another pitted mess

T

TINCANBANDIT

New member
I have another project gun that I hope to take from pitted ugliness to redemption. This one was in a fire and the finish was removed, which left it susceptible to rusting. This is a 1978 vintage Colt Trooper Mk III in .357 Mag





The bore is destroyed, luckily I found a good used barrel from a Colt Trooper MkV

does anyone have a extar cylinder that will fit this gun? I am told any cylinder for a 357 Magnum Colt "J" frame series will work (which were the Trooper Mark III or V, Lawman, Metropolitan Police or Official Police Mark III)

The pitting destroyed one (and possibly two) of the cylinder stops and I don't think it is safe to shoot as is.
 
Were those stocks on the gun when it was in the fire? If so, and the wood is not charred, things might be OK.

But if the original stocks were burned up, I would not spend any time or money on that gun since the heat treatment of the frame has been compromised and the lockwork ruined.

Jim
 
You might want to think about plugging the cylinder and barrel before finishing, maybe fill them with lead, as if it ever fell into someones hands that didn't know, they are liable to try to fire it. That poor beast has had a lot of heat damage.

Look around ebay for Colt parts, you would be surprised what turns up occasionally.
 
Any gun involved in a fire needs examined very closely before attempting to fire it or return it to firing condition. Still, it does depend on how hot the gun got, and destruction of the wooden stock or grips is a good indicator.

If those stocks are original, I doubt the gun got really hot and I think that most of the damage to that revolver was not heat but water damage from fighting the fire, then leaving the gun uncleaned, resulting in deep rust.

I certainly advise the OP to proceed with caution and not rush to spend a lot of money until he determines just what he has to work with.

Jim
 
What James K said. If that metal reached critical, it's toast. I'd express blue it and use it as a trainer (with the original barrel re-installed). Might have to plug the cylinders and bbl to prevent it from being mistakenly used.
 
all,

yes the grips were on the gun when it was in the fire, the damage to the metal was a result of the rusting that occurred when the fire was doused with water and the gun was not found until a few days later.
The grip panels finish was blistered but not charred, I don't believe the metal got hot enough to damage it.

I was also able to find some NOS internal parts and an NOS side plate....still looking for a cylinder though.

I will update this thread and write a blog post soon

Thanks
 
"...This one was in a fire..." Have the frame hardness tested before you spend any other money. There's no way pitting to that extent would happen in just a few days either.
Wood ignites at approximately 250ºC (482ºF). Charred means it ignited.
"...ebay for Colt parts..." E-Bay is owned by people who want to take your firearms away from you. They finance the likes of the Brady Bunch.
 
If the gun got hot enough to remove the hardening, there would be some evidence in the discoloration of the steel.

The color case hardening on the hammer and trigger were intact, as were the internals parts, even the springs still had their original strength to them. Nothing on the gun indicated that anything warped or discolored from heat. Only the blistering of the finish on the grips. Which can happen as low as 200 degrees.

Thanks for the worries, but I think this one will be just fine.
 
I saw your thread some time back with the Ruger pistol (a Mark I or perhaps pre-Mark I) and I'm simply posting here to subscribe to this thread. What you did to that Ruger was pure, outrageous magic, so I can't wait to see this one come back to life. :p
 
update, I just found a new cylinder for the gun.

I now have the parts to complete the restoration, I just need to wait for a local gunsmith to get the necessary action wrench adapters so we can swap the barrels
 
We sourced some used and NOS parts for this porject

A used, good condition cylinder:



A used Very Good condition vent rib barrel from a Trooper Mk V



I was able to find an NOS hammer, side plate and ejector button along with all the internal parts and screws

 
Once I had 99% of the pits out and the metal sanded to a 600 grit finish, I installed the new barrel



I then taped off the gun and sand blasted the top of the frame and blended it with the blasted top of barrel



 
Nice job. Nothing I like better than getting a rusted/broken gun back in service. Too many times people give up and junk them.
 
still sanding, at the 2000 grit level now, almost ready to go to the buffer. I bought two new buffing wheels, I want this gun to look as much like a Python as possible, not sure how well I can duplicate what the artisans at Colt used to do, but all I can do is try

I'll have another blog post update here this weekend.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top