Anybody have a gun that was restored by HJ "Harry" Deal? I tried to find some info on him with no luck.

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

Never heard of him. The big name if you truly mean "restoration" and not just refinish, is Doug Turnbull.

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Dick

never heard of him.

i use David Chicoine his work is great, one of the best!!
oldwestgunsmith.com

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George Jamison

I think Harry was a gunsmith at Plaza Gun works in Birmingham, Al.
He did a lot of revolver work.
You might find some info searching that way.
He died several years ago IIRC.

Thanks for the info. Do you know if he was just a gunsmith or a "restorer" if there is such a difference.

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

That ain't Big Fat Harry Deal, is it? I've heard of him.......

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Even older, even crankier....

If you want to see some work check out what our fellow forum member Nedroe did with that 17-2 he bought Winter time.....I'm bored.......**new pics** You don't have to be named Doug Turnbull to do work of S&W's. A nice case hardening would finish off that project with an explaination point!

Would have never thought of that on my own.

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Forum consigliere

What do you mean by restoring? Refinishing, total rebuild, modifying?

While I've sent some stuff off to Turnbull in the past (no S&W's)...he's now out of the price range of regular citizens such as myself.

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Lost it all in a boat accident

Harry did about everything from repairs to custom modifications, action jobs,, to you name it.
Revolvers were a favorite. He also did some modifications to shotguns mostly SxS's and pumps that catered to the local L/E there..

Some gunsmiths are also adept at firearms restoration.
But being a 'gunsmith' does not necessarily mean the person can do the work needed to bring a firearm built in any given era back to proper mechanical and period finish.
That takes extra skills, knowledge and tools aside from the normal repair and refinish work.

Plus, not all are necessarily interested in the restoration side of the business. It's a low key, hidden side of gunsmithing/engraving for the most part.

Everyone has their special interests and skills. They end up getting applied in the area that brings the best return wether it's monetary or personal satisfaction. Sometimes a little of both.

There are lots of very talented restoration people out there. Some are specialists in one or two areas of the work, some have many talents.
Most of these types of gunsmiths you'll hear & see little of save for the few big names that get alot of coverage.

Most are more than swamped with work as the demand to put the old ones back in order seems to be always present. Lots of nice old yet 'sick' guns out there.
For the most part their customers would just as soon not be the restorationist gunsmiths next advertisement. Most want to keep their treasures quietly to themselves.
I always tell people the best compliment the restorationist can receive is none at all. The job done is then indistinguishable from the factory product.
That brings up the ethics part of the business.
Even marked work gets'unmarked'. Most will be resold after a time and the pedigree is lost. They become a just discovered really great condition collectable.
Many are turned right around and sold after some delicate aging.

All I can say is be careful,,Very careful.

You won't see many specializing or even taking on S&W or any DA revolver finish resoration work.
In general,for most 'smiths it's not a money maker for one thing. It's too time consuming to polish one up.

The prep work,,polishing,, is the key to it all and it is not an easy go of it on this type of firearm.

There are a few, very few that do them and do them well. The actual blue finish of the period is not usually the difficult part, it's the needed factory style polish.
Even DTR won't go looking for DA revolvers to restore.

SAA's and semiautos are much easier and faster to complete. The knowledge of how they were done originally plus the equiptment and skill to use it to produce an acceptable surface is the key.
A hand polish will not produce the required result for a correct factory restoration.
It might look spectacular, it may be shiny, but it won't be correct and will be noticed by knowledgeable people.

A refinish no matter how nice looking is still not necessarily a correct restoration.