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What the caliber needs is a medium frame revolver with 4 or 6 inch barrel to make it shine. I have several 16-4's and I do not want to convert it. Hammer It's conversion looks outstanding and I might do this, but then I have to decide which length barrel is the best for this cartridge??
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Hello Jason
Your response is
a little confusing to me here.
You say that you have
several model 16-4s but do not want to convert one, I am Curious as to Why you would not want one to be convertd ? I only
have the one and am Very glad I converted mine, compared to the factory caliber of
.32 H&R Magnum what it came from the factory in, there
simply is nor was no comparison to the new Federal .327 Magnum Cartridge. Once the gun is converted no one other than
the owner will ever know that it has been converted as Bowen
does not mark or stamp the guns that he does this to. Allowing me
the Freedom to have a Gun chambered in this now is where the Beauty of this conversion Lies. It will now fire .32 S&W, .32 S&W Long, .32 H&R Magnum and the New Federal .327 Magnum and does so with Far more accuracy in all of the mentioned caliber's than it used to fire just the Three aforementioned ones.
While doing the caliber conversion, Hamilton Bowen
Matches the cylinder throats when he does it and it did improve the revolver's
over all accuracy when he was finished with it, so
I have No Regrets on getting mine done. The Federal .327 Magnum is everything
that the .32 H&R Magnum should have Been. I originally wanted a 4' Model 16-4 but was not able to Locate one so took a 6" Example as shown instead. It all comes down to
what the owner of the gun wants as far as velocity goes, or what they feel comfortable carrying. I have found that the 6" Barrel length is
superb in the field so am very happy with mine, and the over all Balance of my 6" revolver feels good to me.
In Looking at what velocites we can expect out of different barrel lengths that the model 16-4 was Offered in The
4" Barrel guns would fire Factory Federal American Eagle ammo at a velocity of
1604 F.P.S. where as the
6" example would fire the same round at
1808 F.P.S. and the Longest Barrel model of the 16-4 being
8-3/8" would clock
1913 F.P.S. Totaling up the three different barrel lengths would be little more than
300 F.P.S. in velocity difference from the shortest barrel length being 4" to the Longest version of 8-3/8". If I had the chance again to convert one going into this with all three barrel Lengths offered in this S&W Model 16-4 I would have chosen
a 6" as well....To me, the Longest version being the
8-3/8" Barrel example would be
too Long to carry comfortable in the field. I have fired other S&Ws with an 8-3/8" Barrel in the past, and can share with you that for me that
they are not the easiest guns to hold still and get accuracy from without the aid of
a Pistol Rest, due to their Longer barrel length.
I also would think due to the barrel under lug adding some weight that the 8-3/8" Barrel model would be a little tougher to fire accurately when hunting with it as no rest is offered in a woods type hunting situation. If I had another spare 6" example I would be inclined to have it's barrel
shortened to a 5" Barrel length for eye appeal and easier carry in the field, as S&W Made many guns with the 5" Barrel and
they look and balance great. Let's see your Model 16-4s Perhaps in
a Group picture in this Thread Jason, I haven't ever seen
more than Two of them together in the past due to their rarity...I also would like to see a Picture of your
Marlin 1894 lever action rifle chambered in .32 H&R Magnum, they too are hard to locate. Here is mine again,
Long Live the Federal .327 Magnum cartridge... and those that belive in it's accuracy and High Velocity Traits Hammer It
In retrospect to the Fondness of the .32 Caliber accuracy, here is my Elusive Pre-16 K-32 Target Masterpiece, that shipped in
June 1951 and is a Five screw variation. S&W Made this Gun chambered in the .32 S&W Long Cartridge from
1947-1974 with only
3,630 of them being made in a 27 Year span making them
Far More Rare to find compared to the Model 16-4 Magnum revolvers.
