Brake cleaner will deep clean without having to open the sideplate. Ballistol won't like brake cleaner, you would need to use a small brush. I would spend the $4 and try the brake cleaner first. But that's me.

__________________
Get off my lawn!

Dropped it off at my gunsmith today. He is not open on weekends so I should get it monday.

Please keep us updated on this as I am just curious as I can be.

It wasn't exactly clear, but it sounds like the smell followed the revolver. So do the stocks and the case still stink? We need a full and complete odor update!

__________________
You're shy a few manners.

The case still smells but is alot less, and with the fact I had bought the case new right after the gun I think rules it out. The grips smelled less when removed and didn't look like they had anything on them but are a very dark tone so I bet they were on the gun when it got it's stink. I still think it is mostly coming from the gun itself. I will know more when my gunsmith opens it.

I'm with lamarw on this. Birchwood Casey cold blue smells terrible and the smell remains forever. It finishes the metal in a mottled chemical blue color and has a nasty sulfery, dead smell . A clue that this might be the case is the fact that you said it was worn. If it's Birchwood Casey, the smell will never go away.

__________________
NRA Life
Walk softly, but carry.

While it may at first seem a strange question; I wonder if the smell is apparent to others, or just you ?

Not trying to question your sense of smell, nor your veracity; but my elder father-in-law lost all sense of smell, as well as the ability to taste any but the strongest foods for awhile.

Stayed in that same condition for quite a while and when the sense of smell returned it was bizarre for a month or so. He noted instead of a neutral / blank smell it was the smell of spinning tires, faint, but definite.....Finally cleared on it's own, but his sense of taste remained poor.

Not nearly as interesting as your adventures with a S&W, and certainly I, like all the rest of us subscribing to this thread, want there to be something tangible inside that gun.

Earlier I seem to recall there was mention that metal could retain no smell. You only have to smell of a zinc bucket,a brass plumbing fixture, a handful of pennies, or a piece of pure copper to belie that opinion.

__________________
wanna do right-- not right now

Others that I have asked have also said the gun smells bad. And it is not a metal or gunpowder smell, it reminds me of this deer carcass that was rotting during the autumn over by where I used to shoot.

Here is a picture of what the insides looked like before cleaning. Also a photo of how someone chewed up the sideplate trying to get it off in the past, and then I took a picture of it put back together. The cleaning took the grime out of the grips which apparently was the only reason they had color. lol

Attached Images

	IMG954331.jpg (85.4 KB, 208 views)
	IMG954332.jpg (117.3 KB, 181 views)
	20170611_190437.jpg (199.0 KB, 198 views)

The discoloring and missing blueing shown in your last photo looks exactly like the finish damage on a model 15 suicide that I own. No pitting , just missing/discolored finish. Also the discoloration of the trigger is a match. I would post pics but am on the other side of the Planet at the moment. The suicide history creeped me out at first , but after shooting it became just another firearm to me.

First thing I noticed about this gun when I bought it was the odd discoloring. None of the other guns I own or have come across look like this.

Looks like blood staining to me. I've got a 1917 in one of the safes where the frame looks similar. The barrel on mine looks like T TOTAL **** on the exterior, about 50% bluing loss with pitting in an odd flow pattern. Inside of barrel and lock work are magnificent, like it was made yesterday. If it could only talk.


Class III

How long would a gun have to sit in blood for the blueing to discolor like that?

I would like to respectfully note that no one has any idea of how the gun got into the condition it's now in, and probably no one ever will. Thus, all the comments about it being a possible suicide gun are just speculation. How is that any more likely than this: it belonged to a drug dealer who got in a shootout with a "business rival". The loser fell on his gun and bled out when his adversary departed the scene without a courtesy call to 911. Or someone splashed harsh chemicals on it one way or another. Or ... Or ... Or ...

__________________
You're shy a few manners.

We are two pages and 65 posts in and this gun still stinks? I think its just cursed!

I'm still voting for a proper burial!

SuperGoat,

From your posts and the pictures in #60, I can presume it was the gunsmith that got the side plate off. If that is what transpired then what did he say about the smell? Was the odor stronger with the innards exposed? Did he do the cleaning and does the gun still stink? hardcase60

__________________
You want me to do what?

So does it still stink after the internal cleaning?

It might have been that the gun and box were stored somewhere and possibly a dead rat or animal was on or near the box. You might take everything out of the box to see if you find the stink in the box.

A house that a person died in and wasn't noticed for weeks can stink up a house so bad they can't get the stink out of the house or anything that was in the house.

Dust and dirt or grime on the gun metal can absorb a stench.

I understand the blood staining is just speculation, I was just curious how long blood takes to ruin blueing on a gun.

My gunsmith did say the smell was mostly coming from the grips and inside the gun where it is closest to the grips (said there was a goo like substance coating it). Whatever stunk it up probably got in through the butt of the gun. After he cleaned it the smell is alot better but still there, now you can only smell it if you put your nose up to it. So it is a big improvement. Maybe overtime it will fade even more.

Thanks for the update. Now that you have the gun back, but not knowing how the smithy cleaned it, there are a couple of additional steps you might take to see if the remaining odor can be eliminated. Some of these may have already been suggested in earlier post but I ain't going back to look. The easiest, if you have access to one, is an ultrasonic cleaner with a solution of Simple Green and water. Run it for a few cycles and check the results. Air or blow dry. One would be amazed at the crud that comes loose from a "clean" gun. The second and possibly the least time/labor/expense is to make a batch or Ed's Red (recipe is everywhere) then soak it in a non reactive pan (stainless or pyrex) for a couple of days. Of course you do both with the stocks off and the side plate removed. I'm sure there will others that come along with differing opinions. Best of luck, hardcase60

__________________
You want me to do what?

Luckily I remember him saying that he did just that, the ultrasonic cleaner with simple green and water. Not sure if he did anything else.

He did a good thing. That said, then you might try the Ed's Red dunking. Not being harsh, but you got nothing to loose. As to the issue with the stocks, regardless if it body fluids (including blood) or something else, wood retains odor. You might never get all the smell out. Changing stocks on a shooter is not a sin. hardcase60

__________________
You want me to do what?

Sell it to me for 100$, problem solved.....

A friend of mine had a M29 and his girlfriend spilled some Coca-Cola on it. Took the blue right off!

Things don't always go better with Coke!

__________________
John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Though probably smelled better in the end.

Since the stocks seem to already be stripped of finish, you might try giving them a good bath in acetone or maybe even some xylene and see if they get less smelly. Both are pretty powerful solvents and might also remove organics out of the pores of the wood too. You can get both products at your local Lowes or Home Depot. And after treating them that way, they will be good to start refinishing them if you want to also.

When something has been in contact with a rotting body, the smell can be hard if not impossible to get rid of. This may be the case with this gun. Eds Red wouldn't hurt.

__________________
Get off my lawn!