Michael Tinker Pearce
Member
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2016
- Messages
- 1,575
This is a S&W Model 1904 M&P .38 Special that left the factory well before WW1. It originally came with a 6-1/2" barrel. It's seen a lot of changes since then. First someone modified the front sight to a target sight, making it a 'half-target' clone. Much later someone etched it heavily and applied and ugly matte-black finish and some oversize Pachmayrs. When I got it it was a sad sight, but mechanically good and with an excellent trigger.
I stripped it down and refinished it in Antique gray and made some nice wood grips for it, then later replaced those with jigged-bone. It was a handsome revolver and a good shooter, but when it came time to thin out my collection a bit I realized I really didn't have a use for a 6-1/2" .38 Special. Of course any collector value it might have had was long gone after the first refinish, and I didn't want to part with it for peanuts, so I decided on a make-over into a classic carry-piece.
I cut and crowned the barrel at 3", which I think is an ideal length for a carry/belt revolver. I made a target-style front sight and mounted it, then stripped the gun, sanded the frame, barrel, cylinder and crane to 320-grit and rust blued the gun. The finishing touch was a set of custom elk-antler grips- the first ones that I have done. I used the old grips as a pattern, got things shaped, then hand-sanded them to 3000-grit before applying four coats of lacquer.
I love the result; the gun has a nice tactile and visual balance and points well. The ample grips are comfortable and secure and look great. The bark left of the grip falls in just the right places to provide extra traction.
Stoked with Buffalo-Bore standard pressure short-barrel 158gr. LSWCHPs it ought to get the job done! Now for some leather...
I stripped it down and refinished it in Antique gray and made some nice wood grips for it, then later replaced those with jigged-bone. It was a handsome revolver and a good shooter, but when it came time to thin out my collection a bit I realized I really didn't have a use for a 6-1/2" .38 Special. Of course any collector value it might have had was long gone after the first refinish, and I didn't want to part with it for peanuts, so I decided on a make-over into a classic carry-piece.
I cut and crowned the barrel at 3", which I think is an ideal length for a carry/belt revolver. I made a target-style front sight and mounted it, then stripped the gun, sanded the frame, barrel, cylinder and crane to 320-grit and rust blued the gun. The finishing touch was a set of custom elk-antler grips- the first ones that I have done. I used the old grips as a pattern, got things shaped, then hand-sanded them to 3000-grit before applying four coats of lacquer.
I love the result; the gun has a nice tactile and visual balance and points well. The ample grips are comfortable and secure and look great. The bark left of the grip falls in just the right places to provide extra traction.
Stoked with Buffalo-Bore standard pressure short-barrel 158gr. LSWCHPs it ought to get the job done! Now for some leather...