Here is my 1917 Brazilian contract (from I believe 1938) that it going to need a lot of love and a lot of help from more knowledgeable people.
I bought this gun to learn how to work on Smith and Wesson revolvers knowing full well that its value was already diminished from the work done on it.
So let me start with what I know about it:
The barrel is obviously replaced. It was cut down to 4". It appears to have been shot. A lot. I'd say somebody used this gun for competition.
I bought 2 new barrels for the gun. Both are also 25-2 barrels. I like how they look on the frame and they were both NOS. One is 6" and the other is 6 1/2". I've never changed a barrel before so I will need help with that. But there is more to do before that.
The cylinder shows a nasty oscilloscope looking turn line. Not sure how that came about as the original cylinder doesn't really have any endshake to speak of. However, it has the old style right handed screw ejector rod as well as an old and difficult (if not impossible) to replace ejector. I bought a new cylinder with a new ejector. I don't have the rod for it yet nor do I have a new center pin or any of the locking parts that fit onto the end of the barrel.
The new cylinder will need to be fitted because it is very sloppy on the yoke. I believe I will have to learn how to stretch the yoke. No big deal. Again. The purpose of this gun is as a project.
While on the subject of the yoke, somebody had a ball lock installed and removed all of the locking parts on the barrel. I want to at the very least reinstall those locking parts and possibly remove the ball lock if possible. I don't see how it hurts but I just don't like it.
Somebody also installed a fully adjustable rear sight. I don't know if all of the parts are there. But I consider that to be a bonus. Especially since I'll be replacing the barrel with a longer barrel than the original factory configuration.
I have already replaced the hammer and trigger as the gun had sever push off caused by an improperly done trigger job.
With the original cylinder the gun fails to lock up 100% of the time by the time the hammer is locked back. I believe this to be a worn ratchet (or badly adjusted as most everything on this gun has been messed with) or a worn hand. The hand for this gun is not so easy to replace from what I understand.
I plan on getting an oversized hand since there is a little play and fitting the new hand with the new cylinder. I also want to replace the cylinder stop as it has met with a stone at some point in its life and has an uneven appearance. This should hopefully remove any of the timing issues.
My one concern with replacing the hand is that I lose the trigger block function since I won't be able to replace the hand with a similar style. I don't plan on ever carrying this gun though so I guess it should be okay. Do I have any other options?
I bought a replacement sideplate which is slightly oversized but does not feature the block in the event that I am unable to use the block. I suppose I could also remove the locking part from the sideplate that came with the gun as well.
At some point the gun was reblued so most of the markings on it are much more faint than they started out.
As a final note, I know I will have more money into this gun by the time I am done than it is worth. Heck I probably already do. That isn't the point of this project. Since it can't be returned 100% to stock working condition I figure it is a good platform to learn how to work on revolvers without destroying a classic in the process. I'd really appreciate any help anybody has to offer and if you are in the Philadelphia, PA region, any sort of hands on help would be greatly appreciated!
I am not going to suggest that the budget for this project is unlimited, but I am willing to spend the money required to do the job correctly. I have studied the Kunhausen book but it seems like there are a lot of neat tricks and tools that have come out since the release of that book which might aid in my end goal of having a really nice revolver that shoots .45 ACP.
Now the big question...Where to start?
-Zach