I recently acquired a Model 29 No Dash with 4" Barrel and Nickel Finish that was shipped to Indianapolis in May 1959. The gun and tools are in the original Blue/Black case and all are in pristine shape - with the exception of a rusty Case Latch on the front of the case. The upper portion of the latch affixed to the lid has no rust, just the lower latch mechanism, as shown in the attached photo.

I'd like to either replace this with a NOS Latch or refinish the original, but I am hesitant to try and pry the latch off the face of the case, not knowing whether the nails/brads holding the latch to the case are peened over on the inside so they won't come out without damaging the case.

Any advice on careful removal of the latch would be gratefully appreciated, and if anyone has a spare NOS latch they would part with please let me know.

Cheers,

George Jr.

Attached Images

Model 29 No Dash Case.jpg (96.0 KB, 173 views)

I would not remove that latch under any circumstances! That case is at least 60 years old and replicating the riveting would be very difficult, you would mess it up in my opinion. I think your options would be to find another case or carefully remove the rust, but if you do that you will probably remove the brass finish with it. To remove some rust, you could use naval jelly with about 5 minutes of application time with a q-tip, and work slowly, but you will lose some of the brass finish when you do that. You may make it look a little better, hard to say for sure.

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Blaine
SWCA 3490 SWHF 586

The case restoral expert here is jcelect. Perhaps he'll see your post and comment or maybe send him a PM. He'll know how best to approach it if anyone does. Congrats on finding the 29 no dash with case; not like we see them everyday. And welcome to the Forum.

Jeff
SWCA #1457

I would not use naval jelly.
I would remove the rust, CAREFULLY, with Flitz. Work slowly with Q tips and keep it off the case.

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

Guys - thanks for the advice on the Case Latch. Currently, I am using "Metal Rescue" dabbed onto the rust with a Q-tip and after letting it sit for a bit, I hit it with a Griot's Garage Rust Remover Pencil that has lots of small fiberglass strands where the lead would normally be.

It would appear that after many such applications the rust will be removed to a mere shadow of its former self. "Low and Slow" wins the race on something like this with irreplaceable bits!

Cheers,

George Jr.

George, make sure to put a new picture of how it looks after you get done! We all would like to see how the process went.

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Blaine
SWCA 3490 SWHF 586

PS - I've just noticed that this is one of the English-Made SMS Latches so all the more reason to be careful!

Cheers,

George Jr.

Clean it, vinegar?

Gentlemen:

I've removed the Rusty "SMS Made in England" Case Latch without damage to the Black Case and separated it into its component parts so I can polish the rust pits out of the metal in preparation for replating it with Brass.

As expected, I am losing some of the lettering detail on the face of the latch, my Engraver in Sturgis has indicated that he can re-point the letters and finish polishing out the remaining rust pits for me.

If one of you Chaps could take a couple of High Resolution photos of the face of this latch and send them to me it would help this process along quite a bit.

Thanks in Advance!

Cheers,

George Jr.
[email protected]

Hope this works for you.

bdGreen

Tap on image to enlarge.

This photo is perfect for what I need, thanks very much!

Cheers,

George Jr.

Further progress with the refurbishment of the Case Latch.

Cheers,

George Jr.

Attached Images

Smith Case Latch Polished.jpg (130.3 KB, 52 views)

Well, here is the end result of the Rusty Latch Renovation Project. Thank again for all your advice and encouragement!

Cheers,

George Jr.

Attached Images

29 No Dash Case Latch.jpg (105.8 KB, 61 views)

George Jr.,
That is simply an amazing job! I would have never thought it could have been brought back to anything close to that. If I didn't know better, I would have thought it was a brand new latch.
Larry

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

Guys:

Thanks for the compliments, it did turn out pretty well.

Here's a shot of the Revolver itself.

Now the only problem is that it needs some companions!

Cheers,

George Jr.

Attached Images

Model 29 No Dash Nickel.jpg (134.2 KB, 24 views)

Patience pays off! Absolutely beautiful work, well done Sir!

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Danny
SWCA #3370 - SWHF #672