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S&W Hand Ejectors: 1896 to 1961 All 5-Screw & Vintage 4-Screw SWING-OUT Cylinder REVOLVERS, and the 35 Autos and 32 Autos


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Old 01-15-2014, 01:16 PM
rwsutley rwsutley is offline
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Default Restoration advise needed

I have a .32-20 Hand Ejector Model of 1905 -1st Change. Serial # 29xxx that is in need of restoration. I believe it has been re-nickel plated and the plating has pitting and wear. The grips appear to have been salvaged from a 1950s cap gun. It locks up well and shoots more accurately than I do but would clearly benefit from a trip to a competent gun smith. My question is how far would you go in restoring this gun? Send it back to the factory to be refinished or simply have a local guy tune it up and put a decent set of grips on it and shoot it regardless of how shabby it looks.
Sorry about the quality of the picture.
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Old 01-15-2014, 01:36 PM
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murphydog murphydog is offline
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It looks better than the average refinished .32/20 I've seen. The factory will not refinish a gun of this vintage and you will spend quite a bit to have it done elsewhere. Personally, I would treat it to a nice set of stocks (original or other wood) and enjoy shooting it.
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Old 01-15-2014, 02:26 PM
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Give it a coat of wax and get those ugly stocks off and you will have a nice shooter. Nothing more needed.

Any collector value is already gone, so there is little need to spend what the gun is currently worth or more on a refinish.
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Old 01-15-2014, 02:40 PM
Hondo44 Hondo44 is offline
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Was the gun factory nickel originally?

It doesn't look bad at all. Can you polish off the rust spots with a little Flitz or Semi Chrome?
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Old 01-15-2014, 03:50 PM
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I agree, leave it as is. Just get some Flitz polish and use it to clean up the nickel. Then use wax such as Renaissance wax to protect it from further rusting.
Can you see an N anywhere on the gun such as under the barrel, on the face of the cylinder or under the left grip? This will tell us if it came from the factory as a nickel gun.
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Old 01-15-2014, 04:40 PM
rwsutley rwsutley is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tlay View Post
I agree, leave it as is. Just get some Flitz polish and use it to clean up the nickel. Then use wax such as Renaissance wax to protect it from further rusting.
Can you see an N anywhere on the gun such as under the barrel, on the face of the cylinder or under the left grip? This will tell us if it came from the factory as a nickel gun.
There is no N that I can find anywhere on the gun. All the lettering on the left side faint and difficult to read. Top of barrel and right side are clear and sharpe. Based on responses so far I will follow the advise given and spend some time cleaning and polishing. Wood stocks will replace the plastics when I find something that looks right. The ones pictured below belong to my 686 no dash, I think they are a bit large but help to show the potential.

Thank you all for you thoughtful responses and be assured I will follow the advise given. If you have suggestions regarding style of stocks I will appreciate those as well
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Old 01-15-2014, 04:42 PM
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I wouldn't waste the money on it. Unless it is a family heirloom or has some other sentimental value, take that money and the gun and trade it for something more to your liking. You'd be much better off emotionally & financially! Those look like Franzite imitation stag grips. If you look on the inside of them, you'll likely see a manufacturer's name. Bottom line is, leave it as is and enjoy it!
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Old 01-15-2014, 05:10 PM
mikepriwer mikepriwer is offline
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The correct grips are the ones on this 32-20, from 1907-1908.



Mike Priwer
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Old 01-15-2014, 05:56 PM
rwsutley rwsutley is offline
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Original grips in decent condition are hard to find and expensive, more than I want to invest in this gun. Fortunately there is a wide variety of grips available for K-Frames, many of those choices are reasonably priced. On the pluss side it is a Smith and considering it shoots well and does not look that bad for its age I don't mind investing some time and a little "$50 to $65” in a gun I intend to shoot often.
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