I wanted to share my experience i had with this revolver project.

I posted this revolver a few years ago. It was won at a live auction about two and a half years ago. The listing for it simply said S&W 357 magnum, which it is of course. The single grainy photo was enough to tell it was a prewar 357. Pre auction inspection revealed REG on the frame behind the yoke. A Registered Magnum at a live only auction, but was ripe with issues.

It was immediately apparent that the barrel was shortened. At the time of auction, it was 6". Worse yet, the front sight was gone and a dovetail was cut into the rib to accept an older rifle sight. The rear sight was also missing. A single hole was drilled in the top strap to support a scope base, which it had on. The bluing appeared to be original, what was left of it. Universally, the bluing had fading to a brown patina with light pitting, scratches and bruises over most of the revolver. Pitting on the barrel was much worse, especially near the muzzle. The original grips were gone and replaced with homemade, custom target grips, which rubbed the bluing completely off on the frame and side plate over the years.

With everything that was wrong with this revolver, it was mechanically sound. No issue with carry up or endshake. You could feel the craftsmanship that was put into these revolvers as its function felt so smooth. In addition, the serial numbers matched the parts that were remaining. I thought it still had potential as a shooter, so I grabbed it.

REG 3589 shipped March 30, 1938 to Tracy-Wells Co. Columbus OH. It was originally equipped with a 7.5" barrel with Paine bead front sight and King peep rear sight.

With the originality lost and no way to make it whole again, I decided it wouldn't hurt to modify it again to my taste. Considering the barrel was already cut, I chose not to repair the rib. It conveniently was cut again to 5", my favorite length. The revolver was polished and reblued. Parts are scarce, but eventually found a King reflector ramp and King red bead front sight to have installed. A rear sight was finally located and thought Keith Brown magnas would help for looks.

The two most commonly asked questions i see here are: How does it shoot? And, How much did it cost?

I haven't shot it as much as I should have, but I'll fix that soon enough. All I can say for now is that it shoots better than I do.

As far as cost, I have have alittle less than 3k into this, including the revolver, front and rear sights, gunsmithing and KB grips. Was it worth it? For me, it sure was. It was fun project for me and learned quite a bit. Hopefully, it will last another 4 generations of shooters in the future when I'm gone.

These are the best pics a can do for a cold winter day in Ohio. Thanks for reading.



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THAT RIGHT THERE-----------is not too shabby!!

And I dare say would fetch more than $3,000 invested so far----if you were so foolish as to sell it.

Ralph Tremaine

I would be very happy to own that revolver!

OZ

I would say that the craftsmen who built that revolver all those years ago are now smiling on the other side of the wall. You brought that gun back in an amazing fashion. Certainly a drop dead gorgeous revolver that I bet feels as good in the hand as it looks.

I'd say that the craftsmen who did the rework did a pretty fair job, too. Good Show!

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Randy
Provenance nerd

Nice work and beautiful RM! You might want to check with the Historical Foundation to see if any additional documentation is available on that beauty.

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Terry Lester

hi Jaw73 , can you please contact me direct, sorry PM's here stopped working for me about 2 yrs ago, many thanks, robbt


PS ; you did a great job , I would like to seen post op
pictures for comparison.

So, who did the work? Only a couple of smiths come to mind that could do that work.

Kevin

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Unshared knowledge is wasted.

That's a terrific outcome on your diligent
quest to right the wrongs done over time.
My kudos to you!!
Great Story on your own Reg Magnum.
you resurrected!
Best Randy😁😁

Helluva nice job saving a great old gun!! Nice work!

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Mike H

Agreed. Enquiring minds want to know.

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SWCA #3356, SWHF#611

Very nice "save ". VERY nice.

I'd be proud to own that one.

Thank you for sharing it.

The barrel work, sight work and bluing were done by Viktors Legacy gunsmithing in Fairport Harbor. I did the polishing.

Thank you for everyone's comments.

Well your polishing is likewise-------NOT TOO SHABBY!!

Ralph Tremaine

Here is a picture of the revolver from a few years ago. I put a pair of service grips on it to match the condition. It also had a poorly fitted postwar rear sight on it then.

I would have been content with the condition of the gun if it were kept in its original configuration.



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Super Kool!

Thank you. I have heard good things about them. I have ussd Andy Horvath when things were beyond my capabilities.

Kevin

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Unshared knowledge is wasted.

An update to this project. The red bead had deteriorated. Replaced this with an ivory bead from a donor Marbles front sight. Also added the screw/pin for the front ramp. I will watch for a U notch rear sight and this should complete the project for me.

Added a few more pictures.



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Very nice save. Glad to hear you have no regrets as to the dollars spent to revive the revolver to a very nice heirloom. I myself won't be able to have a "REG", but I have a 27-2 3.5" and that will have to do, no regrets.

AJ

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

Tastefully done. I have a similar project with a Triple Lock and I can only hope it comes out as nicely done as yours.

Thank you for the update. Great job! I hope my project comes along as well as this one has.

Kevin

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Unshared knowledge is wasted.

Nicely done, the KB grips are icing on the cake. Thanks for showing us.