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S&W Antiques S&W Lever Action Pistols, Tip-Up Revolvers, ALL Top-Break Revolvers, and ALL Single Shots


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  #1  
Old 08-19-2017, 11:11 PM
TraFALgar TraFALgar is offline
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Default My .38 S&W DA Perfected

I recently inherited this .38 S&W Double Action Perfected revolver that belonged to my grandfather. He was a farmer, and I'm told he used it to kill the hogs he raised for bacon, ham, chittlin's, and such. Unfortunately, one of my well-meaning uncles (may God rest his soul) had it reblued some years ago.

From searching posts here that reported serial # and year shipped info for this model, I found one with S/N 43602 that shipped in January 1913. Also one with S/N 8153 had "papers" from S&W showing ship date in October 1911. The S/N of mine is 287xx; so I'm thinking it was probably made and shipped in 1912. Cool!

All the numbers are matching on frame, cylinder, barrel, latch and right grip. The action seems tight and everything works as it should. It has some light "frosting" on the cylinder and frame that wasn't polished out during the reblue. The "gunsmith" (hack) who reblued it did polish enough to virtually erase the S&W logo and caliber markings. Also, he blued over the case coloring on the hammer and trigger. The grips are original, but one has a chip out of the bottom.

I would love to have it properly restored; but from what I've read here, it seems that service is in short supply:
- S&W factory no longer repairs/refinishes pre-1960 guns
- Turnbulls Restorations doesn't do S&W's
- Old Western Gunsmithing is defunct
- Ford's Guns no longer does "top break" revolvers due to "age and fragility"
- Fogles Gunsmithing only does modern blueing (not sure if that qualifies as restoration)
Anybody have any other recommendations???
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Old 08-21-2017, 10:09 AM
merl67 merl67 is offline
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I have not used this guy but from his photos he seems to know what he is doing Old South Restoration| Firearm Restoration Dyersburg TN
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Old 08-21-2017, 03:01 PM
tcov tcov is offline
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You could leave it as is. There was probably a good reason to have it reblued and no cause to fault your uncle or the gunsmith. It was put to work on the farm and probably showed it.
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Old 08-21-2017, 04:08 PM
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Welcome to the forums from the Wiregrass! It looks pretty good to me. It'll cost at least $200 to have it stripped, polished and blued. Which is more than it is worth. It's a shooter heirloom so why not just enjoy it? You can find original hard rubber grips on eBay from time to time.
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Old 08-21-2017, 06:16 PM
ammodave ammodave is offline
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Looks pretty good to me; I'd leave it alone. The chipped grip is probably repairable using 10 minute epoxy mixed with a few drops of gloss black paint.
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Old 08-21-2017, 07:24 PM
unclemilty unclemilty is offline
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JRH Advanced Gunsmithing These guys have done two restorations for me on two revolvers, a colt and a Smith & Wesson. Their work is phenomenal, the wait is long, and the price is high, but you get what you pay for. The Smith had someone's driver's license DEEPLY engraved/electric chiseled across the whole left sideplate. I cannot detect one thing to indicate that it was ever there. Also had some heavy pitting near the muzzle. Again, can't tell there was ever any problem there.

A friend of mine recommended them to me by showing me some of the custom revolvers that he had them make for him. Always good to have some options to look at. And I was told by a few acquaintances that mine were not worth the money to have them restored, but I am very happy that I did.

I am not where the guns are right now, but will try to post some pictures tomorrow.
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Old 08-21-2017, 07:35 PM
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Kernel Crittenden Kernel Crittenden is offline
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I'd take off the original grips. They get real fragile with age and will break easily. Round butt J-frame grips can be used as a convenient substitute and only require minor modifications.
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Old 08-21-2017, 11:17 PM
TraFALgar TraFALgar is offline
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Thanks for all the replies and recommendations.

If this revolver was in original condition, I wouldn't think of changing it. But since it's already been reblued, it's now just a "shooter" as Wiregrassguy said. However, I neglected to mention that the bore is pretty badly pitted as I've tried to show in the picture below.

I bought a NOS "in the white" barrel from Numrich in .38S&W caliber that I think might be a direct replacement for this model. The markings are different: it doesn't have any patent dates on top, just the Smith & Wesson address. It would need polishing, fitting, the hole drilled for the "base pin retaining pin", and finishing of course. But the bore is mirror!
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