[mcassill]

One is the .32 Mag Single Six I sent him a while back; had the barrel shortened to get rid of somebody's Magnaporting, cylinder throats properly sized, the usual action work and refinish. He did a nice job of the whole thing, looks better than when it left the factory. The other is my Redhawk, now converted to .500 Linebaugh with a 5.5" full-lug barrel. Man it shoots nice!! With a 440 gr LFN over 29 grs H110 it is consistently putting 3 of 5 into less than 1" at 25 yards; I'm sure the other 2 are not the gun's fault. Recoil with that load is quite manageable with all that weight out front; I haven't put it on a scale yet but it is HEAVY. Hope to have pictures for y'all in another week or so.
Mark

 

[alyeska338]

mcassill,
I just sold my 500 to someone who made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I will be sending my other Redhawk to Bowen after this field season to convert to another 500. This one will have a bit of a longer "L Frame" barrel (the previous had a 4" unported barrel) and it will be ported. I think I'll go with a 5" barrel for portability, the 4" just raised too much of a ruckus when you touched off full power loads.

Can't wait to see the pictures of the Clements job.

 

[mcassill]

Good to hear from you. The L-frame type barrel makes for a heavy gun, but does seem to really help with controllability. With the previously mentioned load, recoil didn't seem to be any nastier than some of the heavy bullet loads I had cooked up for my .480 SRH. It also helps that the Uncle Mike's grips fit my hand pretty well.
I was originally going to go with just a basic rebore until David talked me into being the guniea pig for his new wire EDM machine; with it he can make such barrels that those of us who faintly resemble working stiffs can actually afford. Bowen, according to his book, has been doing his between centers on a milling machine and then quite a few hours of filing and polishing; I understand he gets about $3000 out of those conversions (they ARE a thing of beauty, I must admit), where I have about half that in the conversion on mine. Good shooting.
Mark

 

[alyeska338]

Mr. Clements and I are going to have a pow-wow. Thanks for info!!!

 

[mcassill]

David is currently in the process of moving his entire operation; he is supposed to be back up and running in September. I suspect that more custom smiths will be investing in EDM machinery; they open up all kinds of possibilities for custom pieces. Barrels, hammers, triggers, grip frames, you name it.
Mark

 

[alyeska338]

mcassill,
I emailed with him yesterday. I sent my request for a quote in early (the project will likely not start till November) because I found over the years that it usually takes a while for a lot of the top quality gunsmiths to respond. I was pleasantly surprised when he emailed me back a quote and the information you gave above in about a half an hour after my initial email. Very responsive. I didn't realize Clements did the 500 conversion on the Redhawk till you posted about yours. Thanks for the report and the heads up. Again, can't wait to see those pics.

 

[Lloyd Smale]

Im considering sending two guns to him for word just wondering if you were pleased with the work he did

 

[mcassill]

Lloyd, I can say I'm very pleased.
Mark

 

[Lloyd Smale]

thanks for taking the time to let me know!