As some of you know, I've been away for awhile. Not much opportunity to check on the safe(s) and the occupants. Once I got home and said "Hi" to the ball-and-chain and brats, it was time to see how my S&Ws endured during my absence. Everything looked fine, so I thought I'd take a few photos of some of the old favorites. This one is my refinished Non-registered magnum, serial #61253, shipped March of 1940. It has been beautifully redone by Gene Williams in TX after the late Bill Adair re-cut the emblem, lettering and re-cased the hammer and trigger. This one was a basket case when I started the refinish process; even the trigger guard was slightly bent. I think it came out very well for a "shooter". The lettering and emblem are flawless, but the lighting I was using makes it appear too lightly struck. Still working on my photo-taking skills. As usual, Keith Brown did a superb job on the stocks; perfect fit to the frame. The only thing I need to do is figure out how to put in a white filler where the white line was on the rear sight slide. I would prefer a square-notch rear and a plain patridge front, but I had to take what I found. Next one, maybe.
Bob





King mirrored brass-bead front sight.




KB Ropers...perfect fit and nice figure

The very reason I love S&W, sexy to the core!

OFI2,

Glad you are safely home.

That's beautiful. None better than Gene Williams and Keith Brown.

Question: How do you tell if Gene and Keith have refinished an old gun? Answer: It's easy! When they are through with it, it looks better than the original factory work!

Bob

Only one thing wrong with that...it's not in my safe.
That is a beautiful S&W.
If you've been away serving our country let me say Thank You!

Now thats a beautiful gun. Welcome back. I love the sight set up on your gun. Is the front sight made by Gene? Gene and Keith did an excellent job. Have you or do you plan to shoot it? If you have more guns to show us, we're in for a treat. If you live near NE Ohio, you can meet Keith at the S&W bunch in October. Larry

What a great revolver!

With that humpback hammer and the low-profile bead front sight on its ramped base, that looks like the kind of gun that FBI agents would carry when they went on stakeout in their Chrysler Airflow: consistency of style was as important as situational awareness.

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David Wilson

Bob,

That is one handsome revolver and puts to rest in my mind the notion that one should never refinish a revolver. The stocks are absolutely killer!

Jerry

Thanks, Jerry. This one was an exception to the "no finish" rule. It had pits, dings and dents all over. It had previouly been refinished, and not very well. The trigger guard and front sight were bent and even the top strap checkering was messed up. Gene Williams fixed all that in a labor of love. I only shoot it occasionally now with .38 wadcutters, but man it's fun to shoot. I'll eventually get another RM that's original, but this one will do for now.
Bob

Fantastic gun!!! Many here would love to own a "shooter" that nice

Hello Bob
Excellent Rescue. All R.M.'s and Non R.M.'s deserve to be brought back to life as they left the factory and useable condition. Many Registered Magnum's as well as Non Registered Magnum's have been refinished along the way, even though their owner's are not free to admit this information it is a fact of life. That said, here is my First Year 1935 Registered Magnum that I rescued. Sadly it had it's Lower grip frame cut and it's Back strap brought in to meet it then Brazed. When I got it the braze had cracked and the front and back strap serration's were heavily Mauled from the gun being placed in a Jawed bench Vice. I sent it to Horace Ford of Ford's Custom gun refinishing in Crystal River, Florida and he repaired it for me then blued it again. He was very careful to not weaken the factory stamps when he refinished it as they look as crisp now as they did when I sent it to him, with it's original Factory finish, as he explained to me that all of the Polishing prior to bluing it again in his shop was Hand done not using any machines he wanted to keep it looking as original as he could during it's refurbishment process. To repair the lower grip frame He added a 3/8" piece of High Carbon steel to it after it was slowly brought back where it needed to be then welded it in place and Mill machined it down smooth again. During the lower grip frame repair he had to melt out the braze that had entered and filled one of the gun's serial numbers, and remove the heavy scratches left bhind by the Idiot that cut the frame area there. He spent countless Hour's with a Machinist's Needle file working the Mauled serration's to make them look as they did when the gun was new. This Gun is certainly No Safe Queen as I Often shoot mine with full house .357 Magnum load's as Col. Douglas Wesson meant for it to be, and it is super accurate...Here it is before it was refinsihed wearing a set of Original Walter Roper Custom shooting grip's as well as how it look's now after Horace Ford Rescued it making it whole and useable again...It is also shown with the set of Pre-War service stock's that I sent it with to Ford's for it's grip frame repairs as well as the Correct set of Pre-War Magna's that I have with it now. Regards, Hammerdown




Before it went to Ford's Custom Gun refnishing, shown with a set of Period correct Pre-War Service stocks that I sent with it for Horace to see where the frame needed to be again, during it's extensive lower grip frame repair.

















Here is how my Registered Magum look's now after it was refurbished at Ford's Custom Gun refinishing of Crystal River, Florida by Master Gun Smith Horace Ford. This show's the back strap serrations repaired Now with it wearing a set of Period correct Pre-War Magna's that I have added to the gun's Package. He used the Pre-War service stock's that I sent with it as a guide to where the frame Needed to meet the wood flush again.











Here it is with it's Pre-War Magna's that I Located for it which I have refinished and fitted correctly to the gun's Frame











Here it is with the set of Walter Roper Custom shooting stock's that I had set aside for it and spoke of earlier in the thread. These are in Original Walter Roper factory finish and are the most Comfortable stock's I have ever felt on a gun as it is shown on the Range shooting full House .357 Magnum hand Loads in the hand's of my Son In law...











Here is a Candid Picture of Master Gun Smith Horace Ford, owner of Ford's gun refinishing in Florida working on his bench assembling a customer's semi auto Pistol, while a shop worker nephew look's on as well as a Picture of his other Nephew Travis sitting at his work bench. All of the employee's at Ford's Custom Gun refinishing are Relatives & Last year my wife and I visited them while at the annual Smith & Wesson Collector's meeting in Orlando, Florida. We took Horace & His wife Larna out for a great seafood dinner to get better aquatinted with them, and as a way of showing my Gratitude for such great refinishing work that he did on my Registered Magnum. They are super nice people and I was glad to finally meet the folk's I had only spoke with over the phone in the past. They are down to earth good people and we really enjoyed our night out with them, as we returned to their home and talked deep into the night. Horace did tell me to Not ever send him a gun as messed up as my Registered Magnum was as he quit working on it several times in the 13 Month's that he had it due to the extensive labor he had to place into it. He said that if he had not done so many for me in the past that he would not have Taken on the job to begin with. I told him that I had contacted several other gun refinishers even Doug Turnbull to do this job, but everyone else turned the work down, and that is why I selected him to do it as I knew he could pull it off in grand style and to me he sure did that. I Kindly Thanked him again for doing such a great job on it shaking his hand as we left their home late in the evening, feeling as though we had known them both for Years & Years they made us feel that comfortable and at ease during our visit with them, they are great People to know and deal with...

Now that's an awesome post! Your RM is the poster child for a proper restoration. You've now got a gorgeous revolver that looks correct, yet is a great shooter. Love the Roper stocks! Thanks for the post and photos.
Bob

SHOOTER? That would be the STAR of my meager assortment of Smith and Wesson revolvers.

Glad that you were able to return home safely.

Bob, that's a fine looking revolver. I'm not a collector and most of the fine old guns would be wasted on me, but I like what I see there. FWIW, that U notch rear sight might be better than you think, especially with that front sight. I have a 10-8 rear on my 1911 with an XS dot - works GREAT.

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NHI, 10-8.