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wyop · August 12, 2012, 01:22 PM

As for the price of the tools, here's a quick way to get a handle on tooling costs for a revolver smith:

First, you could check out Manson Reamers' web site:

http://www.mansonreamers.com/Current...20II%20pmd.pdf

Brownells carries revolver frame wrenches. They're showing a gunsmith price of about $120 for a complete wrench for a S&W revolver of any particular frame size, $70+ for another set of blocks to change frame sizes.

Brownells is showing forcing cone gages at about $28 to $58 each, or about $193+ for the entire set.

Now, one could make their own barrel/frame wrench. That's not rocket science, certainly. If one has a tool & cutter grinder, one could make the rest of the tooling too - gages, reamers and cutting tools for the crown and rear of the barrel could all be done on a T&C grinder. Since S&W doesn't use especially hard steel in their guns, you could even use O-1 or A-2 steel Q&T'd for the tooling instead of HSS.

But I'm guessing that most guys who won't spend money to buy tools won't spend the $3K to $8K to buy a used T&C grinder, nor take the time to learn how to run it.

I'd say $300 for tooling is a reasonable estimate of what it costs to get a bare minimum of revolver tooling into the shop if one buys all new tooling.

August 12, 2012, 01:22 PM	#8
wyop Senior Member Join Date: July 15, 2012 Location: Wonderful, Windy Wyoming Posts: 133	As for the price of the tools, here's a quick way to get a handle on tooling costs for a revolver smith: First, you could check out Manson Reamers' web site: http://www.mansonreamers.com/Current...20II%20pmd.pdf Brownells carries revolver frame wrenches. They're showing a gunsmith price of about $120 for a complete wrench for a S&W revolver of any particular frame size, $70+ for another set of blocks to change frame sizes. Brownells is showing forcing cone gages at about $28 to $58 each, or about $193+ for the entire set. Now, one could make their own barrel/frame wrench. That's not rocket science, certainly. If one has a tool & cutter grinder, one could make the rest of the tooling too - gages, reamers and cutting tools for the crown and rear of the barrel could all be done on a T&C grinder. Since S&W doesn't use especially hard steel in their guns, you could even use O-1 or A-2 steel Q&T'd for the tooling instead of HSS. But I'm guessing that most guys who won't spend money to buy tools won't spend the $3K to $8K to buy a used T&C grinder, nor take the time to learn how to run it. I'd say $300 for tooling is a reasonable estimate of what it costs to get a bare minimum of revolver tooling into the shop if one buys all new tooling.