How hard is it to swap barrels on a GP-100?

[albanian]

I have one of the half lug SS GP-100s that is DAO. I would like to find a 3" barrel to replace my 4" barrel. How hard is it to do? It is a gunsmith job or something I can do myself?

Where would one find a 3" barrel for a half lug SS GP-100?

Also, can parts be found that would convert the DAO into a regular DA/SA revolver again? I called Ruger and they won't sell me these parts.

 

[JohnKSa]

The parts can sometimes be found, but there have been a lot of the DAO GP100s sold lately so I doubt it will be easy.

Perhaps Ruger will do the conversion and also the barrel swap?

 

[Majic]

If that particular model didn't come da/sa from the factory and w/ 3" barrel then Ruger won't do the work. They will only make them exactly like they built them. Also with you asking the question about how hard is it to swap out a barrel then it's a gunsmith job. You may have to do a little machine work if you even find a barrel.

 

[461]

I'd give Ruger a call and see what they say. Their prices are amazingly cheap on work they'll do.

 

[dfariswheel]

Revolver barrel changes are gunsmith ONLY, and the the gunsmith has to have special tooling that fits THAT specific brand and size frame.

The barrel has to be carefully fitted and adjusted, and this a LOT more than just screwing it on.
I'd talk to Ruger about this. They have the right tooling and can do it better and probably cheaper than anyone else.

 

[RON in PA]

It might be easier and maybe not that much more expensive to buy a new or used gun set-up the way you want it.

 

[Brian Williams]

It might be easier to have a 'smith cut the barrel and install a new dovetailed front sight.

 

[GrandmasterB]

Check ebay for a DA/SA hammer. That may be all you need to convert it back. Here's one posted: http://cgi.ebay.com/Ruger-GP-100-Ha...ryZ73947QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Spartacus451]

Unfortunately it is not a home gunsmith job. I wouldn't even take it to just any old gunsmith unless I wanted to have him ruin the frame and brand new barrel.

 

[highlander 5]

Go to your owner's manual look on pg26 they have a list of parts some of which can ONLY replaced by Ruger on a one for one basis and the barrel is one of them.
unless you can find the parts used forget getting them from Ruger even a gunsmith would have a hard time.
This is the only thing that bugs me about Ruger.

 

[Confederate]

I had a friend who removed a 4-inch barrel from a Service-Six and put on a shorter barrel. He gave me the new 4-incher he'd removed and I've always wanted to put it on my Speed-Six with a 3-inch barrel. (He'd reamed the forcing cone to 11-degrees, I think.)

He removed it by putting it in a large vice, then taking a hammer and using the wooden part to go through the frame, then used brute force to unscrew it. Then he just screwed the new one on. He had to do some fitting, but he eventually got it right.

Don't know that I'll ever change it, but it's good to have in my drawer.

 

[dfariswheel]

The hammer handle-through-the-frame trick is one of the very fastest methods of ruining a good revolver.

When you do this one, the frame is usually bent and often cracks through the bottom of the thin barrel thread area.

Over 30 years I saw a fair number of revolvers damaged or destroyed by this, usually after some boob gun writer mentioned it in a gun magazine.
People figured that this was a good method, and gave it a try.

After the frame cracked, or "for some reason" the gun wouldn't shoot well, or it spit bullet metal, or just wouldn't lock up right, they'd bring it in to get it "fixed'.
They often admitted they'd read or heard of the method and figured to do it themselves instead of paying a gunsmith money for so "simple" a job.

I usually had to explain that even the gun company can't UN-bend a bent revolver frame, and that attempting to weld a cracked frame was expensive, not guaranteed, and finding a qualified gunsmith/welder able to do it was tough.

FAIR WARNING: Trying the hammer handle trick almost always damages the frame, even though you often can't see the damage.

Revolver barrels are NOT "just pieces of threaded pipe" that can be screwed on and off at will.
Revolver barrels are individually fitted and screwing the barrel on is NOT the end of the job, it's merely the first step in an involved fitting and adjusting job.

Even many local gunsmiths don't know about or understand about PROPER barrel torque, how to set the barrel/cylinder gap while keeping the rear of the barrel perfectly square, and about the need to re-cut and gage the forcing cone.

This is why a lot of do-it-yourself or local gunsmith done revolver re-barred guns just never seem to shoot or work right.

But hey, you saved a little money right? Never mind that the expensive and once fine revolver is damaged or even ruined.