I wanted to share my experience i had with this revolver project.
I posted this revolver a few years ago. It was won at a live auction about two and a half years ago. The listing for it simply said S&W 357 magnum, which it is of course. The single grainy photo was enough to tell it was a prewar 357. Pre auction inspection revealed REG on the frame behind the yoke. A Registered Magnum at a live only auction, but was ripe with issues.
It was immediately apparent that the barrel was shortened. At the time of auction, it was 6". Worse yet, the front sight was gone and a dovetail was cut into the rib to accept an older rifle sight. The rear sight was also missing. A single hole was drilled in the top strap to support a scope base, which it had on. The bluing appeared to be original, what was left of it. Universally, the bluing had fading to a brown patina with light pitting, scratches and bruises over most of the revolver. Pitting on the barrel was much worse, especially near the muzzle. The original grips were gone and replaced with homemade, custom target grips, which rubbed the bluing completely off on the frame and side plate over the years.
With everything that was wrong with this revolver, it was mechanically sound. No issue with carry up or endshake. You could feel the craftsmanship that was put into these revolvers as its function felt so smooth. In addition, the serial numbers matched the parts that were remaining. I thought it still had potential as a shooter, so I grabbed it.
REG 3589 shipped March 30, 1938 to Tracy-Wells Co. Columbus OH. It was originally equipped with a 7.5" barrel with Paine bead front sight and King peep rear sight.
With the originality lost and no way to make it whole again, I decided it wouldn't hurt to modify it again to my taste. Considering the barrel was already cut, I chose not to repair the rib. It conveniently was cut again to 5", my favorite length. The revolver was polished and reblued. Parts are scarce, but eventually found a King reflector ramp and King red bead front sight to have installed. A rear sight was finally located and thought Keith Brown magnas would help for looks.
The two most commonly asked questions i see here are: How does it shoot? And, How much did it cost?
I haven't shot it as much as I should have, but I'll fix that soon enough. All I can say for now is that it shoots better than I do.
As far as cost, I have have alittle less than 3k into this, including the revolver, front and rear sights, gunsmithing and KB grips. Was it worth it? For me, it sure was. It was fun project for me and learned quite a bit. Hopefully, it will last another 4 generations of shooters in the future when I'm gone.
These are the best pics a can do for a cold winter day in Ohio. Thanks for reading.
Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
I posted this revolver a few years ago. It was won at a live auction about two and a half years ago. The listing for it simply said S&W 357 magnum, which it is of course. The single grainy photo was enough to tell it was a prewar 357. Pre auction inspection revealed REG on the frame behind the yoke. A Registered Magnum at a live only auction, but was ripe with issues.
It was immediately apparent that the barrel was shortened. At the time of auction, it was 6". Worse yet, the front sight was gone and a dovetail was cut into the rib to accept an older rifle sight. The rear sight was also missing. A single hole was drilled in the top strap to support a scope base, which it had on. The bluing appeared to be original, what was left of it. Universally, the bluing had fading to a brown patina with light pitting, scratches and bruises over most of the revolver. Pitting on the barrel was much worse, especially near the muzzle. The original grips were gone and replaced with homemade, custom target grips, which rubbed the bluing completely off on the frame and side plate over the years.
With everything that was wrong with this revolver, it was mechanically sound. No issue with carry up or endshake. You could feel the craftsmanship that was put into these revolvers as its function felt so smooth. In addition, the serial numbers matched the parts that were remaining. I thought it still had potential as a shooter, so I grabbed it.
REG 3589 shipped March 30, 1938 to Tracy-Wells Co. Columbus OH. It was originally equipped with a 7.5" barrel with Paine bead front sight and King peep rear sight.
With the originality lost and no way to make it whole again, I decided it wouldn't hurt to modify it again to my taste. Considering the barrel was already cut, I chose not to repair the rib. It conveniently was cut again to 5", my favorite length. The revolver was polished and reblued. Parts are scarce, but eventually found a King reflector ramp and King red bead front sight to have installed. A rear sight was finally located and thought Keith Brown magnas would help for looks.
The two most commonly asked questions i see here are: How does it shoot? And, How much did it cost?
I haven't shot it as much as I should have, but I'll fix that soon enough. All I can say for now is that it shoots better than I do.
As far as cost, I have have alittle less than 3k into this, including the revolver, front and rear sights, gunsmithing and KB grips. Was it worth it? For me, it sure was. It was fun project for me and learned quite a bit. Hopefully, it will last another 4 generations of shooters in the future when I'm gone.
These are the best pics a can do for a cold winter day in Ohio. Thanks for reading.
Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
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