Want to share your project gun’s?

[rep1954]

Would be nice to see and hear about other people’s project revolvers little or big.

I’ll start with a slow moving project of mine. I purchased for cheap a badly over polished reblued S&W model 10-5 that the better half of the logo is gone. I planned on cutting it down to 3 1/2” and bobbing the hammer. Well I did that and before I could get the front sight on it the barrel went down to 1 5/8” and the rear sight was opened up to blend with the relief in front of it. There will not be a front sight going back on it, just the tunnel for a sight. Next is to to round butt the frame and convert or build some secret service style grips for it. I’m waiting for the grips to be done before deciding on smoothing the trigger or not. We’ll surely wait to see others if anyone would like to share.

 

[shurshot]

A buddy has offered me a deal on a "New", in box, unfired. (until 2 days ago), old stock Ruger Vaquero 7.5", .45 Colt. Going to file down the front sight a bit to lower point of aim, as she groups low. Already put on a set of Arizona faux stag grips, TV Western style. She might just be an old school Ruger to some, but she sings GUNSMOKE / Marshall Dillion to me all day long! Should make a nice gun for drives on the back roads.

 

[Catman42]

i have one all might enjoy that i will put on here in the next couple of days, thanks for the post so i can show every one my project.

 

[J.G. Terry]

Undoing Bubba Attacks

Speak of the devil. I have two Vaquero's that are project guns. One is a 7 1/2 44 Magnum. It is a neat old gun showing some caring use. That is, until Bubba got hold of the gun. For reasons known to Bubba, he attacked the rear of the barrel with a file. This left a huge gap on the right side of the barrel. Gotta get that fixed. The other Vaquero is a 4 5/8ths. 45 Colt caliber. Shot it today and it works. It feels like somebody may have been working on the inside.The last Vaquero I sent back had most of the front sight filed away. Getting that fixed was pricey. There is no shortage of buggered up Ruger's to tinker with. The last whole gun I got was a Blackhawk Bisley in 45 Colt. I felt strange having a Ruger Single Action that worked with no Bubba custom work.

 

[shurshot]

After shooting the Vaquero some more, I forgot about the file. Originally I shot it with some 30 year old, low powered .45 Colt target loads, hence the low groups. Using fresh, higher velocity ammo (Winchester), she now shoots spot on. Glad I held off!!
Now once the trigger smooths out (gun was unfired before i bought it), or I install a Wolf spring, she will be a keeper! I forgot how much easier it is to balance and shoot a 7.5" barrel over a 4.75". Last .45 Colt I had that shot this accurate was an old EMF Dakota (Armi Jager), with a 7.5" barrel. Front sight had been brazed higher, then filed to point of aim. Deadly small game gun. Wish I had kept that one ( foolishly traded it off 15 years or so ago), but this Ruger Vaquero will help me forget!

 

[bull bob]

I have one that is a long term project, only because of me.

I picked up in trade a S&W 1917 revolver, .45acp, that dates to 1918. Someone in it's life lost the lanyard loop, filed on the front sight, and cut a notch in the top strap, I'm guessing to improve the sights. I have determined that an original 1911 rear sight fits in the notch. So I added that. Gives a slightly adjustable rear sight.

But the barrel is pitted pretty bad looks like due to corrosive ammo. Somehow I was able to pick up a new old stock original 1917 barrel, US marked and all.

My plan is to have the action tuned up, it's rather rough, have the sight on the new barrel reworked, then have the new barrel installed. There is a smith nearby that is supposed to specialize in S&Ws. No I just need to get myself around to it and get it done.

 

[arquebus357]

Because you asked... (from a licensed Bubba)

A $238 4" model 64.

 

[Tinker Pearce]

Because you asked... (from a licensed Bubba)

A $238 4" model 64.

That came out very nice!

A few years back I bought an Model 1903 .32 Hand Ejector for $125 that was all buggered up. No remaining finish, bad timing, massive cylinder end-play and an enormous cylinder gap. I didn't know how to fix any of that... but I found out!

Cleaning a century of crud out of the mechanism actually solved the timing issue. I shimmed the cylinder to take out the end play, then made a frame wrench and set the barrel back to give a decent .006" gap. After that I detail-stripped the gun and rust blued it. I made some nice pre-war style target grips for it, which are terrific for shooting the gun, but now it's wearing Mother of Pearl because... well, because it's pretty.

The gun is an excellent shooter, and quite accurate. I enjoy shooting it regularly- though I often swap the target grips back on.

 

[44 AMP]

I planned on cutting it down to 3 1/2” and bobbing the hammer. Well I did that and before I could get the front sight on it the barrel went down to 1 5/8” and the rear sight was opened up to blend with the relief in front of it.

I am a bit curious, the way you make it sound the barrel, shortened itself....

You planned to cut it to 3 1/2" and couldn't stop until you hit 1 5/8"? Something else? Did elves sneak in in the middle of the night and cut the barrel shorter??

I'm confused.

machts nichts, your gun, your joy. Have fun with it.

 

[Tinker Pearce]

My name is Tinker, and I'm a revolver project addict.

Most of my revolvers are projects. Having somewhat limited income and having been a knifemaker for closing on thirty years I have a decent shop and a bit of experience working with wood and metal, so I tend to buy cheap guns that need help.

After the shop burned down in 2015 (no one was hurt) Linda bought me a pair of S&W top-breaks, a .38 Double Action 2nd Model built in 1884 or so, and a .32 Double Action 4th Model. I found them interesting, and in the course of research fell in love with the .38 Safety Hammerless 2", often erroniously referred to as the 'Bicycle Model.' (the actual guns officially called a Bicycle Model were .32 caliber.) All of the 2" models are highly collectible and were priced out of reach. I bemoaned this fact to Linda, who immediately said, "So make your own."

She didn't stop there though- she got on Gunbroker, located a decent blued gun and got it. It had an excellent trigger; not light but smooth as glass. OK then...

With the gun in-hand I looked it over, and decided that it would look best with a 1-5/8" barrel, and since I wasn't really concerned with ballistics I took a deep breath and cut and re-crowned the barrel. I made a new front sight and silver-soldered it on place, and since the tiny stock grips didn't work well for my meathooks I made an ergonomic grip for it out of some scrap walnut.

To my surprise the gun was quite accurate and easy to shoot. Over the long summer and fall that the house was being rebuilt the blackberries ate the yard, and we had a bit of a rat problem. I took to dropping the little .38 in my back pocket for close encounters of the ratty kind, and shortly made a pocket holster for it. I also started reloading .38 S&W, because the modern factory loads are ridiculously anemic.

I made a couple different grips, improving my skills and finally made a set in Desert Ironwood, and these ones aren't getting replaced.

Funny thing is this wound up being my most-carried gun, since I had it in my pocket in the shop all day every day. I eventually came up with a pretty good top-break friendly load, a 160gr. .361 LSWC over 2.8gr. of Unique. From this gun's 1-5/8" barrel it makes 722 fps. and 185 ft/lbs at the muzzle; not bad for something smaller than a J-frame. Oh, and HKS #36 speed loaders work just fine, too.

Did I mention it's accurate? This group was shot with a two-hand unsupported grip... at 25 yards. Not bad for a 111 year old double-action only snubby.

Yeah, I can't do that every time... By the way, on first seeing the gun in it's new state Linda immediately dubbed it 'The Steampunk Snubby.' It stuck.

 

[arquebus357]

That's a handsome top-break snub nose. Well done.

Does Linda have a sister ?

 

[Tinker Pearce]

That's a handsome top-break snub nose. Well done.

Does Linda have a sister ?

Several... but none like her! They're also all married, and trust me, that's very much for the best.

 

[rep1954]

44 AMP I decided for a 3 1/2” gun I would prefer adjustable sights so a different K-Frame will have to fill the bill and this 1 5/8” gun would help me in some sightless plinking and keep me honest doing it. No elves just the devil made me do it myself.

 

[Boarhunter]

Impressive, as always, Tinker!

BOARHUNTER

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

Antique Colt Richards Conversion.

Not sure exactly when it was made, probably sometime in the early 1870s. I really should letter this one.

Really not in very bad shape at all. About the only thing it needs is to grind down the hammer spring a bit because it is very heavy.

Caliber is 44 Colt. Yes, 44 Colt, not 45 Colt. These are a few original cartridges. The problem with reloading these is the bullets are heeled bullets. Meaning the rear of the bullet is rebated and is the same diameter as the inside of the case. Standard crimp dies will not crimp onto these bullets, a special crimp die is needed.

I ordered a die to cast the bullet, and I have a special crimp tool to make the crimps. The problem now is the bullets are dropping out of the die just a tad undersized. I had the die opened up a couple of thousandths, but the lead count in my blood is a little bit high, so I will not be doing any casting for a while. I bought a batch of 44 Colt brass from Starline, but it turns out 44 Russian brass would work just as well. The shiny brass are 44 Colts, the stained ones are 44 Russian. I plan on loading the heeled bullets into the 44 Russian brass because they have less powder capacity. I will be happier running less powder through this old girl, so I don't strain the old iron (yes iron) the cylinder and frame are made from.

Yes, Black Powder of course.

 

[Tinker Pearce]

Howdy

Antique Colt Richards Conversion.

That's very cool. I've loaded .44 Colt heel-base rounds, but I swage my own bullets from 200gr. .451 RNFPL bullets. I bought the crimp tool too- totally worth it. I tried various smokeless loads (I do modern cartridge conversions) but the just don't work out well; BP does a much better job of expanding the base of the bullet to engage the rifling. Violent stuff, that BP!

I used shortened .44 Special brass initially, but later someone gave me some .44 Colt brass. These being modern guns the steel is much better, so I felt no need to use s shorter case, but I think it's a good idea in your RM.

 

[arquebus357]

That must be a blast to shoot. Very nice indeed.

For those who don't know:

Beware of white crusty appearance on LEAD. While metallic lead is not that dangerous, that white crust is LEAD OXIDE and it's quite dangerous. Wash your hands..