I'm posting these pic's for member jcorl who will chime in with the story on this neglected revolver. It's in sad shape, but maybe it can be saved..........

Update at post #42

Attached Images

	S& W 41 Mag Photo Two.jpg (191.6 KB, 639 views)
	S& W 41 Mag Photo Three.jpg (106.9 KB, 569 views)
	S& W 41 Mag Photo Six.jpg (247.5 KB, 530 views)
	S& W 41 Mag Photo Seven.jpg (271.2 KB, 499 views)
	S& W 41 Mag Photo Nine.jpg (194.7 KB, 526 views)

Oh, I don't know, not so bad if you're into "rust blue" finishes.

Somebody had to say it!

Can't wait to see the after pics.

That brings a tear to my eye. If that can be saved anything is possible.

Did that gun go through a fire? Sure looks like it did be careful with that one... Kyle

Looks like it was in the bottom of a bucket of oil with water in the bottom,when water gets in oil it settles on the bottom. Hoe did the extractor get bent?

Sent from my SM-T800 using Tapatalk

Hammer & body filler, be right as rain.

__________________
NRA Benefactor

I love a rescue. At least, give it a try. It'll be worth the effort!!

Now, give us the backstory. Are my eyes deceiving me or is it still loaded??

Best,
Charles

It surely looks to have cartridges in the cylinder. The gun looks as if it has been involved in a fire which would make restoration an impossibility. Regardless of the cause of the damage, I would think that the bore would be ruined. I think that this gun is destined to be a wall hanger.

I just picked up a 4" Model 28 in similar but not quite as bad, shape. Side plate was really pitted. Called Fords in Florida.
They assured me they'd seen worse and could "make her hum" again. They told me they could even re-stamp the text.
Because it's just a shooter I'm sending it and a 3 1/2" barrel I acquired, off to them.
Might give them a call, send pics and see what they say.
Best,
Capt. F

41 magnum is my favorite caliber. Breaks my heart to see a 57 in such poor condition. Clean it up the best you can, mount it on a nice board with a plack that reads, how not to treat a revolver.

Is that taps I here in the background?

__________________
George Jamison

That is a great question. The answer to that is perhaps why is it in the shape that is in. The ammo casing are badly stuck. I am wondering if someone handloaded too hot of rounds, but that still would not explain the extractor bend. Good observation! Jim

Oh man! That is ugly! So what is the sad story that goes with it?

__________________
America First

I am an insurance adjuster and have seen several claims for fire and flood peril. This one looks like flood damage to me. But you do raise a good observation and safety issue. Yes, those are cartridges in the cylinder. They will be coming out today after a 24 hour blaster soak. Jim

Soak in Ed's red for a week, scrub with scotch bright pads, then coat with naval jelly, hose off with hot water, trip through dish washer. Then lets see what you have. Frame, side plate, and yoke salvageable??

Rust Blue. Good call!

Thanks for the Ed Red info. It has been in Blaster for a day with brass brushing sessions. I will get some Ed Red upon your recommendation. Yes the Frame, Side plate, and Yoke are in salvageable shape. The cylinder is really pitted and the barrel is pitted. The extractor is bent. Safety, sight, hammer, firing pin and trigger look good. Grips are gone but no big deal there. We will see what your ideas produce. thank you

I been thinking. LOL. Anyway this looks like a good candidate for bead blasting and bead blast finish. N frame cylinders are not that hard to find. But, 41 mag cylinders and barrels are probably the hardest to find. 45 colt cylinders and barrels are also difficult to find. But, a 357 barrel and cylinder from a model Highway Patrolman model 28 would be relatively easy to come by and for far less money. It is possible that this gun could be made back into a shooter. Another important area is the recoil shield at firing pin hole. Bushing could be replaced though. But, as the fired round gets slammed back into this area it need to be fairly smooth. If you go to remove the barrel, don't just stick something through the frame hole. At the very least. insert yoke and then shim frame so that it is uniformly supported top to bottom in the frame to barrel area in a brass or aluminum padded vise jaws. then clamp something like hardwood on barrel to turn it off. Don't chance tweaking the frame.

Since saving the finish is clearly not an option, I would lean towards some type of oxidation chelation product (Vapo-Rust is a name brand that comes to mind - normally available at farm stores and the like). It will lift out all oxidized material along with any hardened lubricants that adhere to the metal parts. You will then be able to evaluate the true severity of any pitting and eliminate the guess work to a greater degree.

Ford's Custom Gun Refinishing | Gun Shop Crystal River

Like the Capt said... Fords it is...

A survivor like this Model 57 deserves only the BEST CARE

Delete..Double post. Sorry

282

If it had gone thru a fire I don't think the unfired rounds would still be there.

What you need is a "de-milled" Model 57/58. One that's been turned into a non-gun by having the frame cut. Those kits are inexpensive and easy to find for more common guns. It would have everything you need: barrel, cylinder, yoke, lock work.

Here's a link to a M66 kit that was on GunBroker, to show what I'm referring to, everything except the cylinder in this particular example....

__________________
~ S&W aficionado in training ~

Just knock those old rounds out, give it a wipe down with a little CLP, and see how she shoots.







Just kidding. Looking forward to progress reports as you go along.

I think I'd take a slightly different tack. After determining if the barrel bore is salvageable, I'd use the least abrasive method of derusting. First, I'd use wet soda blasting with a very fine grit. If that's not available, then dry soda blasting (very fine grit). If neither of those are available, then I'd use the finest alum oxide grit available. I wouldn't use glass beads because glass beads just peen the surface over which may capture rust particles just under surface which may come back to haunt you. I also wouldn't use Vapo-Rust. I've seen that product leave a mottled effect which could affect a blued finish. After that, determine if any of the markings are salvageable. If yes, then maybe a restoration would be viable. If no, then a custom build might be in order.

__________________
NRA Benefactor

Still waiting to read how this gun got in this condition to start with.

Went to an auction and found this project gun stuck in a cardboard flat. Told a guy to bid up to $50 on it. He called me and said he got it for $25. I thought I was a big shot. I showed up to pay him and he said you should have been there with they sold the Winchesters. Crum! They were not advertised either and only showed up on the date of auction. My barber bought them cheap. Now I am sick about not going to it and skipping the other one I went to. Thanks for asking. Jim

Kernel Crittenden had the same idea as I. If those cartridges are still whole, you needn't worry about heat damage to the frame. In a fire, they would ignite long before the steels took that kind of damage.
Maritime accident, perhaps ?

Larry

Just got it unloaded. Still have all my fingers and toes.

Jim

I wished I knew the whole story. I just took it out of the soaker and brass brushed it for two hours. I got the model clear and can confirm it is a 571, no dash with a 5" barrel. The auctioneer who died had a sale of his items. This gun was in that sale, unadvertised and unwanted by those present. After 72 hours in Blaster is cleans up like a wet basement gun would clean up. Heavy pitting in some areas and light pitting in others. It is headed to the gunsmith this afternoon for an assessment of what is missing. The screws for sure. Got it unloaded and happy nothing went boom. I wish I had the history on its life, but I don't other than an old timer auctioneer picked it up and his family let this one go auction upon his passing. Thanks for the question. jim

Blast it clean then Ceracoat. If it were mine I'd try shooting it after cleaning the rust off just to see how it does before I went out and spent a bunch of money on it. I've seen lots of pitted pistol barrels that shot as good as new even though they were ugly as hell.

I am almost certain that is a 6" barrel, based on eyeballing it and having seen a bunch of 6" N frames. The measurement is from the cylinder to the muzzle. I suspect that if measured from the front of the frame, you would get roughly 5".

Assuming that the damage is not from a fire (and I agree that the unfired rounds would likely have cooked off if it had been in one), I'd say you are looking at a decent platform for customizing. I would in fact have the barrel cut to 5" since I think that's a great length for a working .41, change the sights to be more visible for my aging eyes (to something like the "old guy sight" combination seen on some autopistols, the brain child of some gunsmith I should remember but don't right now, maybe Chuck Rodgers: an XS standard sized tritium dot in front with a U notch .156-.160 opening rear sight) do it all in some serious finish like hard chrome, get a proper outdoor use holster for it of whatever nature suits you, and be tickled.

__________________
NHI, 10-8.

No, For certain it is a 5" barrel.

I don't recall the 57 ever being offered with a 5" barrel. The correct way to measure is from the muzzle to the end of the forcing cone, not to where the barrel enters the frame.

I've owned guns other swore wouldn't shoot only to discover they shot absolute perfect? Not with standing if it was in a fire, heat pulls all the temper out of their metal.
Steve

The gun could have been in a fire but not exposed to heat enough for the cartridges to cook off(The fire was maybe at the other end of the house,the firemen extinguished it and the original owner might have retrieved it after a few weeks after the insurance company gave the ok in water soaked debris).In this case the metallurgy of the steel wouldn't have been affected by heat.But that wouldn't explain the bent rod!
Qc

Well looks like a perfect test for the epoxy spray paint after she's cleaned up. I been using brownells aluma-Hyde II. On my muzzle of a military rifle. It's lasted for a decade now, it's not the paint, it's the preparation that matters then preheat the surplace to be painted. Make one pass, not too thick.

If this is the case, are you the owner now? What's your connection to this gun?
I suppose there could be lots of theories and this, indeed, could be one of them.
Steve

I'm thinking a little Ren Wax would make that look a lot better.

__________________
BCCI Life Member #2068

That's an excellent idea.

Have it hard chromed.

__________________
~ S&W aficionado in training ~

I hate chromed front sights!!!
Steve

For good cause; I advocated what I did for my old eyes, but there are other choices.

__________________
NHI, 10-8.

I don't think chrome would be good. On a gun that pitted I highly doubt you would get a good result with chrome. Chrome is only as good as the surface it is plated to. The amount of prep work would be astronomical and not cost effective in my opinion. I'd still go for a bead blasted cleanup followed by a ceracoat finish. The flat ceracoat finish would do better at hiding any surface irregularities where chrome would enhance them.

The owner sent me a updated pic of the Model 57-1 frame after bead blasting. He wanted me to update the thread and post the latest pic. More to come......

Attached Images

2017 Gun Restoration.jpg (82.8 KB, 195 views)

Wow!

Looking better, so far, then I thought it would.

Best of luck with it.

You just broke my heart 824tsv. Just broke it.
It is widely known I'm a Model 57/.41 Magnum fanatic (I once sought counseling but it wasn't any fun, it wasn't at all noisy and there was no recoil! )
I will think good thoughts about you and that sixgun at the campfire. Especially the sixgun.
Somebody ought to be skinned! I'm pretty sure this is a sin that keeps people out of any of the Heavens.

Seriously, my best wishes for whatever you can do with that revolver. Lawdy that's just disheartening.

Many thanks to Robert for posting my photo of the Model 571. As you can tell the frame has been bead blasted and it turned out well. All springs in the gun have good tension, so I have no concern it was in a fire or suffered heat damage. I have been researching why this is a Model 571 and not a 57-1. The answer that I was provided was that there was no room for the dash, so the "1" was placed where the dash would normally have been placed. There was no special meaning to the Model # on the gun, just a short sighted factory fix. My gunsmith tells me that there is a fellow that specializes in gun painting. With the heavy pitting, he is recommending my .41 be sent to him for painting to hide the pits. I was not aware of that option. Has anyone tried that finish? Jim

Jim, are you referring to Cerocoat(sp) or one of the many other firearm paints used today? I have no experience with them. I would have the front sight blade milled off and drilled to accept and ramp replacement blade then have the rest hard chromed?
Steve

Why not just replace the red ramp plastic red insert and call it a Day? A company makes a kit to replace them or you can whittle one out of a chunk of red plastic.

I sure would like to see pics of the gun after you have worked on it. A good bead blasting might help it.
You might check into using a Dura Blue paint kit. I believe they have products to fill in pitting then final coat painting. I did two guns. A Taurus PT92 and a Marlin Model 60. The Marlin barrel was pitted some and I sanded it down to bare metal and smoothed out most all the pitting by doing that. I sprayed it then with the Dura Blue and it came out really nice.

Attached Images

	marli-taurus-strip.JPG (135.2 KB, 38 views)
	Taurusblubest.JPG (183.8 KB, 41 views)
	durablue1-sprayed.JPG (245.2 KB, 38 views)
	Marlindurablubest.jpg (109.0 KB, 36 views)

ROBAR. They can address any modest gunsmithing you want, and do a great finish. Member Nyeti has posted some stuff on another forum about their work and I think he has good connections there.

FWIW, in looking at the bare frame now, I am almost certain that is a 6" barrel.

__________________
NHI, 10-8.

At 69 I have trouble seeing the stainless or chromed front sights? I much prefer blued.
Steve