I just snagged this from gunbroker. I think it's worth the money just for the parts alone. If I me or my gunsmith can fix the timing issues I'm going to chop it up into something really small.

(Mods please note that this is a completed auction listing)

Smith & Wesson Hand Ejector Handgun : Revolvers at GunBroker.com

If timing is all that is wrong with it and a gunsmith can't fix those issues, then he/she shouldn't be a gunsmith. That will be a fun project.

Hi twaits,

Did you see the other one the same Seller had? ( Sold late last night )...

Was an early ( 20,000 Serial Range if memory serve ) 1902 in .38 Special/U.S.Service Ct'g.

Had the same description as for condition as yours did.

I thought about bidding on it!! But, demured.

I hope the innards on yours are being effected by merely some old hardened Grease, and nothing more or worse.

Good luck with it!

I did not see that. How much did it sell for?

70-something...


I admire the Seller for offering so forthright a Listing on these two...no BS, no hype, no super high starting bid.

Yeah it was Gander Mountain. I bought one of my 1903 Colt Pocket Hammers from those guys. They are GREAT to deal with.

You absolutely cannot go wrong with that buy. Keep us informed as the project progresses!

__________________
David Wilson

I would have gone after the other one, but I had just ran off with my wad of modest Savings to get an m1917, so...I sort of felt I best Hold my Horses for a while and not get too carried away! Lol...

Were one to be intending to Snubbify into a Pocket-Carry way of Faith, and to Bob the Hammer and so on, the m1902 'M&P' of course has the additional advantage of having no Screw in the Trigger Bow upper area, thus being more inviting to allow an Homage to Mr. Fitz Gerald, were one so inclined. Which would have been my intrerest or purpose ( and now I am kicking myself for NOT going after it! Oh well...so it goes...sigh...)

Otherwise, one has to wait till the Model 10, and, to have to deal with how the front Sight and four-line-add'y and so on, is all wrong for the period one is most enamored with or by, so...

But, I do not know if I would have had the Heart to do it...if it'd had a Bulged or already cut Barrel, then, "yes", but, even worn and grey as it was, and purported to have internal troubles, I probably could not have brought myself to cut it, so, just as well I s'pose, that I demured.

Anyway, looking forward to seeing what you end up doing with yours twaits!

Looks like a great project gun, keep us posted.

If I had seen that one theres a good chance I would have bought that one too.

The thing cleaned up pretty decent. As you can see in the first picture the innards were pretty grimy and rusty. The action would bind up and was very sticky. I let it soak overnight in some Wipe Out Tactical Advantage and the rust and grime pretty much ran right out of it. I took the whole thing apart and cleaned all of the individual parts. Cleaned up the rust on the outside with steel wool and the Wipe out. Then cleaned it off lubed it up with CLP and put it back together. The action is now nice and smooth although a hair out of time. I still wouldn't hesitate to shoot it as is.
I will probably hack the barrel down shorter at some point. The grips are from one of my other S&W top breaks so I still need to find some I frame grips if anyone else out there has some I can buy.

Gander Mt. Pics:





Rusty and grimy:



Much better:

Dang, looks 100 percent better already!!!!!!!!!

That's just not right, twaits! You shouldn't show off like that when you get such a steal... you'll lose all your good karma or something.

All kidding aside, that was a great catch and will make a really fine project to play with and try out your wildest ideas. Your investment is minimal (laughable?) and no one can accuse you of messing up a fine collectible. Congrats! I feel the same way about the old 38 Regulation Police I got for just $75 and like you will someday get a wild hair and go all out on a tiny custom.

Froggie

A little shorter now. Now hopefully I can remount the original front sight.

Let me know how you mount the front sight. I have a refinished Victory Model in the exact same configuration with no front sight. I liked the length but I need to finish it.

Twaits,

Another great find and more for the buck than a real nice. 'Cause you get to have a lot more fun 'tweakin' it. With a nicer gun all you can do is clean it and put it away until ready to shoot it. But you'll get hours of pleasure with that one.
Just a little tapping with a flat nosed punch on the ratchet teech on the side contacted by the hand will put it right back in time for another 10 years or so.

__________________
Jim
S&WCA #819

Just did a Brazilian 1917.
After cutting out the front sight and base, first rough out a curve in the underside of the sight base with a rat tail file. Then, to get the exact barrel curvature I use the piece of barrel that's left over wrapped with 220 sand paper in a vice to recurve the bottom of the sight base to match the barrel. Then silver solder back on the gun with the new low temp silver solder.

__________________
Jim
S&WCA #819

You really like those fat rubber grips don't you? Late production 32 and now lighter that it left the factory. Let us know how the front sight turns out. If you cut it off the original barrel, wouldn't it be lower when reinstalled? Might shoot high. That action has not seen an oil can in a long time.

I am waiting for my 6" Third Change to arrive, but I will not be cutting off that barrel.

Attached Images

	1903 32 HE1.jpg (32.2 KB, 33 views)
	1903 32 HE3.jpg (14.8 KB, 25 views)

Okay so the installation of the front sight was a bitch. But I finally got it on there and I can't seem to snap it off with my fingers so I think it's going to hold.
I filed a flat on the barrel and filed the bottom of the sight flat. I first modified a C clamp with two slots to fit over the front sight and under the barrel. Degreased the parts and fluxed them then clamped them. Tried to run the silver solder in there but it just beaded up and ran off. Finally built the solder up a bit and was just going to file it off the sides but as soon as I got a file on there it fell off.
So I read a little more in my gunsmithing books and decided to try sweating it on now that I had a film of solder on both parts. After 5 more tries I finally got it to hold. The clamp wasn't going to work so with my shaky hand, pliers and a torch I finally was able to hold the sight straight enough and steady enough. I held my breath and held the sight in place free hand then let go.
It looked good and I walked away for an hour or so. After it cooled it looked like it was going to stay so I cleaned it up with a file and sandpaper.
I'm out of cold blue so I wasn't able to blend the patina just yet.

If anyone has any suggestions for an easier way to do this please let me know. Maybe it's just one of those things you have to keep doing until you get a touch for it and it becomes easier.
Anyway, here's what it looks like now.

When I cut the front sight off I hacked it well underneath the sight into the barrel. this way I was able to file off the excess and keep the entire front sight without losing any material.

Very business-like looking little shooter.

__________________
I need ammo, not a ride.

Good job! Sounds like you did it right. I have used a Quick Grip Micro Bar Clamp and take off the rubber pads. It seems to hold parts together well and does not act as a heat sink like bigger C clamps. The only problem I have had with using solder is that bluing never takes on the solder.

That's the ticket! Looks quite good and didn't take you long to go to work on that project.

If you get all the solder off of the outside of the joint it'll touch up nicely without white streaks of solder showing thru. It doesn't add to the strength of the joint anyway, it's not like welding. The strength is in the two surfaces sweated together.

__________________
Jim
S&WCA #819

twaits:
Looks good ! I was horrified when I read that you wanted to chop an intact HE, but I have to say it looks pretty right as you have it now. I wouldn't even blue it any further - it now looks, um, experienced !
Let us know how it shoots.

Larry

I agree, the original patina looks great.
Nice job. Looking forward to a range report.

Really like that gun Twaits! With that front sight, it reminds me of the backup guns the old city cops use to carry.

Looks like a keeper, for sure! I've got a .38 RP awaiting
some internal work. With the 1950's era I-frame stocks, it
feels just right in my hand. That frame size just seems Right!
Really looking forward to your Range report. Nothing makes
a better feeling than a successful shooting session. Mine tends
to not re-set after firing.
TACC1

The trigger reset is probably just a weak return spring or it's just gummed up. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy these old Smiths come apart and go back together.

That HE looks just right with that shorter barrel. What'd it turn out to be, looks like just over 3"? The barrel & sight look great as is, I wouldn't try to blue it. If the return (rebound) spring is weak, a repalcement is easy to come by if it takes the same size spring as the JKLN revolvers. Midway sells singles by Wolff in various weights. Stock for the later revolvers is 18# per Wolff, I have 13# springs in mine & they work fine.

The barrel is just a hair over 2 1/2" It probably looks longer than it is because these .32s are pretty tiny.

Here's the range report. Only 7 yards off hand but that's really all I expect for a range with something like this. It shot a little low with a 6'oclock hold on the black circle in the center. But if I held the sight in the center of the target I would pretty much be right on so I'm going to leave the height of the front sight alone. I was pretty impressed with it actually. It did better than I expected.