Deja vu
In my mailbox this afternoon was my S&W 25-5 Cylinder, back from the smith, 7 days after it was mailed to him.
I can now shoot .45 acp from my
Special S&W Model 25-5 .45 Colt.
TK Customs (
TK Customs - Custom Painting and Airbrushing) was very fast. Inside the box was my cylinder, 10 .45 acp moon clips (marked TK), and a heavy duty moon clip unloading tool. A note on the tool - it is hollow and when you remove a cartridge it is contained in the tool. I had ordered 6 .45 Colt moon clips but they weren't in the box; an oversight; one call to Tom and he is dropping them in the mail, gratis. I call the entire transaction "Old School Quality Customer Service." It was raining so I wasn't able to go shoot the gun today but will shoot it as soon as I get the chance - in both calibers...
When I talked to Tom this afternoon to thank him for his quick turnaround he said no problem - then said the work was done by his 20 year old grandson - that he is competent and able to maintain 1/2 of 1 thousanths tolerances. He came to the shop to learn the business and its obvious (and I said it to Tom) that he listened to his grandfather. When asked about machining the MagnaPort Magnalife hard chrome finish he said it wasn't a problem; that the hardest cylinders to machine are the Rugers, that he uses carbide tooling for those. The work, the tool, and the moon clips cost $167.
Tom says he has .357 moon clips available and will machine the cylinders. This gun will never be a collector; it is a shooter - a previous owner put about $800 worth of work into it by MagnaPort and whatever the cost of a different barrel; it will have a special appeal to someone wanting the versatility of .45 acp from a modern wheel gun.