Questions on revolver that hasn't been fired in years

[Winchester_73]

+1 to Mike and carguychris about the side plate. In addition to warping the side plate, you could mess it up in other ways. Prying can leave marks in addition to warping it and who knows what else, depending upon the ill-advised method used.

The only other method, if you had no hammer or anything like, would be to put something under the sideplate, like a rubber balloon that you pump up, and that could lift it right off. Finding one that would fit and do the job would probably be much harder than finding a good plastic hammer or mallet that you strike the frame with/.

 

[slow944]

Does your look like this one. This is my 1975 model Trooper MKIII. I found this one in a pawnshop a few months ago.

 

[carguychris]

Two things I forgot to mention in my prior post about removing the sideplate...

The technique actually works best if the revolver is allowed to move as you whack it with the tool. I usually hold the barrel in my right hand and whack the grip frame with my left hand, so the sideplate is facing up.

If the gun has a post-1944 sliding hammer block- which a M29-4 should have- the hammer block may go flying if the sideplate lets go suddenly. The part is a little over an inch long and is usually shiny silver in color, so it should be easy to spot if it falls in a clean work area, but you shouldn't do this in a cluttered workspace with open toolboxes and/or lots of junk laying around, or over shag carpet or grass. (That said, I always work on guns in a clean area with short carpeting, regardless of what I'm doing.)

 

[Seaman]

Ahoy Gents,

When it comes to firearms I use wood tools, mostly hand fashioned from pine to oak to other woods. Used a wooden mallet to no avail. Yes, you are right, the side-plate should not be pried…especially S&Ws made with lightweight metals i.e. aluminum, scandium and such. Always detail strip, fluff and buff all internals, with all new acquisitions (revolver or semi)…often find something needing attention.

Even tried fanning the wide hammer, hoping that would work. Three shots groups…3 high just below the S&W, three lower just above the Colt. See pic. (was investigating whether or not one could hit anything fanning the hammer, was told this was a fallacy but would loosen things up) .…but I couldn’t bring myself to dirty up the never-fired 1851 Navy Colt with black powder and grease, so fanned the S&W 29-4, but this failed to free up the side-plate. The S&W 29-4 is a 3” barrel (looks new), full underlug, heavy-duty unfluted cylinder, Patridge gold bead front sight, deep V-cut adjustable rear sight, Pachmayr K-frame round butt grips, slick action…a nice shooter.

Perhaps a three week bath in brake fluid would work?

Thanks to all for the knowledgeable input.

 

[Dragline45]

Even tried fanning the wide hammer, hoping that would work. Three shots groups…3 high just below the S&W, three lower just above the Colt. See pic. (was investigating whether or not one could hit anything fanning the hammer, was told this was a fallacy but would loosen things up) .…but I couldn’t bring myself to dirty up the never-fired 1851 Navy Colt with black powder and grease, so fanned the S&W 29-4, but this failed to free up the side-plate.

Fanning the hammer on any revolver is never a good idea, from what I understand it puts undue stress on parts, and doing it on a Ruger will actually void the warranty if they see signs of it. I still fail to see how fanning the hammer would loosen to side plate. If whacking the grip with a wooden or plastic mallet doesn't work I would try removing the grips and heating the gun up in the oven at low temp and then retry tapping the side plate off with the mallet.

 

[carguychris]

Perhaps a three week bath in brake fluid would work?

Brake fluid absorbs water from the air. Steel rusts when it's submerged in an open container of brake fluid. This is bad juju.

I agree with Dragline's suggestion to try heat, or use the opposite approach: Put it in a Ziploc freezer bag with as much air squeezed out as possible, then freeze it in a very cold freezer for several days. Take it out, let it thaw in the bag, repeat several times.

 

[Seaman]

Well…had considered heat…thought the oven might damage the blue? Also considered a torch…but that might result in a color case hardening nightmare. Or boiling it in oil, tho that might really stink up the kitchen.

But the freezer method sounds like it should work, contraction-expansion…over and over.

Will give it a go.

Thanks.

 

[woje]

Does your look like this one. This is my 1975 model Trooper MKIII. I found this one in a pawnshop a few months ago.

Yep, that is it

 

[batmann]

Oven??????? If the side plate is that hard to get off, it should go to a competent gun smith.

 

[Seaman]

"Oven??????? "

Can recall putting a new ring gear in the oven and the flywheel in the freezer, then the ring gear would slip onto the flywheel easily, hot/cold treatments really work.

Removed the grips and cylinder and was set to put the S&W 29 in the freezer when I decided to give it another try with the wooden mallet. The mallet would not budge the side-plate …so as a last resort used a heavy 2x3 foot long piece of oak, whacked it hard three times and it popped off. See pic with frame, hammer blocker, and side-plate. Invisible to the eye was a very thin film of rust on the contact points of the side-plate and frame. That was the culprit.

Inside there was a lot of what appeared to be thick grease, some of which can be seen as a dark vertical line on the hand. Dismantled everything, cleaned up the grease, removed a tiny piece of foreign metal (chunk) which was in the trigger assembly (machining debris?), fluffed and buffed a couple of rough spots, lubed and reassembled.

I guess someone had put some kind of lube in it that dried out and solidified over time.

Thanks to all for the tips, no metal tools (save a screwdriver) were used. On occasion I do use a metal punch for driving out pins and such, but most work is done with wood.

Woje, that is a beautiful 1975 model Trooper MKIII you have, reminds me of a S&W 22-4. I am sure your Colt will give you a lifetime of enjoyment.

 

[gwalchmai]

What I read when I got my Trooper MKIII was that their firing pins are a bit brittle and may break if dry fired without support (snap cap or spent case). That's bad but what's worse is that apparently they have to go back to Colt for repair. I had dry fired it a few times before I read that but I wouldn't want to chance it again.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

What I read when I got my Trooper MKIII was that their firing pins are a bit brittle and may break if dry fired without support (snap cap or spent case). That's bad but what's worse is that apparently they have to go back to Colt for repair. I had dry fired it a few times before I read that but I wouldn't want to chance it again.

That used to be the case, but my most recent information from Colt is that they no longer have the parts, so they can't fix it when you break it.

Snap caps are cheap.

 

[Lost Sheep]

]Perhaps a three week bath in brake fluid would work?
Brake fluid absorbs water from the air. Steel rusts when it's submerged in an open container of brake fluid. This is bad juju.

[/QUOTE]
However bad brake FLUID is, many people find BRAKE CLEANER or Carburetor Cleaner very useful as a solvent and gun cleanter.

I have never tried it as I usually have a can of "Gun Scrubber" around, but i understand it is the same thing, or pretty close.

Lost Sheep

 

[Lost Sheep]

My way to remove a sideplate.

Can recall putting a new ring gear in the oven and the flywheel in the freezer, then the ring gear would slip onto the flywheel easily, hot/cold treatments really work.

The "Sweat Fit" technique works exactly as you say it did and for the reasons you understand.

But the freezer method sounds like it should work, contraction-expansion…over and over.

Getting the sweat fit parts apart, however is another problem entirely. When they are apart, it is easy to cool the inner part and warm the outer one. Once they have a grip on one another, it is VERY difficult to heat one without heating the other. Depending on the shape of the parts, it can be done, but is pretty iffy.

I don't think a freeze-thaw cycle, no matter how many times repeated, will work on your sideplate unless is just happens to make whatever adhesive (or adhesive-like dried lubricant) get brittle.

I would try this:

Hold the (unloaded, naturally) revolver in my left hand, cylinder removed, grips removed. Make sure ALL the screws that retain the side plate are removed. With a piece of softwood, give the grip frame (as near the main part of the gun as you can accurately, without striking the side plate) moderate whacks. The top strap will be against the heel of your hand and your fingers will be on the trigger guard. (If you are doing this on a Dan Wesson, it will be the other way around, as the side plate is on the left. Not sure about Colts.)

The frame will be knocked downward. Inertia will tend try to keep the side plate stationary, thus making the side plate work itself up from the frame (same principle as bullets "jumping crimp" due to recoil, but in a different direction).

Forgive me if my description seems overly detailed. I am not talking down to you. I just know that text is easy to misinterpret and there will be many other who read this who don't know as much about revolvers as you do.

You can do this inverted so that gravity assists the side plate (as you whack upward on the grip frame), but this invites loss of parts when the side plate falls off and some internal parts may escape, too. Some of them are spring-loaded, so you really cannot expect them to fall straight down, either.

I usually suggest (only partly tongue-in-cheek) that the first time you disassemble anything you should do it naked inside a backpacking tent. That way no parts can get caught in your clothes or fly across the room and get lost. But try explaining THAT to a spouse.

Good luck.

Lost Sheep

 

[Lost Sheep]

Or, better yet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KneMUM9rfw4

Lost Sheep

 

[Slamfire]

I have bought old revolvers that the lockworks were gummed up by decades old oils or greases.

This Victory revolver was an example. Grease had dried and prevented the sideplate mounted, spring loaded safety bar from working.

If you don't want to take the side plate off, you don't have to. I would take the wooden grips off and blast the interior, through the hammer cavity, with carb cleaner then blow that out with compressed air. That should clean up most old oil out of that area.

Then, put drops of oil on the sear surfaces.