on. It's been through several incarnations but this is probably the last one- there's not much room left for further changes.
I modified the grip-frame (twice,) modified the mainspring system and fitted a cut-down grip I had leftover from another project. I also shortened the barrel to 1-3/4" by re-cutting the threads and the forcing cone, shortened the ejector to fit, and beveled the chamber lips. I also bobbed the hammer and serrated the top so that the gun can still be thumb-cocked (if you start it moving with the trigger) though frankly I can't imagine wanting to.
I still need to mount a front sight, but just pointing it at a target at five yards and blazing away still kept all the rounds in a 5" group. The handle actually provides a surprisingly good grip and manages the recoil of standard-pressure loads fine; even rapid-fire is quite manageable.
Here's a picture of the result-
Here it is with a grip-panel removed so you can see the frame and modifications
Next I need to mount a new front-sight, make a dedicated custom grip and refinish the gun. I'm pretty happy with how this has come out.
It is possible to make a J-frame smaller, but only at the cost of practicality; Taurus makes a variant of their model 85 with a 1" barrel and tiny grip but the ejector is too short, the grip (in my hand at least) is not comfortable even with standard pressure loads and makes for slow follow-up shots. For me at least this Rossi is as small as it can get.