Michael Tinker Pearce
Member
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2016
- Messages
- 1,576
Old-school Taurus! Looks like a Model 10 clone at first glance, but the frame is slightly beefier. Internals look S&W too, pretty similar to a 5-screw K-frame, though it has a different hammer-block, hand mechanisms and a coil mainspring. Paid $150 for this at Ben's Loans. It's tight and right, and aside from a little corrosion on the right side of the muzzle it's in decent shape. The DA trigger was a bit on the heavy side, and while not vintage-S&W-smooth it wasn't bad.
Naturally I couldn't leave well enough alone...
First things first, I detail-stripped the gun and had a good look at the mechanism and parts. The inner workings are properly hardened and tempered steel, but were not awfully well-finished. I bobbed the hammer, broke all the sharp edges, polished it properly and gently polished all the bearing surfaces. A also serrated the top of the hammer so it can be manually cocked, though I really don't intend to. I removed the grooves in the face of the trigger and carefully polished the bits that engage the sear and gave it an overall polish. I cut two coils off the trigger-return spring as well.
Next I bobbed the barrel at 2-3/4" and gave it a recessed crown. I made and mounted a new front sight. Next I relieved the right-front side of the trigger-guard to allow quicker access to the trigger. I also 'melted' the rather sharp cylinder release.
The gun came with a square butt, but I modified the grip-frame to a more rounded profile, made a set of Moose Antler grips, and added a BK Grip Adapter. Finally I touched up the bluing with mark Lee #1 Instant Rust Blue and reassembled the piece. Here are the results-
The trigger is now much improved; I still wouldn't call it 'light' but it's smooth enough that Linda, a serious DA trigger snob, said it was 'pretty good.' It feels really good in the hand, and the narrower front sight improved the sight picture quite a bit.
I'm liking this gun a lot. After I get some shooting done and make sure everything is dialed in I think this will go into the carry rotation.