S&W m1903 .32 Hand Ejector- almost done...

[Michael Tinker Pearce]

Last year we picked up an m1903 .32 Hand Ejector for $125. It was cheap because the nickel was pretty far gone, there was some rust, cylinder end-shake and timing issues.

The timing issues went away when I detail-stripped the gun and removed a century worth of crud from the mechanism. The ratty nickel and rust went away due to the careful application of abrasives and polish. A bit more work and some Van's Instant Blue gave it an 'antique gray' finish. I fabricated a T-grip style adapter from aircraft aluminum, and that made it comfortable for me to shoot. That left the cylinder end-shake, and I decided it was time to address that.

I had some leftover .008 bronze washers used in making liner-lock folders, and I trimmed one down to the correct diameter and hand-sanded it to the needed thickness. I stripped the cylinder, inserted the washer to shim it and reassembled. Worked a treat; no end-shake, everything hunky-dory... except that the cylinder-gap was now .016". Average is .006-.007, so that was rather large... yeah, gotta fix that...

Getting the barrel pin out was a problem, but eventually I ground a concave dimple in the fce of a punch and ground it down to 1/16" inch. After that it was pretty easy to drive the pin out from left to right.I couldn't find a frame-wrench for an I-frame, but some scrap oak and files fixed that-


Padded vice-grips and a 2-foot copper pipe for leverage got the barrel moving pretty easily. Once the barrel was unscrewed I carefully ground the face of the frame until the barrel set-back properly. A little judicious grinding with a very high-grit belt got the few thousandths off of the forcing cone needed to fit the cylinder properly.

End result? Cylinder end-shake is gone and the cylinder-gap has gone from .016" to .0035". The DA trigger pull is a smooth 8 lbs. I slightly widened and deepened the rear sight notch, touched up the bluing as needed and am calling this one done- at least until I am set up to hot-blue...

Very pleased with how this little gun came out!


This is going to be primarily a range gun, so it may eventually get some kind of target grip if I find the right piece of wood. I'm sure Linda is going to love shooting it, and I have a box of 96gr. LRNFPs all ready to go.

 

[bannockburn]

Tinker

Nice work, especially for the way you removed the barrel and fixed the cylinder end shake/barrel gap problem. Looking forward to the hot blued version when you get set up to do the bluing.

 

[eastbank]

very well done, my own 03 doesn,t need any work but if it does i will remember what you did. takeing a well used revolver and making it into a reliable firearm again. eastbank.

 

[armoredman]

Nicely done, sir.

 

[Alte Schule]

Always impressed with someone that can do that kind of work. Bravo!

 

[CaptTripps]

Pearce, you do some amazing work! I like to tinker with guns and stuff also and have posted a few photos of my work on this website, but your level is far and above where I am at. Looks great! Why not rust blue it?

 

[kBob]

Great work, Tinker!

Now the hard part is going to be finding a Lyman hand tool of the pliers type with dies and tools for .32 S&W and a home made powder scoop for the wife to keep that thing fed with in the spirit of 1903. That box of cases might last a real long time then.

I do like your work.

-kBob

 

[Michael Tinker Pearce]

Great work, Tinker!

Now the hard part is going to be finding a Lyman hand tool of the pliers type with dies and tools for .32 S&W and a home made powder scoop for the wife to keep that thing fed with in the spirit of 1903. That box of cases might last a real long time then.

I do like your work.

-kBob

Thanks! Those tools do show up now and again... This'n is actually .32 S&W long but the shorts will work, and I could always use it to feed this little critter:

 

[GooseGestapo]

You actually did the barrel/cylinder gap correction backwards.
The correct way is to face down the barrel abutment equivalent to one turn of the threads. The barrels were traditionally much less expensive than the frames. The frame now modified will require any replacement barrels to be modified to fit.
I have a Model 10 that was built into a PPC limited competition revolver by well known Gun Smith. Subsequent owner cut frame to reduce b/c gap by facing down the frame as you did. A pre-cut barrel such a Brownell's sells will likewise have to be set-back to fit the cut frame. I've rebarreled it once, which is how I discovered the modification. Also, Brownells and MidwayUSA sell cup tip punches for the pins. But, a good gunsmith makes his own as you did .

But, It's YOUR gun, so you can do as you please.

It's doubtful that you or subsequent owners will ever shoot the gun enough to require ever needing to set back the barrel again, so it's a moot question.
Also, the correct way to remove the barrel is to vise the barrel, and twist the frame, for which wrench adapters exist, and heat the frame to facilitate removal. However, you made your way work.

I was bequeathed an identical S&W .32. I have "corrected" it's 110yr use with the exception of replacing the hand to correct a cylinder timing issue by replacing the hand. None exist except in other guns. I still shoot it single action by manually indexing the cylinder to attain lockup. It's a delight to shoot and with a 78gr or 93gr RN over 2.0gr of Bullseye, shoots to the sights and shoots 1-hole groups at 7 yards. According to individual who gave it to me, his grandfather bought it new in 1907 at a local general store, and carried it while making bank deposits as he was a fianance officer with a local textile mill. Also, it was shot EXTENSIVELY with .32 Auto ammo, which is why it has the timing issue. (Loaded MUCH hotter than .32 S&W Long).
An elegant weapon from another time...

 

[Tallball]

Great revolver. You did very nice work! Mine is from 1915-16 and looks much worse than yours. They sure are a lot of fun to shoot!

 

[Michael Tinker Pearce]

Great revolver. You did very nice work! Mine is from 1915-16 and looks much worse than yours. They sure are a lot of fun to shoot!

Thanks- they are certainly fun to shoot!

As to doing the repair backwards I was fully aware that it would be better to step back the barrel, but I have limited resources and a very specific skill-set. I've had a metal-lathe for only short time but I've been grinding to precise tolerances for a couple decades; I'm not nearly so confident in my lathe-work yet. Since we paid next to nothing for the gun and it would never be collectible owing to it's initial condition I decided to proceed with the method I was most confident with; the worst possible result was less problematic than screwing up on the lathe.

I'll be shooting this gun for pleasure and shooting low-pressure loads with lead bullets exclusively, so I sincerely doubt a barrel-replacement will ever be needed. In the meantime I had a fun and very satisfactory learning experience that turned out well. I'm content.

 

[Jim NE]

I personally like the way you did the work. Finish looks kind of cool!

One of the great disappointments I had as a gun owner was when one someone gave me a couple of old trapdoor Springfield rifles that had gotten rusty. I cleaned most of the rust off, but needed to replace one of the breech blocks, as it was too far gone. When the previous owner found out I had made them shootable - and that doing so required a replacement part - he got mad. "Those are museum pieces," he said. No they weren't. He'd let them rust in his closet for 40 years! I eventually gave the guns to my brother.

Make the guns work in a careful yet cost effective manner, I say. I don't want - and won't own - guns that don't work.

Kind of wish I still had my .32 Hand Ejector. It was a 1946, as I recall. Shot great, but the grip was too small for me.

 

[mnrivrat]

I have 4 Model 1903's . one is back to a shooter so far so I have three to go. I just finished a Model 1896 that is also a nice shooter after the work. I have a couple of center fire M1&1/2's (in .32S&W) I am presently putting back into shooting condition. Also a S&W double action top break in .38S&W, An American that has really seen hard times and has been sleeved to .38 Special which I will set up for shooting blanks for reenactment . All have poor finish but when done will be solid shooters. I might have missed a S&W or two , but when I finish the S&W guns I will start on about a dozen H&R and IJ top breaks. I have only finished the bicycle models of the H&R and IJ so far.
It's a fun pass time. and affordable. I am also looking for hand loader for the .32S&W. I have 4 boxes of loaded and getting older ones. My brother is set up to load my .32S&W longs and .32 H&R's. If I can't find the loader set up for the .32S&W I think I can just buy an extra crimping die and shorten it.