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I wanted to take a few pictures of my Dad's old Chief's Special that I inherited after he passed away 15 years ago. My Dad bought this new in 1951-1952 and is somewhat rare in that it is Nickel. He carried this gun every single day of his life as both a back up gun and after retirement as his EDC carry gun. This revolver has been shot to Hell and back! I do not know how many rounds it has had through it but I'd venture to say well over 40,000 - 50,000. He used it to qualify, he shot it in many side matches for his agency and always practiced with it over 60+ years.
When I inherited this, not only did it look like a piece of junk, it did not function anymore. The timing was so off it wouldn't fire 60-70% of the time. He had been sick for few years and had not shot it in a while. After he passed I was aghast when I found out it was in this condition. I completely restored the mechanical aspect of the revolver. He had acquired all the proper parts, springs and screws BUT the extra parts were blued. Nickeled guns from this period were not all that common and I could just not find parts in Nickel - yes, I did try for a good amount of time and I do know most of the suppliers of vintage parts - no luck.
After restoring the revolver mechanically and testing it with 300 rounds, I addressed the black spots on the Nickel and had to make the blued parts look like Nickel - I had no inclination to actually Nickel them professionally as they would have looked "too good" to match the rest of the finish.
As you can see, my Dad reconfigured the front sight to make the little Revolver shoot dead nuts on with the 158 grain RNL which was the standard fodder of his time. That is also bare metal now as the Nickel finish was taken off when it was reshaped.
OK - so I polished the gun with a microfiber cloth and Flits. That made it at least look somewhat presentable. Then I worked on the small parts. I polished the front sight, the screw (yes in this model it is a TRUE screw and not a nut) that holds the cylinder release latch on, the screws that I had to fully restore as they were bunged up and bare metal (blue removed) and the Back strap and the cylinder which had a bunch of black areas on them. This work was all done 15 years ago and since the revolver came out pretty good I never perused finding true Nickeled parts and screws for the ones I polished with Flitz. While I only carry this gun on the day he was born and the day he died, I have shot it from time to time over the years. The timing is perfect, lock up is tight, everything functions as it should and it is 100% as reliable as a revolver can be. BTW, the grips are original.
Unfortunately, I did not take pictures before I did all this work - one of my flaws. That said, for a 72 - 73 year old hard working small revolver that was shot and shot and shot, I think it came out pretty good.
BTW, when I suggested Flitz and a Moto-tool there were a few caveats I forgot to mention. I forget that some have never done this sort of thing - sorry about that.
1) The revolver was beyond just a light refinish - it was a mess and there was little to risk!
2) I have 50 years of extensive experience with professional moto-tools (I use a Foredom Electric) and am highly skilled with them. I used them at work almost every day for many many years.
3) I took my time, went slowly and inspected often. I do know when to stop.
So that is my Flitz story for what it is worth. I do caution anyone taking something like this on to go slowly, gently, inspect often and only do this ONCE!
Regards,
Chief38
When I inherited this, not only did it look like a piece of junk, it did not function anymore. The timing was so off it wouldn't fire 60-70% of the time. He had been sick for few years and had not shot it in a while. After he passed I was aghast when I found out it was in this condition. I completely restored the mechanical aspect of the revolver. He had acquired all the proper parts, springs and screws BUT the extra parts were blued. Nickeled guns from this period were not all that common and I could just not find parts in Nickel - yes, I did try for a good amount of time and I do know most of the suppliers of vintage parts - no luck.
After restoring the revolver mechanically and testing it with 300 rounds, I addressed the black spots on the Nickel and had to make the blued parts look like Nickel - I had no inclination to actually Nickel them professionally as they would have looked "too good" to match the rest of the finish.
As you can see, my Dad reconfigured the front sight to make the little Revolver shoot dead nuts on with the 158 grain RNL which was the standard fodder of his time. That is also bare metal now as the Nickel finish was taken off when it was reshaped.
OK - so I polished the gun with a microfiber cloth and Flits. That made it at least look somewhat presentable. Then I worked on the small parts. I polished the front sight, the screw (yes in this model it is a TRUE screw and not a nut) that holds the cylinder release latch on, the screws that I had to fully restore as they were bunged up and bare metal (blue removed) and the Back strap and the cylinder which had a bunch of black areas on them. This work was all done 15 years ago and since the revolver came out pretty good I never perused finding true Nickeled parts and screws for the ones I polished with Flitz. While I only carry this gun on the day he was born and the day he died, I have shot it from time to time over the years. The timing is perfect, lock up is tight, everything functions as it should and it is 100% as reliable as a revolver can be. BTW, the grips are original.
Unfortunately, I did not take pictures before I did all this work - one of my flaws. That said, for a 72 - 73 year old hard working small revolver that was shot and shot and shot, I think it came out pretty good.
BTW, when I suggested Flitz and a Moto-tool there were a few caveats I forgot to mention. I forget that some have never done this sort of thing - sorry about that.
1) The revolver was beyond just a light refinish - it was a mess and there was little to risk!
2) I have 50 years of extensive experience with professional moto-tools (I use a Foredom Electric) and am highly skilled with them. I used them at work almost every day for many many years.
3) I took my time, went slowly and inspected often. I do know when to stop.
So that is my Flitz story for what it is worth. I do caution anyone taking something like this on to go slowly, gently, inspect often and only do this ONCE!
Regards,
Chief38
