Gun Show not sure what I got

R

Rigmarol

New member
Found myself in Phoenix this past weekend and dropped into the gun show going on there.

The place was crowded as expected. I was doing casual shopping keeping an eye open for primers, dies, tools and molds.

Lots of Cap and Ball revolvers but prices were more than I had to spend this time. Since I'm from out of state I was limited to these and there were a lot of nice pieces.

Then off in a dark corner I came across a guy and his wife selling a hodge podge of assorted old stuff that looked like it came out of some guy's shop. Sure enough, he was selling off a relatives old gun shop of junk. And it was JUNK! But one item caught my eye.

An old CVA 1860(?) kit that was never finished!
He had it marked for $80. I handled it and saw how rough it was but it called to me. what a cool project this would make.

I offered $20.00 he laughed and I set it down.
He said he'd take $60.00
I offered $25.00 and picked it back up.
He said $50.00
I said $26.00
He hummed to himself.
His wife slapped his shoulder and said for crying out loud sell the dang thing!
And he took my $26 bucks!!!
I walked away grinning and tucked the gun in my belt to finish walking the show.

I got 4 offers one as high as $80 while I walked around! But I wanted to bring him home to see what I could do with him.
What do you guys think of my $26 gun?

IMAG1097_zps6163a118.jpg


IMAG1098_zpsd9cb2d12.jpg


Markings show CVA and ASM
IMAG1114_zpsb5b6e36f.jpg


IMAG1108_zps2d00f046.jpg
 
good score

Note to self: Make sure seller's frustrated wife is around when you want to buy something.

ETA. I think it's a cold rust blue.
 
Awesome!! What a deal!!! I like the way it looks now all rough and tough looking. If it were mine I would just get it to workin good and leave the finish as is. What are your plans for it? Nice Score.
 
You're a better mule trader than me!

I'd have slapped the $60 down and ran for the car before somebody else saw it.:D lol
 
Nice! Looks like it has a copy of a Colt roll engraved cylinder made before Colt sued the Italian gunmakers.
Click to expand...

Colt didn't sue anybody for roll engraved cylinders. All Colt clones have roll engraved cylinders. Colt sued ASM (which is who made that one BTW)for using the Colt barrel address.
 
Yep...

Definitely a good score, Rig.

Steel frame kit is rarer than the brass kits.

Most of them (I think) were made by ASM. If you need internals, I have substituted the thirty dollar parts kit from Cabela's successfully but with a little fitting.

Very nice find.

I think you could easily break it up and get 150.00 for the parts.

On the other hand, I have found my ASMs to be good shooting revolvers for light duty. If it were me, I'd fix it and shoot it.
 
I'm not that handy so I'd probably send it to someone who can polish that baby and give it case-color and charcoal blue. I'll bet you'd still have less than $250 in it.. Of course if you are handy you could polish it up, finish the grips with some nice oil, brown or blue the rest and have less than $50.00 it... Nice score either way!
 
Thanks guys, I think I did good as well.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it exactly. I know I want to finish the stocks or replace them depending on whether or not I go for a full finish restore or leave it rough looking. I sorta like it looking all tarnished and such but not sure just yet.

I completely disassembled it to get a good look at the internals and it really doesn't look as though it's been fired. There is a little bit of rust clean up that needs to be done and I doubt it's ever seen a drop of oil ever. All parts look good but need some attention and and some smoothing and buffing.

I'll need to buy a set of cones/nipples right away. I only have extras for my Dragoons and they don't fit of course.

Parting it out did cross my mind but I cant bring myself to do that.

I did notice when comparing it to pictures of other like it that there seem to be two screws on the frame that I believe are for notching into a shoulder stock. Can anyone look at those and confirm or reject my belief? If I'm right I'd love to hear more about that feature.

Thanks again guys.
 
Absolutely a crime to part that out. I'm sure it'll be a fine little shooter. Since it's "in the white" you have the opportunity to easily defarb the piece. Get rid of the Italian and CVA marks polish the metalwork and finish the grips. They should be good with a bit of elbow grease and some Danish Oil finish, medium or dark walnut works great here...

It is the Army model cut for a shoulder stock as evidenced by the notches at the bottom of the recoil shield and the extra screws on the frame. There should be a cut on the bottom rear of the grip frame as well.

Whatever you do, there are lots of guys here with lots of experience with these guns and they're as helpful a bunch as you'll find anywhere. Keep us posted!
 
I've heard about "defarbing" but never was in a position to consider it until now.
Any links to the process would be appreciated.

Thanks for the confirmation on the rifle stock features. I image getting one would be a tough challenge.
 
You might try this link for a good discussion of defarbing.

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=266383&highlight=defarb

Most guys use burnishing tools, basically hardened steel rubbed over the area you're cleaning up, the metal "moves around" and the stamped markings disappear. The most glaring ones on your piece seem to be the CVA stamp on the frame, everything else looks pretty clean but could benefit from sanding/polishing.

Search the site also for antiquing if you're into that look, some of these guys have created some very nice original looking guns..
 
I told a classmate and he replied that guys manning a garage sale table who look happy are asking for a lot of money. Guys who look like they don't want to be there are there because their wives made them sell their stuff.
 
I would defarb it, but leave it old and kinda rough and weathered like it is. It really is a great look, and with some new nipples, I bet it will make an awesome shooter!
 
Rigmarol . . better watch out . . . I'm in AZ for the winters and in some parts, they still hang horse thieves and those who steal a guy's hog leg! :D

Congrats on your find! I think you did real well on it and we look forward to seeing it when you get it all polished up! You certainly can't go wrong at that price.

My wife and I were up in Prescott & Prescott Valley over the weekend and I saw on the news that there was a big gun show - just didn't have time to fit it in as we had other things to do. From what I saw on the news, there were some "antis" having a snit but hope that didn't affect the show any.

Keep us posted on your progress on the Army . . . looks like a great project! Thanks for sharing! :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top