Help cleaning up a gem.

[david_the_greek]

Hi everyone, I have recently been asked by my uncle to clean up and attempt to fix a problem with a Harrington and Richardson Arms Co. 38 S&W CTGE revolver. This revolver is chromed I believe and not stainless, please correct me if I am wrong as I know nothing about this revolver. The problem with the revolver is that the trigger will not reset. It is a double action revolver that resets itself after each pull of the trigger and this particular handgun the trigger will pull but it remains at the rear of the trigger guard, inhibiting further firing. I can manually pull the trigger forward to reset the firearm. I took the revolver apart to its basic components but am still unsure what was the cause of this problem. I have not had too much time to check this out but am not sure where to start at I suppose. Anyone know of any good websites with info on take down and repair? Also what would be good to take off the surface rust that is on the pistol? Thanks I'll try to keep everyone updated on what I am doing.

 

[Bezoar]

the gun would be nickel plated, maybe chrome if they had that option back then. since you have rust on it already, try to avoid hoppes and other solvents that dissolve copper. As copper is the base coat for the old nickel plated guns, the solvent would eat the copper away and youd be loosing that nice finish in no time at all.

MIGHT be the trigger spring acting up, but there are some websites out there. Might try this in the gunsmithing forum for better help.

 

[mnrivrat]

The old gun is nickel plated. Use a fine steel or bronze wool and a little oil - that's about all you can do with the finish.

The trigger return spring is the problem. They either collapse and or break. It is a V spring that sits forward of the trigger between the frame and the trigger gaurd, and a new one has to be fitted. Wolff springs has the blank V springs. Good luck - they can be a pain to get fitted and working right. The metal is also soft by todays standards and worn parts can bind and give you a fit to get the mechanics working right. ( I've done a few )

 

[Trebor]

As other posters mentioned, it's most likely nickel plated, not chrome. You need to be very careful as many gun cleaning solvents will damage the nickel finish. Off hand I can't remember which ones are safe. I know Hoppes #9 is right out though.

Unless you have experience fixing firearms, I'd take it to a gunsmith to be fixed for safety's sake if nothing else. The problem is the repair will cost more then the value of the gun.

 

[david_the_greek]

uh yeah oops I spray gun scrubber in on a lot of the firearm to clean gunk off of it. Shoot I know if I give it back to my uncle jacked up its going to be ''my fault'' forever and ever. Perhaps I should try to put it back together like I never touched it, anyone know of a sight with a good break down of the internals just in case I get confused?