Rusty Revolver Thread

[silicosys4]

Hi,
I thought I'd start a thread for all the revolvers out there who will never be beauty queens, but have put up with use and abuse and are still on this earth.

My rusty revolver contribution is this Army Special in .38 special.
I bid this gun at auction for the grips, and only for the grips. The grips were original and SOMEHOW(?)pristine, and went on another Army Special. I paid less for the gun than I would have for a pair of original grips in the same condition off Ebay!
The gun was listed as non functioning, and I was expecting a parts gun.
When the gun arrived it was ugly as could be.







But that was what I expected. The cylinder was also very hard to open...the cylinder latch pin was broken, and when I got it open, a few of the chambers had been peened a little from forcing the cylinder closed against a broken latch pin and would not chamber shells.

What surprised me though, was the action was like glass. Absolutely no movement in lockup. And when I looked at the bore, it was surprisingly good considering the shape of the rest of the gun.



So I decided as ugly as she was, it was mostly cosmetic and had to be saved. A pair of repro grips that are on it now, a bit of work with a round file on the chamber lips and some steel wool and oil on the rust, and a new latch pin later, and she was shooting again! Light target loads only, of course

I think a refinish is out of the question though

So lets see your rusty, crusty, workhorse relics!

 

[silicosys4]

Pics didn't post, so here they are

Edit: figured out how to get them into the thread text

 

[LAGS]

That looks a lot better than some of the guns I have got firing again.
I would put some time into it and use it for a Project gun and make it look even nicer.
The Value is gone except as a shooter, and it can be made reliable enough for that.

 

[MikeJackmin]

She has a certain charm as she is.

This is sort of an oddball suggestion, but that gun might be a perfect candidate to live "in the white". Remove all the color, but leave the pitting. It would give a uniform, worn appearance, and if a little rust were to reappear later, it'd be easy enough to remove. It's not like a few freckles of extra pitting would detract from the overall look. It might even go naturally grey over time, which would look nice, too.

 

[USAF_Vet]

Something like that, I'd get some black rubber grips, paint (or Duracoat) the rest OD green.

As long as its a good, reliable shooter, have some fun with the cosmetics.

 

[TennJed]

Neat thread

 

[788Ham]

WHEW ! That dude wasn't rode hard and put away wet, looks as if it was just turned out to pasture !! Internal mechanics might need some help, don't know about any parts, Colt quit making revolvers in '94, spare parts? Might be hard to find, and smith qualified enough to get it working again, good luck!

 

[VA27]

I'd clean it with nothing harsher than Hoppe's No. 9 and an toothbrush (your mother-in-law's will work fine) and then search the world for a set of suitable grips that match the condition of the gun. The perfect truck gun!

 

[LAGS]

@ 788ham
That gun could be up and running in two weeks.
Parts can still be found, and sandblasting will fix her up a whole bunch.
This gun is not much different than a old S&W Victory I rebuilt 20 years ago, and am still shooting as far back as a week ago.
Lettering is all gone from polishing, but it is Blued now, and shoots like a dream.

 

[RaceM]

I love guns like this. Buy 'em cheap, apply elbow grease, get a shooter with character.