California Triple Lock- pictures added !

[ElToro]

2-27-10 see below for pics. so the grips are wrong ( pre war magnas ? ) and the thing has been cut but it just spoke to me. the soldered on sight (I am now led to beleive this maybe the actual sight that was on the gun further down the barrel but reshaped and resoldered on) has wear that is consistant with the rest of the gun so i think it was cut a long time ago. i can only imagine this was some bootleggers belly gun. i tried my best with the pics. any tips on what i should do to it ? barrel measures exaclty 3.5 inch from front of cylinder and the thing locks up tight and no play. bore is very good.

my orginial post--- I was at my buddy's shop today doing a DROS on an incoming rifle. Out of the corner of my eye on a shelf but not out for sale yet was an N frame. I asked if i could pick it up. They called the owner and asked if he would take my price and he said ok.

so the good news is the price was only $250. i've paid a lot more for a case of ammo lately

the ok news is while i didnt get to pop the grips, they are they style that i have seen on other triple locks and could be orig to the gun, but not likely they were diamond grips like you see on a 3rd model .44. however they had been varnished some time a long time ago as most of the varnish had worn off.

the bad news is that it has maybe 50% finish ( from honest wear, no rust) and has been cut to 3.5 inch and looks like maybe an old rifle front sight soldered on. also somebody milled out the rear combat sight area and tapped a little screw for some kind of rear sight, similar to what Bowen does for fixed sight J frames. well this did not discourage me and like i said i had my buddy at the shop call the seller and we threw out a low ball offer of $250 and it was accepted instantly. dang. should have offered less. apparently the guy buys public storage lockers at auction and occasionaly gets a gun and then sells them. old guy probly paid 20$ for the locker.

it looks like the cut job was done a long time ago. this is a seriously ugly belly gun that could probly tell some tales. this .44 special is serial # 806x dates to about 1911 ? if im reading the book correct. i bet Bowen could clean it up nice. maybe some vintage roper repros or executioner stags ? the action is slick as snot. i just had to have it. -

here it is with with Elmer's magnum opus

front sight macro

rear sight that somebody filed down and taped for an attempt at a crude fixed sight ?

 

[j38]

Congratulations! I'll look forward to your pictures. I always find old
"customized" guns very interesting - especially a T/L.

Regards,

Jerry

 

[moosedog]

Congradulations, it sounds like an interesting gun. Can't wait to see the photos.

 

[Gun-runner]

no pics yet becuz i have to wait 10 days. QUOTE]

Congrats on your new gun I would have bought it too. The 10 day wait makes us all feel so much safer too!
Can't wait for the pics. I love guns like this. The problem is they're relativley cheap and I end up with a bunch because I'm always thinking "What if I did this" with it.
My advice is to decide what you want to make of it and do it before buying something else and spending the funds to make it into what you want it to be. Don't forget the before and after picks either!

 

[opoefc]

El Toro, If you have a C&R license, You might want to check with the CA. DOJ and get yourself a Certificate of Eligibility. That avoids any 10 day waits for receiving your C&R firearms, you pays your money & walk OTD with the guns! Ed.

 

[ElToro]

i dont buy too many C&Rs this just happened to grab my eye and it needed a home. its such a nasty looking little belly gun i couldnt leave without it. I probly could have got it for $50 lesss but oh well. im happy with the price I paid

 

[ElToro]

photos added

 

[DCWilson]

That's just too cool for words. In general, it makes me sad to see old guns modified to suit the whims of an owner, but this one looks like it was modified so long ago that the changes have become an integral part of the gun's historical identity. Besides, it looks like whoever modified this one kind of knew what he was doing. This is way better than a rushed and awful hacksaw plus file modification. I wish I knew the story about that rear sight.

If I understand, you think that is the original half round sight filed down and ramped to make a proper sight picture for its new location three inches further back on the barrel? The blade looks a little thin to me. Did the earliest TLs have 1/16" blades, or even thinner?

Those stocks certainly look like prewar magnas. They fit the longer prewar frame and the checkered fields have sharp corners. Have you pulled them to see what kind of steel rounds they have inside?

+1 on the C&R/COE document combination in California. Even if you mostly buy non-C&R guns, the COE will let you buy more than one gun every 30 days for firearms of any manufacture date. Might be worth checking out.

 

[ElToro]

David, it is my understanding the 30 day rule does not apply to used (consignment/ PPT) handguns, as more than once in various shops, I have bought 2 used guns at the same time.

thanks, yeah i dont think any of us would do this to this TL gun today, but way back when maybe even when this gun was only 10 or20 years old, nobody thought anything of it. but back then i imagine triple locks were a dime a dozen. and the heavy wear is there, just not abused. somebody handled this gun a LOT

the grips do fit the gun really well. i will try to get a photo of the backs of the grips off the gun up today.

 

[Big Fred]

Hey Tim, Thank You.

 

[Dave T]

" any tips on what i should do to it ?"

My best advice would be to sell it to me for a quick profit! (smiley face goes here)

Dave

 

[ElToro]

pics of the grips. no major chunks missing.

 

[DCWilson]

David, it is my understanding the 30 day rule does not apply to used (consignment/ PPT) handguns, as more than once in various shops, I have bought 2 used guns at the same time.

Yes, that's right. What I was trying to say, but without enough detail, was that with a COE you could make more than one direct purchase of new guns from the same or different FFLs within the 30-day limit. Not that those of us who like the old ones would find ourselves doing that too often.

Stocks: circle inserts "in the white" with no patent stamp -- looks like early prewar to me. I notice too the small round relief on the right panel for the head of the rear sideplate screw, which was still rounded in prewar guns. A flat panel would have held the panel off the frame if there had been no accommodation for the screw head.

Nice nice nice.

 

[Wyatt Burp]

Wow! Good going! I just bought a Colt New Service 45 Colt for $250 and go to San Rafael Tuesday to pick it up. I thought I did good but you got one of the best deals I've ever seen. Something good happened in California. Whoda thunk! Congradulations! Oh. Here's that Colt.

 

[ElToro]

WB -
thanks. i defintely need that tooled leather holster now. any idea where to get one

sacto to san rafael is a bit of a hoof. cool old Colt
Tim