Here a a coule of revolvers that were restored by Dave Chicoine Jr.

The 1899 is serial number 313, shipped in May of 1899 to Schoverling
Dale and Gale in New York City. The 1902 is serial number 6950, and
was shipped in December of 1902 to Hibbard Spencer and Bartlett in
Chicago. The 1899 is a .38 Special; the 1902 is a 32 Winchester.

Both guns had virtually no finish left, when I received them. Mechanically
they were in nearly perfect condition - just no finish. The 1899 has
some pitting in the barrel. Neither gun had any case coloring left on
the hammers and triggers.

The pictures are in no particular order. Their purpose is to show the
detail of the restorations. Hammers and triggers were re-case colored,
as was the 1902 extractor nob. Care was taken in the surface
preparation, to preserve the somewhat delicate roll markings.

The 1899, being very early, is one of the guns that does not have any
caliber marking. This was not uncommon in the very early 1899's .
All the pin ends are nicely rounded over, and there are no dished
screw holes. All the corners and edges are square and sharp.















Regards, Mike Priwer

Guns look nice. But you need a better camera.

__________________
No life story has happy end.

SP

Yes - but its not bad for a cell phone. And, the guns do have a coating of Rigg
grease all over them.

Regards, Mike

They look great Mike. Do you have any before pictures?

Wingmaster

Nice looking revolvers Mike. But how did you get through to him? I wanted to buy a sight blade from him but I've e-mailed twice (no reply) and every call goes to an answering machine.

Mike;

I don't know if it's the photo/image quality, but the lap marks from the surface buffing appears very, very prominent. Perhaps it was there to begin with from the factory original finish and the refinish was so conservative to preserve it as original, it remained?

Never thought I'd see a refinished/restored revolver among your collection. I'm nearly astonished.........not really.

Shoot them much, do ya? LOL!

Cheers;
Lefty

Mike,

Congrats, they look great. I have had this discussion before. I see nothing wrong with restoring a gun. You can restore a classic car and it does not lose value, so I see no reason why you also cannot bring a gun back to it's former glory. Good for you.

Lefty, I noticed that, too, but I think it's the RIG he says is coating the guns that we're seeing.

__________________
SWHF #448

I do not believe the finish texture is correct, but then, I am a Colt guy so maybe I do not know how an original should look.

The comment was made that the guns had no original finish when acquired. They still don't.

Hard to judge from the photos. It looks like buffing lap marks to me though, in several portions of the pictures. If Mike applied the RIG with a brush, maybe they're just brush stroke marks from the grease?

Cheers;
Lefty

Lefty

I'll wipe the guns clean of all that grease, and then take some more pictures. I don't
think there are swirl marks in the finish - but the camera doesn't lie.

Regards, Mike

Here are a couple of additional closer-up pictures of the 1899. All the
grease has been wiped off. It does appear that the bluing on the
sideplate is not consistent, across the sideplate. The flash is turned
off for these pictures. Its a bright sunny day in Portland; that is the
lighting that was used, indirectly.





The bluing on the rest of the gun is very nice, particularly the barrel.

When I get a moment, I'll speak with Dave about the sideplate.

Regards, Mike Priwer

Mike;

I think that from one extent or another, we take our chances with restorations and/or refinish projects. You roll the dice everytime, regardless of who performs the work. David Chicoine has a stellar reputation that is by all accounts well deserved.

Here's an example. A few years ago, I had a pristine early Model 30 snub that suffered a broken hammer stud. I called S&W and they said "SURE LEFTY...WE CAN FIX THAT EASY".

Sent it to them. When it was returned, both sides of the barrel were FLATTENED and the rollmarks were barely visible from over polishing, the trademark logo was faint from over zealous polishing and the gun had been poorly reblued to a dull finish. This had been a Christmas gift for my wife and man, I was pissed big time. They ruined the revolver, which was easily 99% overall finish when it was sent to them. I put my faith in the company that manufactured the gun above all others who could have repaired it, and they blew it. Worst of all, I never ordered a refinish or reblue, just a repair/replacement of the hammer stud. I was furious at the outcome.

Ford's, who have been the object of both praise and criticism here and elswhere, restored a Triple Lock .44 for me, among several other guns. Their work was absolutely impeccable. Their communication was poor and troubling at the time but they were in the process of moving if I remember correctly. It was ridden with anxiety because of that. At the end of the project, their work was superb and worth every nail biting moment. This photo does no justice to their work, the blue was dark and lustrous in every detail. I couldn't see a lap mark on it anywhere. Edges sharp, no dishing, no flattened studs or screws. I'd trust them with anything S&W or Colt without reservation and, their pricing is very modest considering the level of expertise they demonstrate.


My observation based upon your photos, is that your revolvers look "new" in the finish style perhaps more expected on a modern manufactured weapon. They will certainly survive longer with the refinish than if left to no finish and ongoing deterioration. I'd have no reluctance to make them sing once in awhile either, they're damn fine guns.

Cheers and Best Regards To A Pal;

Lefty

That really looks no better than a lot of refinished revolvers out there IMHO.
I would have never guessed it was Dave's work. He is capable of so much better than that.

Sorry for your loss..

Lefty, can you tell me how to get in touch with Ford? I really like the work they did on your 38/44 HD. I'm buying a .32 Regulation Police Target that needs the sideplate refinished and matched to the rest of the blue. Thanks!

They didn't do a 38/44 HD for me, but I wouldn't hesitate if I needed the job done. I doubt they can match a sideplate to the existing original blue on your RP Target. Entirely different bluing process used today than when your revolver was made. But best of luck to you.

Fords Custom Gun Refinishing
(352) 344-8707
4434 E. Arlington St. #9
Inverness Fl. 34453

That's the last number I have on file for them.

Cheers;
Lefty

They are now in Crystal River, FL.

Ford's Custom Gun Refinishing - Ford's Desert Eagle Sights

I also recommend Accurate Plating and Weaponry in Newville, AL. They do OEM work and use the same process as the major manufacturers.

ACCURATE PLATING AND WEAPONRY | APWCOGAN

__________________
Guy
SWHF #474 SWCA LM#2629

I see quality preparation and nice bluing on your revolvers. The rework on any gun depends on original condition and it is too bad there are no "before" pictures. I have refinished shooters myself and see quality preparation in the photos. It is obvious that the sideplate was left in place when the frame was done to keep the sharp edges and the gun was completely dis-assembled to protect the pins. As far as I know, Chicoine does not use a buffing wheel and mostly likely prepared those guns flat surfaces with block sanding. His book states that you should prepare the surface only down to 400 grit paper. Several things affect the stampings like a previous refinish, the gun was pitted, and rough surfaces. Where metal must be removed to smooth the surface and you will lose roll marks. No one to my knowledge has the capability of restamping these marks without re-engraving them.

Bob Cogan has done some nice work for me. Professional service all around.
Probably use Bob' shop for my next RM project.


Had a hell of a time with my last mis-adventure with Fords.
Theys didn't have time to do it right the first time...But, time to do it over a second and third.

But, your experiences may vary.



Su Amigo,
Dave

__________________
"IN GOD WE TRUST"

Hi Dave. Do you have an address/ph.# for Bob Cogan? Might want to give him a call. Thanks!

Mike how long did it take for them to do the job. Looks great to me.

As to the quality of the work on the 1899, with the exception of the sideplate, the
gun is nearly perfect, to my eye. Dave Jr wants me to send the gun back, once some
other guns are completed, and he will deal with whatever needs to be dealt with.

As to how long it took for them to do the job, it took much longer than usual. That was
due to an unfortunate illness that took Dave Sr out of service. Dave Jr was swamped,
and its going to take a bit more time for them to fully get back to normal. Still in all,
they have the knowledge base, and the skills, to deal with S&W revolvers.

Regards, Mike Priwer

Hello 2152hq
I agree with your response, Mike said that Dave Junior did these two gun's, but to be quit Honest here, I did not have any Better luck with Dave Senior when I sent him a Model of 1891 single shot second Variation target pistol. I had heard wonderful thing's about his work and attention paid to detail's, that I was excited to see what I got in return.




We worked out a barter deal, That both of us were happy with as I sent him Three spare barrel's for a Model of 1891 Pistol, Two being very Rare to find one was a 6" .32 S&W caliber barrel, the other two were 6" and an 8" .38 S&W Caliber barrel. The barrel's were at different level's of completion all needing sight's and latch assemblies, some were factory stamped with their caliber other's were not and some had their top barrel Factory address but some did not have any barrel address, and some even had their original factory bluing that showed no sign's of wear or use. All were N.O.S. Factory left over barrel's which are scarce and very hard to find. The Barter agreement was Plain and simple as I wanted him to finish Two of the barrel's that I had sent him one being an 8" Barrel in .32 S&W caliber, The Other being a seldom seen Olympic chamber Barrel of 10" Length in .22 LR Caliber.




The 8" Barrel in .32 S&W was all ready Factory blued, But it needed a front sight blade, ejector Cam and rear barrel latch assembly which includes a rear sight assembly. The Olympic chamber barrel needed the same but was still in the white, Both Barrel's had their extractor's but lacked front sight's, Extractor Cam's and Rear latch assemblies He said that he would swap me the work required to finish the two barrel's that I had selected to keep and in this work order would supply all of the part's Needed to complete my Two barrel's for the Three Spare barrel's that I sent to him which are shown below. I Promptly shipped him all Five barrel's as well as my Gun frame and the 6" .22 L.R. Barrel that came on it when I bought it, as he said he would need it to fit the spare barrel's to my frame.




The work took about Five months. He first sent me the 8" .32 S&W Barrel along with my Gun & The 6" Barrel that it came with, telling me he needed more time to complete the Rare 10" Olympic chamber barrel as he wanted to get all of the Imperfection's out of it before he blued it. The .32 S&W Barrel that he had sent back to me was missing it's rear barrel latch assembly, so I shot him an E-mail asking if he had forgotten to place it on the barrel before he shipped it back to me, as he had agreed to supply "ALL" of the part's needed to complete the two barrel's that I wanted to keep ? He responded telling me that he did not have Two Rear Barrel Latch assemblies on hand in his part's for these, so he fitted the .32 S&W Barrel by using my 6" length .22 LR caliber barrel Latch assembly, which meant when I want to use the .32 S&W Caliber Barrel I have to take the latch assembly off of my Original 6" .22 LR Barrel, then place it on the .32 Barrel, to make it useable on my Gun's frame.



I am not trying to make a flame war here about a gun's refinishing, or who is better at what they do out there but what I got in return on this Barrel Barter deal is certainly Not what I had expected. I did call Dave Senior after my Olympic chamber barrel arrived and told him about the very different level of finish the barrel's had compared to the gun. He said that I could send them back and he would try to improve their appearence, but I elected not to as I sure would be sick if something happened to either one of these barrel's in shipment, as you just can not step out and find replacement's if they were lost or damaged. The Machine work done by David Chicoine was superior, all I was not pleased with is the finish work. I did not expect the current bluing method's to match those used back in 1904 but these barrel's are a far cry from the original's even in the level of shine of their bluing














This Picture show's the new Old stock sight that was supplied and placed on my 8" .32 S&W Caliber barrel. The sight pin extend's beyond the sight blade by at least 1/16" of an inch, I doubt it was Intended for this width barrel or sight blade.








Here are my Three barrel set to go with my Model of 1891 single shot pistol. The top barrel is my original 6" Barrel chambered in .22 LR caliber that came with my gun, the other Two are the one's David Chicoine fitted and finished for me








Here is the Olympic Chamber 10" Barrel chambered in .22 LR. Check out the Barrel Latch screw as it is clearly Nitrite Blued being much different in color and the Level of Polish than the rest of the barrel, and this shot show's the much different color & final blue polish of the barrel compared to the gun's frame













On another Note, Ford's Custom Gun Refinishing of Crystal River, Florida was Mentioned in this thread. I have had several Gun's refinished by Ford's in the past, and all have come back Far Better than I had expected them to. I Firmly believe in Praise of fine Craftsmanship when do, and Ford's certainly deserve that from the fine work they have done in the past for me I even sent them a Destroyed K-22 one time that had some very serious corrosion issues and they refinished it in their Matster Bluing finish, which is shown below before & after it's refinishing. I had sent along a Factory NOS McGivern Gold Bead sight blade and when Master Gun Smith Horace Ford Began the work on replacing it's Factory Black Patridge sight blade, he noticed that the McGivern Gold Bead that I sent him was amde for a Wide Rib K-22. What this Meant was that the rib's of the new sight blade were much wider than the Narrow rib on my gun, so he Milled down the sides of it before placing it on my barrel then blued the gun. Here is how my 1948 K-22 Looked before & after Ford's refinished it... You be the Judge of their work, nd I would Not Hesitate to send them any more in the future.








Before Picture's of my 1948 K-22







After Ford's refinished my 1948 K-22 shown with Their Master bluing finish













Here is a model 27-2. I Bought this gun and it had some deep rust Pitting on it's cylinder. I called Ford's and asked if they could simply Blue the gun's cylinder to match the bluing on the rest of the gun ? They said they could, so I shipped them just the gun's cylinder. Here is how it look's back in the gun after they re-blued Just the gun's cylinder









Here is the very first Gun that I sent Ford's for refinishing. I had Bought this one as it came to me with an Original set of Walter Roper Custom shooting stock's. Sadly, someone had re-blued it and Ruined the gun. It had dished side plate holes, rounded edges and they Polished the Side Plate Trade Mark almost completly off the gun. I had alway's wanted a K-22 In Nickel finish so I asked them to finish this gun in their High Polished Nickel finish. They re-stamped the S&W Trade Mark on the side plate prior to plating it in Nickel.












This is the Most Recent job completed by Ford's. This is a First Year Registered Magnum. I bought this gun at one of our annual S&WCA meeting's which was in Detroit back in 2009. Sadly someone had destroyed this gun by cutting it's Lower grip frame. They had Placed it in a Jawed Bench vice to do so, and Mauled the front strap and Back strap serations. Once they cut the lower grip frame they removed 3/8" of it's lower grip frame steel and Bent the back strap in so that they could weld it back up with Braze. In the process they filled one of the gun's serial number's with Braze.


I bought it with Ford's in mind of making it whole and useable again. Once I got it home I called Horace Ford and asked him if he would take the job on ? He asked for me to send it to him. It was down there for Six Long month's when my phone rang with Horace Telling me that my Registered Magnum was coming home. He explained to me that he used a Five Machinist Needle file to repsir the Mauled serrations. He then told me that he placed a new piece of 3/8" steel in the lower grip frame and bent the back starp back to it's original position fitting it to the set of Factory service stock's of that time period that I had sent him with the gun as a Point of Reference, and welded it with a T.I.G. welder then machined the surface of the lower grip frame. In the process he was able to get all of the braze out of the gun's original serial number and Polished his work when he was done with the machining, prior to placing their Master bluing finish on it.



Here is how my Registered Magnum turned out after Ford's repaired and re-blued it. It was explained to me that Horace did all of the polishing prior to placing the bluing finish on this gun and it was all done by hand, no machine buffing was done to this revolver. I visited them last Spring in their shop in Florida and took Horace and his wife Larna out for a nice sit down dinner. They are super nice people and we enjoyed the whole night together. Just as I was Leaving their home. I shook Horace's hand and thanked him again for doing such a Nice job on my Magnum, and he smilled and said "Don't Ever send me another one like That"...


Here is how the gun looked prior to me sending it off to Ford's.









Here is how the gun look's now after Ford's repaired it and re-blued it






These are the service stock's I sent with it so that Horace could fit the frame to the stock's

I believe a consensus may be that "you lay down your money and takes your chances". Guess I have been fortunate to have had fewer disappointments than others may have experienced, with one project or another. Some great photos in this thread.

Cheers;
Lefty

I think you revolvers look good especially considering the age and conditon before hand. You also have to take into consideration that the bluing techniques have changed dramaically from that time period.

I have a RM that needs some timing work...probably by welding up and re-fitting the tip of the hand (it is worn or filed to a point). I have been planning to send it off to Dave when I have the money. Can Ford's do this type of work, too? Not looking for a refinish.

Rob

Hello Rob
As far as I know, Ford's custom Gun refinishing is Primarily a Refinishing shop, not a Machine shop. Although I am sure Horace Ford could do fine machine work as he has the Machines to do so it is not their speciality. I want to Make it perfectly clear here, that I do give Credit where credit is due, as David Chicoine did Excellent Machine work & The fitment on my Barrel's, Other than Leaving one sight pin too Long as shown in one of my pictures, The barrel's fitment & function is superior, it was just the final finish work of the barrel's that I was not pleased with. Even though geting the Bluing color to Match my Gun's frame color wise, would have been very difficult as we are speaking of Two very different Bluing processes used here I feel the "final polish work" of my Barrel's was a bit rushed and not done to the level of deep shine that my Gun's frame or original Barrel have, which I was some what confused over as he had my Gun and it's original barrel in his shop as a prefect example to compare the final finish with, and from what I have been told the shine of a Gun's bluing is simply achieved by the final polishing effort's Placed before they hit the Bluing Salt's Tank. In the future, I would consider using David Chicoine again for more machine work or part's fitment if I needed that service done but as far as my Gun's final refinishing goes, Ford's Custom Gun Refinishing in Florida get's my vote for that...


One thing here I forgot to touch on is that Some claim to give warranties out there on their work, and Unlike most other's in the refinishing Business Ford's back their Gun refinishing with a full One Year warranty once a gun leaves there shop. I have never had to send anything back to them that they have done for me but, I had a friend of mine that sent his 38-44 Heavy Duty Revolver to Ford's for a refinish and about 14 Month's or so after it was done by them the cylinder started to change color as it looked to be Plum in color. He contacted me as I had recommended them & I told him to Give Ford's a call as they Backed their work with a One Year warranty. They asked him to send the gun's cylinder to them, and Horace Re-blued it again. I asked Horace what may have caused this color change from Deep shinny Bluing to a Plum Hue color ? He shared with me that due to the fact that those older Cylinder's had a Very High Nickel content in their cylinder's Molecular metal structure when they were forged, the nickel was sometimes hard to Penetrate fully when using the Hot Tank style of Bluing Method. They re-did the cylinder and sent it back to my Friend "No Charge" that is how well their work is backed by a good warranty, or the conscience of their work out there once it leaves their shop.

I just ran into this post today & decided to add my two cents worth....
I have had two guns restored by Ford's and one by George Roghaar (also mentioned as a good restoration source on this forum). The two guns sent to Ford's were Registered Magnums & the gun sent to Roghaar was a pre-27. Although in each instance Ford's took months longer than promised, I must say that their work was excellent & that I would not hesitate to recommend them. I cannot say the same for the second restorer.

I would not be happy with the obliterated S&W logo (Chicoine, Jr.) on the side plate. But, in fairness to all concerned, I did not see the condition of the side plate prior to refinish. It seems to me that some of these refinish guys should invest in some roll dies. That would put them miles ahead of the other shops.....

Durco,

Sounds like Fords already has the S&W Trade Mark roll stamp.

__________________
Jim
S&WCA #819

I recently sent Ford's an extremely rare Post War .357 Transition gun with a 3.5" barrel. It was shipped in December of 1948. It had been re-blued many years ago & wasn't horrible, but deserved better. Below are photos of the gun as I received it. I will follow up with after photos once Ford's complete their work. Horace & Larna are the only people that I would trust with this gun.

Attached Images

	Transitional 1.jpg (39.6 KB, 69 views)
	Transitional 6.jpg (39.0 KB, 65 views)

Very nice, what I can see of it. Your gun deserves a thread of its own! And more pics when you get them - please!

__________________
John
S&WCA Life Member

I am enjoying being the new owner of the 1899 #313 and seeing its restoration history here. Although my K-frame collecting emphasis is on the 4th change subgroup from the 1930s, I love having low serial numbers in my collection. The # 313 plays that role nicely.

Regarding Dave Chicoine, Sr. and Jr., they are sorely missed in the restoration community. They never messed up a project for me and made it possible to resuscitate some nice items.

Idea: Maybe we should start a thread on experiences with restorers. Although I used Chicoines exclusively (never had the reason to go elsewhere until they shut down), I have heard a lot of positives and negatives about other restorers. I will give this some thought; I think this part of the forum could be the best place to start such a thread. It might grow into a separate section of the Forum.

I am sure Ford's will do a good Job but that is One I would have left alone.

I just received my 3.5" Transitional .357 back from Ford's. I feel that they did an exceptional job. The grips should be (post war) diamond magna rather than pre war, but the early post war ones are very difficult to find to fit the Transitional N frame, which has a slightly longer butt than a pre-27.

Ford's turn around time was less than two months. I posted some quick photos below, but can provide better quality pictures for anyone interested.

Attached Images

	DSCN5867.jpg (114.7 KB, 724 views)
	DSCN5861.jpg (119.3 KB, 706 views)
	DSCN5863.jpg (120.8 KB, 706 views)

oldmcdonald,
Turned out great to me!! The finish looks liquid!

__________________
Miss Buddies crsides & fat tom

Boy someone mentioning the C word again. Don't you know a moderator is lying in the bushes waiting to whack you on your ..........!

__________________
Don Mundell

A beautiful revolver, quick turn-around and a happy ending (so to speak). What more could a guy ask for?

This one needs its own thread with the before and after photos...

Beautiful gun and I love the grips.

__________________
Richard
Engraved S&W fan

This is a M&P 32 Long with a 5" bbl made in 1948. There were only 4,813 of this caliber made between Jan 19, 1948 and Feb 3, 1950. They were made in 2', 4", and 5" bbl lengths, with the 4" being the most common. Only 910 were made in 5' bbl length. I bought it at a gun show for $75, the dealer had it on his table with a bunch of M&P 38 Spls and hadn't checked the caliber. It had been poorly buffed and reblued in the past. It was restored by Dave Chicoine Sr a number of years ago for me. The purplish color on the frame in the bottom picture is cause by oil on the gun, the bluing is perfect.