I purchased this for 350$

I shot it and it shot good, a little bit of pitting in the barrel.

I am not sure what model and year this is made. Could some one help?

Also, is their hogue grips for this? What about the springs? The double action pull feels like 30 pounds.

Could those springs be replaced and new grips? It would make shooting more enjoyable. My hands are large, the trigger control would be better. I am sure you all understand.

Serial on butt is 174005
Yoke says 4125

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Welcome to the forums from the Wiregrass! You have a 32 Hand Ejector, 5th Change from around 1915 or 16. It is built on the I frame which is now obsolete. However, J frame grips that enclose the grip frame will work on that gun and have better ergonomics for your hand. They are fun little guns to shoot. Have fun!

Guy

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Guy
SWHF #474 SWCA LM#2629

Would you know of an example for that type of grip?

What about springs, are their new spring available to help clean up the trigger? The spring is 105 years old.

So is any lubrication that it originally shipped with.

Did you lubricate the moving parts at all, prior to shooting or working the action?

-And, welcome to the forum!

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Veteran Paratrooper, '86-'90

I just broke the gun down a bit, took off the side plate.

I gave it a good blast of Remington oil spray, let it drip out before wiping. Then I hit everywhere I could with hoppes #9 with a tips. Dried it out and assembled it. It was pretty damn filthy.
I then dry fired it, it seemed a little bit better. I may re-clean it later and add a little bit of lubricant like CLP.

I won’t be trying to change any springs, it seems like a fools errand at this point. A better grip will make the trigger pull seem better at least, by fitting my hand better. That will most likely be enough.

What was the main use for this gun? Police work? The barrel is 4 inches, but no target sights. Sights are really small. I imagine it’s best to shoot it on single action only.

These were pocket guns, ladies purse guns and just general plinking guns. They weren't used much by police except as backups. Your best bet is to polish the rebound slide and the frame underneath the slide. That will give you the least resistance on trigger pull.

Guy

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Guy
SWHF #474 SWCA LM#2629

If you removed lots of internal crud with oil, you will probably take out a lot more by using aerosol brake cleaner until the fluid coming out is clean. You'll want to remove the stock panels before doing this but they are already cracked at the bottoms and they might come off in pieces. Then lightly re-lubricate.

Wolff springs may have new ones for this model, give them a call.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

When oy ask about springs, it is identified as a "I" Frame, and vintage of late teens as mentioned above. J Frame springs won't fit, with exception of the rebound slide spring which may fit.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

I am just not familiar with what those parts are on a revolver.

One of the other post recommended an aerosol brake cleaner. I will do that first. The gun had 100 years of dried oil and dirt inside of it.
As far as polishing these parts, not sure how to do it.

Once you’ve cleaned it throughly, get some pachmayr grips and see how it works.

By the time that particular model was made the design had evolved to essentially be a miniature of the K frame, so you can watch a video or two about the gunsmithing of the K frame. If you want to decide whether you want to try your hand at gunsmithing this relatively simple revolver. There’s a lot of polishing and cleaning that can be done with little experience and just a few tools. I have seen a few I frame parts kits on the auction sites lately, and this would probably be the easiest way to get a spare mainspring (or whatever other parts you may need for your tuneup.) Just make sure you order a kit with a leaf mainspring rather than the later, “improved” version with a coil spring!

Froggie

Here's a link or two:

J-Frame Revolvers - Grips for Smith & Wesson - Handgun Grips - Hogue Products

Revolver Grips

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

I have a feeling a good cleanup and better grips will make the difference. The gap between my hand and grips while trying to fire DA is probably attributing to the poor trigger control.

There is just a little bit of pitting in the barrel, but I don’t think it’s enough to matter. Especially at only 15 yards.

I will join in with those that recommend a good hosing out with brake cleaner. But, letting the gun sit for a day or so in a mixture of kerosene and transmission fluid first will soften everything up and make sure it flushes out. Some old oil can turn to a hard varnish like stuff.

Old varnish is exactly what it felt like. If I didn’t know better it felt like cosmoline. Packing grease, old oil, dirt, burnt carbon.

Would that mixture hurt the finish at all? The gun has a nice patina. I don’t really want to mess it up.

It's been said that a 50/50 mix of ATF and kerosene is a good cleaner to soak in and won't hurt the finish.

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Support Israel!

A 50/50 mix of ATF and acetone is less smelly and works better. Then spray and flush with Breakfree natural orange Powder Blaster is much more user friendly and much more pleasant smelling than brake cleaner. Then finish up with Breakfree CLP.

Loosen the mainspring tension screw one turn or less at the bottom of the front grip strap to lesson the trigger pull. It's not for adjustment tension adjustment but it works well since you don't want change springs.


Some factory grip choices:

These pre war 2 screw extension target stocks will fit all pre 1953 I frames:



There's lots of factory and aftermarket grips that cover the back strap and butt:

I/J frame post war target grips shown in the smooth version below will fit perfectly on your gun and actually are a better choice for shooting:


Photo credit: Bronco45

Early combat stocks w/medallions and smooth:


Photo credit: RonJ


Photo credit: mbliss

There’s also these combats, checkered:


Photo credit: onequickwrench

Or smooth:


Photo credit: swchad



Aftermarket grips that enclose the butt will work well:

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Jim
S&WCA #819

I followed the advice of a lot of people here.

Brake cleaner, and then added CLP, a few drops. Wiped away the excess.

It made a difference.

Now only problem. The grips are starting to split. I guess all the taking it apart has made a problem worse.

I also turned the screw on the front of the grip, that did make a difference. But I wonder if that will make it have light strikes. I will have to experiment. New grips are in the future.

All issues solved. A aftermarket hogue brand grip fit perfectly, J frame size.
The gun cleaned up and lubed made the trigger pull considerably better. I wish I could take it out and shoot it today.