Thanks to BruceB I’ve had 645’s on the mind, apparently I missed one at the Feb 22 WAC show.

I was out-and-about getting the wife’s car reprogrammed so that it would recognize the new battery I installed and decided to hit a few gun shops. There sitting in the case at the second gun shop was a slightly abused 645 with one mag. After chatting with the owner awhile we decided on an OTD price of $450, which is about $411 pre-tax. Not too bad, but not near some of the deals I’ve heard forum members getting. The gun-shop owner said the pistol was a part of a police evidence lot. Anyhow here are the as-purchased before pics and the after pics...







The plan…

Blast the rounds with 120 or 220 aluminum oxide media to make them a little darker matte grey. Then sand the flats up to 600 grit to remove the light surface scratches, followed with polishing compound. It will look sort of like the 952-2 in the SWSC.




The 10-step process:

1. Completely strip (less sear spring)
2. Clean and degrease



The bummers so far, my sight pusher marked up the rear sight, the extractor has a small chip, and the ejector spring was a little tweaked. The sight and springs are no big deal if S&W wasn't so backed up. The extractor sucks because this part can only be replaced by S&W. I'll put the original back in and check for function, but if it doesn't work it will have to go back to S&W.




3. Mask off all flats and all internal surfaces




4. Determine white AO grit (120 or 220)
Note: I'm going for a gray color similar to the back-strap (French gray), thus white AO instead of glass beads. The knife was blasted with 120 WAO, and the saw was basted with 220 WAO.




5. Blast external surfaces with 220 AO (less flats)




6. De-mask and clean to remove all AO from parts
7. Wet sand flats on surface table to remove scratches




8. Mask all blasted surfaces




9. Polish flats with Mothers




10. Clean and reassemble.







11. Find jacket.

Hi, skjos!

You mean these are not the after pics?

John?

P.S. Great deal on a great gun!

WOW....I hope you can can save that old beater..

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witty signature goes here

Great deal on a great gun. Best of luck and enjoy your new toy. Thanks for the info and pics.

That is a great looking 645,and at a reasonable price.

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Inconsistently consistent

That looks a point or two better than the one at the show, and about a wash pricewise with only one magazine.

It would be nice to get the rub marks out of the sandblast areas, hopefully that can be done with some gentle blasting and leave the markings intact. I might opt for a trip to the mother ship for refinishing.

One of these days we'll actually get to meet at a show or somewhere around the sound.

I think the pics make it look in a little better condition than it is.

The plan is to get some 120 grit white aluminum oxide media and hit the blasted surfaces to make them a little darker matte grey. Then lightly sand the flats with 600 grit to remove the light surface scratches, followed with polishing compound. It will look sort of like the 952-2 in the SWSC.

I'll be at the next Puy show, collecting 3rd gen prices for the masses.

We can't wait to see the "after" pics.

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Inconsistently consistent

Congrats on the nice 645. That's a great price. Enjoy the crisp single-action trigger of this beautiful Gen 2.

- Dave
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In a world of compromise, some people don't. We carry Smith & Wesson.

I would suggest taking off the grips and using a green scotch brite pad to remove the surface scratches the use some flitz by hand after masking off the glass beaded frame. Same on the slide. The frame can be glass beaded very easily. I bought my own cabinet and use it on all sorts of parts. It's a handy tool. I removed my back strap and hit it. The color is now much lighter, it's aluminum and may have had a coating. Very easy to refresh one of these at home yourself.

She looks pretty good to me. Would love to see the after pics.

I concur. Very good price for a 645 in this condition. Well done!

The planned 10-step process:

1. Completely strip (less sear spring) - done
2. Clean and degrease - done
3. Mask off all flats and all internal surfaces - in-work
4. Determine white AO grit (120 or 220) - held for media
Note: I'm going for a gray color similar to the back-strap, thus white AO instead of glass beads
5. Blast external surfaces (less flats)
6. De-mask and clean to remove all AO from parts
7. Wet sand flats on surface table to remove scratches
8. Mask all blasted surfaces
9. Polish flats with Mothers
10. Clean and reassemble.

The bummers so far, my sight pusher marked up the rear sight, the extractor has a small chip, and the ejector spring was a little tweaked. The sight and springs are no big deal if S&W wasn't so backed up. The extractor sucks because this part can only be replaced by S&W. I'll put the original back in and check for function, but if it doesn't work it will have to go back to S&W.

I've made some updates to show my progress so far, and consolidated my subsequent posts into the original post.

Finally done, I was held for an extractor pin, but a recent post directed me to Jacks First Gun shop where I was able to procure a pin. The after pics have been added to the original post.

it looks fantastic and you obviously have great talent in that area.

Nice,

Here's a tip on doing the flats. Lay the paper on something flat. A piece of glass, surface plate, etc. and run the slide lengthwise over the paper.
You will, of course have to remove the extractor and whatever else protrudes from the frame.

If you get down to the 600 it will look like glass, and it will keep your edges sharp and not rounded over.

Have fun,
Bob

I wouldn't believe that was the same 645 if I didn't see it before. Great job and it looks great.

Great gun for a great price. Nice pictures. Thanks.

Sweet. Congratulations on that 45.

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July 4, 1776 not Jan 30, 1909

Awesome work!!!


Sent from my iPhone 4s using Tapatalk

A job well done! She looks great!

Just in case anyone would like to try duplicating Skjos's effort,
Mark at Summit Gunbroker has Redlands PD trade-in 645 pistols for a fair $445.

Firearms, Guns, Rifles. Grain Valley, Missouri.

Mark is a great guy to deal with.

Stay Safe.

Since I passed on the 645 at the Feb. show and have been kicking myself ever since, I can now feel better.

I got a very nice 645 at the WAC show today, just a few hairline marks on the shiny left side of the slide, very clean inside, and one original style magazine, $500 all up (private sale).

You all will have to trust me on this until next weekend, I'm finishing packing for a trip to Baltimore, so no pics.


It was a good day to be shopping for S&W at the show today, more than I have ever seen. The guy I bought from had a somewhat tired 4506, a not-so-tired 4566TSW, a 439(?), and a number of revolvers. On another table were a slew of nice older revolvers and a nice looking .38 Master. I handled a very nice 3913 LadySmith, $650 I think. I spotted a 6690, a 6906, 422, and lots more revolvers scattered around. An overpriced 1076, a beat-up 4026.

I saw that 645, very nice.

That one table had a 645, 4506, 4566TSW, and a 1026 ($750). The 1026 was gone before I left the show.
I also saw a nice 2213 at another table.

There is one you missed, the table that had the 3913 LadySmith with three mags ($650), also had a 99% 3914 LadySmith with one mag for $400. I quickly snatched that one for myself.

I also grabbed a nice Enfield No.1 Mk.3 with a lightly pitted barrel for $125.

You have to love the October show!

Good catch on the 3914. You must have snagged that before I got to that table.

Wow! Great work, so Miami Vice.