[patentnonsense]

I ran across a Model 19 with a gorgeous mirror-polished nickel finish, which flunked the checkout tests - lots of endshake, lots of slop in the timing (on all cylinders).

There's a good Smith shop close by, and this piece is offered at a VERY low price, so I'm wondering if it's sane to think of buying something like this for a rebuild.

I'm still pretty green, so don't be shy about telling me if this is a stupid idea! I understand that revolversmiths can swap in oversized pieces to compensate for wear, but I don't know how to tell whether that's been done already, nor whether that hurts accuracy.

Thanks,

[Majic]

Call the shop and get a quote on the tune-up then add that to the price and see if it's still a deal. If it goes over market price then pass it by.

[Jim March]

Ummmm...you're into an area beyond the scope of what "the checkout" can deal with. I would recommend not buying without a *gunsmith's* inspection and price quote.

The gun might not be salvagable. The frame may be warped. Not THAT likely but not impossible.

The "checkout" is really meant as a pass/fail sort of thing (or at least, "does it pass at this price?") that a non-gunsmith can perform. There's a limit to it's diagnostics ability.

The amount of slop you're describing is beyond that.

[Preacherman]

Patentnonsense, if the gun is a particularly good specimen in terms of its finish, it might be worth saving. There are two ways you can go on this.

1. You can send it back to S&W for "restoration to original factory condition". I've done this with two S&W Model 29-2's, and for about half the new retail price of the gun, S&W will re-do everything, including the finish. Expensive, so it's only worth doing for something you want to keep.

2. Talk to Clark Custom Guns (http://www.clarkcustomguns.com/) - (318) 949-9884. Ask to speak to Jim Clark Jr., who runs the company. Jim often buys large quantities of weapons confiscated by police. He gets old, beat-up S&W's and Rugers, and has all the facilities to rebuild them to factory spec's. He can then sell them at normal used gun prices, in excellent condition, and still make a profit. You could describe the gun to him (even better if you could call him from the gunshop, and have the gun in front of you as you speak), and ask him for an approximate cost to put it back into working order. I highly recommend CCG's gunsmithing (as does just about everyone, including the manufacturers - CCG is an authorized S&W and Ruger repair center).

Hope this helps.

[Josey]

If it was made in 83-84, PASS! S&W made garbage for those two years as often as they made firerms. I strongly suspect that M19 left the factory NIB in that condition.

[Blueduck]

Still lots of good S/W 19's around for not much more or even less than a the cost of total restoration once you include shipping, then add the risk that guns just flat out not fixable...:scrutiny: