I picked up a nickel 3" Lady Smith thats a late 2nd model. Its been renickeled but still legible all the way. Forcing cone is busted(someone tried 22 LR in it I assume ) and it has a slight bulge. The only positive is that the grips are smooth with medallions and in good shape. Action is still good and tight. I'm got it in trade and am going to move it but don't really know which way to go with this one. Any ideas?

Tough call. If a barrel replacement would solve all its problems, then that might be a proper course of action if you want to restore the gun to shooting condition -- and assuming you could find an undamaged barrel. The other major option is to sell it as a parts gun or part it out yourself if you don't mind the piece-by-piece transactions.

Even with a new barrel the gun would be a refinished put-together piece whose market value would reflect its lack of originality. At some point the dollar flow doesn't make any sense.

A third option is just to hang on to it to see what happens in the world of Ladysmith restoration in years to come. I have a couple of specimens like that -- unsafe to shoot, but not bad enough that I am comfortable letting them go.

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David Wilson