Riomouse911
Member
A while back I shared the story of an 8 3/8” S&W Model 14-3 that I bought off GB from a consignment seller out of Texas. When it arrived at my FFL it was pristine to our eyes sans a slight turn ring and just the start of the line on the recoil shield where the center pin of the cylinder rubs the recoil shield. Best part was it timed perfectly, locked up tight and had about zero endshake so I doubted many rounds went through it. Man was I happy! 
Then at the range the following Friday, it all came crashing down. This revolver shot patterns that looked like I had been throwing gravel at the targets. No matter what load I tried, from 2.7 gr Bullseye wadcutter loads to my trusty 4.5 gr Unique under a coated SWC standard, I was lucky to keep most of them in the 9 ring of a B-27 at 10 yards. To say I was disappointed in this gun is an understatement.
Thinking there may be leading in the barrel I couldn’t see, I took the 14-3 home and cleaned the chambers with Hoppes and then I ran the brush down the bore. I thought I felt a tiny hiccup, so I swapped the brush for a tight patch. Bingo! About 1.5” from the muzzle was a loose spot indicating a slight barrel bulge. My guess was that the previous owner had stuck a bullet from a light target load and fired a shot right afterwards. It was slight enough to be barely felt by pinching the barrel hard and sliding my fingers from cylinder to muzzle. Also, when I held the barrel parallel to the floor under the shop lights in my garage a slight wiggle could be seen in the light’s reflection over the suspected bulge. Man I was pissed!
Of course when I contacted the seller after finding this flaw he claimed to have no idea that the gun had this issue, as it was a consignment. Worst yet, by the time it took to ship and for the 10-day waiting period to pass, the consignee had already been paid and the seller wouldn’t take it back. Now I had an 8 3/8” paperweight that cost me $850.00 OTD.
I already had a 4” Model 18 and a 6” Model 14-2, so Instead of selling this now useless gun, or tracking down a pristine pinned barrel during the post-Covid drought and trying to have it rebarrelled, I reached out to Gary Reeder and asked about having the barrel cut to 5” and a new sight installed. He said sure and asked me to send it in. I shipped it to Gary’s shop in Flagstaff… and waited for 11 months. In the meantime I bought another 8 3/8” 14-3 that came with original papers showing it was bought new from a gun/tackle store on an island in Alaska in 1978. (Even coming from a rainy, salty air environment this gun is also in pristine, rarely-used shape.)
The gun returned cut to 5”, an 11 degree target crown graces the muzzle and a removable, Baughman-type sight sits on top of the barrel with an interchangeable fiber optic blade should I want to switch. Gary reblued the barrel with a factory-matching deep blue and I added a set of finger groove wooden grips. Now it looks fantastic and feels perfectly balanced in my hands.
I took it out shooting today with my 6” 14-2 .38, a 4” 66-1 and 686+ .357 mags and a 4” 57 .41 mag. (I guess it was “Wheelgun Wednesday” for me today!) I don’t claim to be a bullseye shooter, so combat-type targets at combat distances are my usual routine.
These are all first-targets with these loads, 12 shots fired DA at 12 yards, two handed. I was OK at keeping almost everything in the X and 10 of a B-27, which is all I can ask for.
A148 gr BNWC over 2.8 gr IMR Target shot a tad low:
As did the 158 gr Blue Bullets SWC over HP-38:
And 4.5 gr Unique under an Eggleston 158 gr SWC:
After these I adjusted the rear to bring the POI up a bit more. My only issue is the front sight washed out a bit under the indoor lighting. I may order a Patridge blade for the front sight, as my 6” 14-2 with the Patridge had no front sight wash out at all.
I guess all’s well that ends well. I brought life back to a gun that had become a wall hanger before it’s time, and I have now got a 5” revolver that shoots well and fills a gap in my barrel-length collection that is badly underrepresented.
Stay safe.
Then at the range the following Friday, it all came crashing down. This revolver shot patterns that looked like I had been throwing gravel at the targets. No matter what load I tried, from 2.7 gr Bullseye wadcutter loads to my trusty 4.5 gr Unique under a coated SWC standard, I was lucky to keep most of them in the 9 ring of a B-27 at 10 yards. To say I was disappointed in this gun is an understatement.
Thinking there may be leading in the barrel I couldn’t see, I took the 14-3 home and cleaned the chambers with Hoppes and then I ran the brush down the bore. I thought I felt a tiny hiccup, so I swapped the brush for a tight patch. Bingo! About 1.5” from the muzzle was a loose spot indicating a slight barrel bulge. My guess was that the previous owner had stuck a bullet from a light target load and fired a shot right afterwards. It was slight enough to be barely felt by pinching the barrel hard and sliding my fingers from cylinder to muzzle. Also, when I held the barrel parallel to the floor under the shop lights in my garage a slight wiggle could be seen in the light’s reflection over the suspected bulge. Man I was pissed!
Of course when I contacted the seller after finding this flaw he claimed to have no idea that the gun had this issue, as it was a consignment. Worst yet, by the time it took to ship and for the 10-day waiting period to pass, the consignee had already been paid and the seller wouldn’t take it back. Now I had an 8 3/8” paperweight that cost me $850.00 OTD.
I already had a 4” Model 18 and a 6” Model 14-2, so Instead of selling this now useless gun, or tracking down a pristine pinned barrel during the post-Covid drought and trying to have it rebarrelled, I reached out to Gary Reeder and asked about having the barrel cut to 5” and a new sight installed. He said sure and asked me to send it in. I shipped it to Gary’s shop in Flagstaff… and waited for 11 months. In the meantime I bought another 8 3/8” 14-3 that came with original papers showing it was bought new from a gun/tackle store on an island in Alaska in 1978. (Even coming from a rainy, salty air environment this gun is also in pristine, rarely-used shape.)
The gun returned cut to 5”, an 11 degree target crown graces the muzzle and a removable, Baughman-type sight sits on top of the barrel with an interchangeable fiber optic blade should I want to switch. Gary reblued the barrel with a factory-matching deep blue and I added a set of finger groove wooden grips. Now it looks fantastic and feels perfectly balanced in my hands.
I took it out shooting today with my 6” 14-2 .38, a 4” 66-1 and 686+ .357 mags and a 4” 57 .41 mag. (I guess it was “Wheelgun Wednesday” for me today!) I don’t claim to be a bullseye shooter, so combat-type targets at combat distances are my usual routine.
These are all first-targets with these loads, 12 shots fired DA at 12 yards, two handed. I was OK at keeping almost everything in the X and 10 of a B-27, which is all I can ask for.
A148 gr BNWC over 2.8 gr IMR Target shot a tad low:
As did the 158 gr Blue Bullets SWC over HP-38:
And 4.5 gr Unique under an Eggleston 158 gr SWC:
After these I adjusted the rear to bring the POI up a bit more. My only issue is the front sight washed out a bit under the indoor lighting. I may order a Patridge blade for the front sight, as my 6” 14-2 with the Patridge had no front sight wash out at all.
I guess all’s well that ends well. I brought life back to a gun that had become a wall hanger before it’s time, and I have now got a 5” revolver that shoots well and fills a gap in my barrel-length collection that is badly underrepresented.
Stay safe.
