Gentlemen;
I am in the middle of a Colt New Service rebuild/restoration and am in need of some advice and info. First off, the gun is an old Austin PD 4" .38 (Serial #3452XX) that was beat to death as a duty gun, retired and reblued, and beat to death AGAIN! Most of the markings are gone, and someone leaned it into the buffing wheel HARD before they dropped it into the tank last time. My first mission is to make the flats flat and the rounds round. Being the veteran of several Winchester and rolling block restorations, I know I have my work cut out for me. The good news is that it has been retimed by someone who knew what they were doing, complete with welding and recutting the hand. Hamilton Bowen has agreed to rechamber the cylinder to .38-40 for me, and I have a clean 4.5" .38-40 barrel waiting in the wings. Why .38-40? Well, I HAVE a .38-40 barrel. I plan on tapping Dale Woody to recut the markings, and Ron's Gunshop to do the correct Carbona Blue. Here's the dilema...sometime since I was last serious about the Colt New Service (back before the crust cooled and dinosaurs still walked the Earth), parts seem to have dried up. I could REALLY use a couple of mainsprings, and a new hammer might not be a bad idea either. I have tried all of the usual suspects, but have come up dry. The only other shop I can think of who might be able to help and haven't contacted yet are the good folks at Jack First. Any other suggestions? Thanks!
I am in the middle of a Colt New Service rebuild/restoration and am in need of some advice and info. First off, the gun is an old Austin PD 4" .38 (Serial #3452XX) that was beat to death as a duty gun, retired and reblued, and beat to death AGAIN! Most of the markings are gone, and someone leaned it into the buffing wheel HARD before they dropped it into the tank last time. My first mission is to make the flats flat and the rounds round. Being the veteran of several Winchester and rolling block restorations, I know I have my work cut out for me. The good news is that it has been retimed by someone who knew what they were doing, complete with welding and recutting the hand. Hamilton Bowen has agreed to rechamber the cylinder to .38-40 for me, and I have a clean 4.5" .38-40 barrel waiting in the wings. Why .38-40? Well, I HAVE a .38-40 barrel. I plan on tapping Dale Woody to recut the markings, and Ron's Gunshop to do the correct Carbona Blue. Here's the dilema...sometime since I was last serious about the Colt New Service (back before the crust cooled and dinosaurs still walked the Earth), parts seem to have dried up. I could REALLY use a couple of mainsprings, and a new hammer might not be a bad idea either. I have tried all of the usual suspects, but have come up dry. The only other shop I can think of who might be able to help and haven't contacted yet are the good folks at Jack First. Any other suggestions? Thanks!
