Vintage S&W restored

[tinkerpearce]

Some time back I spotted a S&W .38 hand-ejector at a very good price. It had one of the nicest DA triggers I had ever felt on a S&W revolver and was in excellent mechanical condition with a very good bore and chambers. Why so cheap? Because it was ugly- some previous owner had brutalized it with a non-reflective finish and stuck a big set of Pachymers on it. It's a 6-1/2" gun, and that trigger- oh, what the hell. I bought it. Great shooter. 

Any collector value it might have had went straight in the toilet when it was sandblasted and reblued, so I stripped the finish and after a lot of careful work with fine-grit sanding and polishing got it looking good. I re-blued it to produce what I call an 'Antique Gray' finish and made some new Walnut grips for it with 'Homespun' checkering and after trying it out added a home-made T-grip style adapter that I made out of Aircraft aluminum. It's a terrific shooter and I really like how it looks now- nice but still maintains a vintage character.


Linda occasionally hints that maybe I should shorten the barrel to 3" or so, but I'm not going there. I like it just as it is, thanks very much. These days it mostly fires target wadcutter loads. At some point I'll make a holster for it, and maybe after that it will go on some small game hunts.

[Encore64]

Beautiful, excellent job

[wtf]

Now, that's got a great look to it!
Nice work on the grips, too.
-Bill

[magnumwheelman]

love it... I might be partial to a shorter barrel & improved sight ( thinking I'd go 4" - 4.5" or so, if I were going to change it )... but she looks mighty fine like she is is it shooting to point of aim with your loads???

[tinkerpearce]

Oct 23, 2017 6:23:26 GMT -5 magnumwheelman said:

love it... I might be partial to a shorter barrel & improved sight ( thinking I'd go 4" - 4.5" or so, if I were going to change it )... but she looks mighty fine like she is is it shooting to point of aim with your loads???

Strictly speaking it's shooting all around my point of aim... It's pretty much dead-on with my usual load using 148gr. BBWCs. 

[Pecos Pete]

Very nice. Which blueing method did you use, caustic or rust? I have an old Model 10 that I plan to reblue soon. I'm like you, I'd rather get a gun looking the way I want than worry excessively about collector value.

[alukban]

I lust brother

[tinkerpearce]

Oct 23, 2017 10:23:01 GMT -5 Pecos Pete said:

Very nice. Which blueing method did you use, caustic or rust? I have an old Model 10 that I plan to reblue soon. I'm like you, I'd rather get a gun looking the way I want than worry excessively about collector value.

I used Van's Instant Blue. It's the next best thing I have found to hot-bluing. Of course surface prep is everything, and I clean all surfaces with acetone before bluing.

[dougader]

Real nice work!

[Pecos Pete]

Oct 23, 2017 10:46:56 GMT -5 tinkerpearce said:

Oct 23, 2017 10:23:01 GMT -5 Pecos Pete said:

Very nice. Which blueing method did you use, caustic or rust? I have an old Model 10 that I plan to reblue soon. I'm like you, I'd rather get a gun looking the way I want than worry excessively about collector value.

I used Van's Instant Blue. It's the next best thing I have found to hot-bluing. Of course surface prep is everything, and I clean all surfaces with acetone before bluing.

The antique gray looks really spectacular. It gives the gun an old but not beaten look. I'll have to give Van's a try next time.

[mart]

Great job. You recreated the vintage patina really well.

[seak89]

I too would leave that one long and the woods be its play ground. Very nice work