You may remember my thread last week about my "Ugly Duckling" pre-model 10 that had most of it's finish destroyed in some type of corrosive environment. It's serial number is S849xxx, dating it to 1945, as discussed last week. My thanks to all of the forum members who shared their thoughts as to what might have caused the damage to this poor gun. There was some concern from some forum members as to whether this gun would fire normally or if it was even safe. The frame has the single line "Made in U.S.A.". I felt so sorry for it I had to save it and adopt it, so I picked it up for $80 due to it's appearance:


I got it to the range yesterday and I am very happy to report that it fired quite normally, and accurately too! I wanted to take it easy on the old girl, so I fired no +P ammo in it. I fired 6 rounds of Remington UMC 158 gr LRN at 25 yards. The target was an 8.5x11 sheet with a 1" bullseye. The first two shots missed the target and then I realized the gun was shooting high and left. I corrected for it and hit with the next 4 shots (marked with a red line). I then switched to a favorite standard pressure handload of mine pushing a 158 gr cast LSWC about 860 fps from a 4" barrel. I fired 25 rounds of this load, with 20 striking the paper (larger holes, unmarked), after I figured out that this load was printing lower than the factory load. The action, especially in DA firing was butter smooth and there were no problems. The only thing was a few drops of brown goo coming out of the action from where I had oiled it. I guess the oil released some long-dried out crud. Here's the target:

This gun will make a great shooter after all. I'm not going to do anything to the finish except keep it oiled to prevent further damage. Not bad for $80!