Posted by SGT on August 9, 2007, 12:48 pm, in reply to "Re: Barrel fitting "
I am assuming you refer to the barrels listed on eBay, which I recall are marked "FWE" meaning featherweight ejector. As you noted your gun is also a featherweight frame, therefore it should be possible to fit the alternative barrel set to your gun ASSUMING it is a standard FW frame. You did not state that your gun had auto-ejectors; but since these alternative barrels also have their own ejector foreiron, this will not present a problem. In fact, if your gun is an extractor model, your gun can be converted to auto-ejector by the addition of this barrel/foriron set due to the fact that on Smith guns the entire ejector mechanism is contained within the fore iron and barrel extractor channel. NOW, IF your gun is a later FW framed Specialty (1938 and later) with the raised single sighting plane rib, which is the ALTERNATIVE FW frame, the eBay barrels will not interchange with the frame of your gun (these later raised rib frames are higher at the standing breech). As to the cost of fitting odd numbered barrels and frames, there is a remote possibility they will completely interchange; but it could also take hours and hours of careful filing and fitting, so no gunsmith in his right mind will ball-park a cost without a first hand examination.