Pencil barrels and aesthetics

[Radagast]

Have to agree with you CraigC. I'm very happy with the balance and aesthetics of my new to me 1969 Model 28. The Model 617 that I traded off? Never warmed to it at all. I know that heavy barrels and full under-lugs are great for recoil control, but I find them ugly and they disturb the balance of the gun. The closer center of balance of the gun to the trigger, the more natural it feels in my hand.

 

[Fishslayer]

Not really a brand new phenomenon. A lot of shooters didn't care for the tapered barrel on the Model of 1950 Target so S&W brought out the heavier barrelled Model of 1955 Target in...Sorry, I forget the date... I wasn't actually there but that is how it's been related to me by people who know S&W. My 6.5" feels really good in the hand and it's accurate enough for my purposes.

 

[PuddleMonkey]

I have some nice older S&W half lugs but I kinda hate the look of them. I want a mammoth full underlug 8+inch stainless monstrosity!

 

[huntershooter]

Barrel profile is in part, what makes a revolver a specialized tool-for a certain purpose.

If I'm carrying a revolver for hunting deer/hogs (primary arm) in low light/timber;
I want a "skinny barrel" of 4" (weight reduction) with FO sights (I'll be lucky to shoot the thing once or twice all day):



If I'm shooting metallic targets in a range/competition setting I would want a different tool; longer, heavy barrel:

 

[Quoheleth]

Back in the revolver heyday, you had people like Keith, Skelton and Jordan all championing for heavy barrels. It gave you more weight out front and not only helped with recoil dampening (it makes a difference even in .357 Mag), it also helps the gun get back on target faster and track more smoothly. Revolvers were the rat's cheese for everything until the 80s, and as the formal competition and shooting games became more and more popular, the benefit of the heavier barrels was soon seen. Yeah, it was a few ounces more on the belt, but it made a difference in shooting.

I submit that if Skelton could almost single-handedly cause S&W to bring the .44 Special back into production, as a trifecta, those three men could certainly influence heavy/ier barrels on revolver production.

Q

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

Did somebody say 'Quaint and Old Fashioned'?



But I digress. Quaint and old fashioned is exactly why I like pencil barrels. I can't stand the modern bull barrels and full length under lugs. They are just plain ugly. I think I only own one S&W with the full length under lug, a model 617. See how ugly it is compared to the beautiful 1932 vintage K 22 at the top of the photo. Or even the 1975 vintage Model 17. Somebody please explain to me how much recoil there is to be absorbed by that ugly barrel when firing 22 rimfire.






A few more pencil barrels:

















As for pleasant to shoot, this sweet little round butt M&P from 1938 is probably the most pleasant to shoot 38 that I own. Love the feel of the round butt.




Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I am not in the least interested in shooting heavy magnum loads from my revolvers. Most of my older 38s only see lightly loaded 38 Sp ammo, just because I see no need to stress the old guns. However I can shoot full powered factory 357 Magnum ammo all day long in this Model 28-2 with its pencil barrel and Magna grips and it does not hurt at all.




However I digress. I am not interested in anything S&W has made since they started using MIM parts, putting locks inside, and putting on all those ugly full length under lugs. The last time I bought a brand, spanky new Smith was 1975, and the newest Smith in my collection, other than that ugly 617, was made in the 1980s.

Here are a few from earlier days.











P.S. Regarding the ease of machining a pencil barrel vs a bull barrel. Don't forget, S&W forges their barrels to near net shape before any machining is done. I understand the point about it being more difficult to fixture up and support a thinner barrel. But S&W made up all the tooling and fixturing for their barrels many, many years ago. That will include whatever is needed to securely clamp a pencil barrel in place. All other things being equal, it should not be any more difficult, and their should not be much more metal removed machining a pencil barrel to final shape than a bull barrel with full length underlug. It is mostly related to what the customer wants.

 

[tekarra]

Some years back when the heavy barrels were first coming out, I thought they looked better; now I think the pencil barrels look more elegant.

 

[CraigC]

All other things being equal, it should not be any more difficult, and their should not be much more metal removed machining a pencil barrel to final shape than a bull barrel with full length underlug.

Yeah but these days they're just extruding them from pot metal.

 

[Fishslayer]

Back in the revolver heyday, you had people like Keith, Skelton and Jordan all championing for heavy barrels.

I wasn't actually there but I read that Mr. Jordan specified a shrouded extractor rod on the .357 Magnum K frame "In case some miscreant should accidently bump his head on the underside of the barrel."

No idea if it's true but a cool story.

 

[MCgunner]

In a 4" gun, I think the HB balances better. Doesn't shoot any better.

 

[stanmo]

Another vote for the tapered barrel. This 5 inch M&P balances just right.

 

[Old Fuff]

My guesstimate is that tapered barrels were dumped because it was simpler to keep one cheaper to manufacture profile in stock.

It depends. Colt made its barrels out of round bar stock, and cut them to any length and then slot the blank for a front sight.

But Smith & Wesson made barrels out a forging, where the front sight and underlug were part of it. Thus they couldn't make custom lengths in the manner Colt did.

"REAL" revolver-men prefer the pencil barrel on both, because you can hold the front sight (which is much higher except on some target models) up and take long shots that the heavy-barrel crowd can't. Form follows function, as they say...

 

[joneb]

Here's a 10-5 w/a 4" tapered barrel.

 

[Brian Williams]

Probably my favorite looking gun and one I wish I had is a S&W 10-7 round butt with a 3" tapered or intermediate barrel.
I think this is either Smithnut's or Saxonpig's

here are a few more of my pencil barrel S&W 65 in 357 mag

 

[CraigC]

Oh and a big preference for the half moon front sight like on stanmo's M&P!