I'm still plugging away on this Colt getting closer I should be done the middle of next week. Damn doing the file work on the pits is a real pain in the A... I need to remove the ejector rod and do the crane. I'm taking my time I work on this one a couple hours at a time. This way I come back to the revolver with fresh eyes. If I was to just keep on plugging away I would skip over some of the pitting and just think F it I'll leave it alone I have the front sight removed since the picture was taken little by little I'll get her done.

 

Go voere! Thanks for posting a sequence of photographs showing your patient efforts.

This is a better firearms thread than is found on some firearms forums.

 

Thanks
I'm working on the colt little by little. One of the hardest things to remove is the gouge on the cylinder. That was caused from a loose side plate screw. When I recovered the revolver from the flood. I removed one side plate screw to let some water drain out of the internals. Like a dumb A.. I rotated the cyl. and bingo more damage. That is now removed and looks as it never happened. One pictures shows some of the files I used on this colt plus various grits of sand paper. Plus a 1/2 hp buffer with heavy felt polishing pads.
The last pic shows the cyl. after a trip across a polishing wheel

 

Voere, the cylinder looks fantastic now. I'm enjoying following your progress.

 

Was looking for something else this morning in the safe but rediscovered this old piece...Sharps 1874 in 45-70. Close as I could get to a Quigley gun (doesn't everyone love that movie?). Shot metal silhouette back in Texas with it. I think I paid 900 for it, then money got tight and sold it for 800. At a gun show a couple months later I saw the same rifle on a table and said hey that looks just like the one I sold a few weeks ago...how much? He said $600 for a quick sale, as he just got it. I looked closer, and it WAS my rifle. I described to the fellow the guy that bought it from me and he said yup that's the guy. He just left. Still looked perfect so I bought it, shot it, and it was just fine. Strange story for sure. Guess it wasn't his cup of tea....

 

Good film and great rifle! Great caliber too.

 

Great rifle Wryfox, I think all of us who have seen the movie want a Sharps.

 

I took my new Officer's Model out this weekend and shot cans with it. I haven't made any loads for it yet so I just used some standard .38 spl loads in it and it worked beautifully. Even with the weak lock up it didn't shave any lead; it did have two weak strikes that didn't go off on the first try but fired just fine on the second try on a box of fifty. My cans were lined up from ten to twenty yards and after seeing that it hit about 6" high I was able to adjust my point of aim and knocked down a good string of cans with it. The trigger is like butter, in single action it feels to break between two and three pounds and in double action around seven or so. I brought along my Python for a quick comparison and the 112 year old Officers Model easily held its own; I shot better with the Python but I chocked that solely up to my familiarity with the it. I need to load up some nice light .38LC loads for the old timer and sit down with the bench and get it dialed in properly. I am also going to be on the look out for a new bolt and stop, and possibly hand in order to make the lock up tighter.

 

I think you've pegged what will aid your revolver's lock up.

 

Colts are not that easy to work on replacing the parts you mention takes a lot of knowledge on colts and skill. You may be better off just sending the revolver to Colt.

Several years ago I made the mistake of giving a nice Colt to a local gunsmith that jacked the Colt up big time. I took the Colt to another gunsmith same story. In my neck of the woods only one gunsmith is very good on Colt revolvers and I trust him to work on Colt revolvers. if he is not available I send them off to Colt.
Good Luck

 

This slide is from another handgun that was diving under water for a few days

I'm still plugging away on the Colt I posted. My next project is in the works a S&W 5906 that has a melonite finish on the slide. Later in the week I will stop in at a friends plating shop. And find out if blasting the finish off will work. Since the melonite is a heat treated finish. Not sure if blasting will remove the finish.

You can see the hard compound layer is flaking

The finish appears to be 3 to 5 mils thick not sure if blasting will work. If not he may know of a way to remove the finish. I would hate to remove the lettering on the slide. It may be easier to just replace the slide and have the replacement slide melonited.

 

I appreciate your concern Voere, I've been working on Colt revolvers for a little over twenty years now and feel fairly confident in myself.

 

That's good to hear.
Good Luck

 

Maybe a muriatic acid bath would strip it.

 

Thanks, I am going to start looking for the parts this evening. One of the nice things about the internet is it makes working on old guns with hard to find parts so much easier.

 

Not sure if that will work. At this stage of the project I'll let my friend take a look at the slide. He owns a industrial plating shop. He may be know of a way to remove the finish. If not I will try the muriatic acid bath

 

Getting nos parts can be hard to find. I know some places carry reproduction parts. Getting the used parts you need may be a waste of time since they were already fitted to another revolver they may not work for your needs. From time to time I have lucked out at Numrich or Ebay can be a good source

 

Yeah I avoid used parts like the plague. I have once or twice bought used out of desperation and it doesn't work far more often than it does. I'm thinking of trying Ebay first. I found a NOS timing hand for a New Service about a year ago.

 

Sounds like the way to go. Hopefully it won't be too difficult for him to remove.

 

$125 later and I have sourced a new bolt, hand, locking lever, and rebound lever. Hopefully the shipping won't take terribly long and I'll have this old Colt in ship shape soon. The internet is truly a marvelous thing sometimes. I would have probably passed on this gun twenty years ago simply because I would have doubted being able to find any parts for it.