Found a 3rd model ,need help

[coronjs]

I came across a third model 44 HE at a gun show yesterday. It is in excellent mechanical condition. It is a nickle 5" with period correct grips ( not numbered ) at all. The gun has some problems with the finish on the cylinder and crane,but otherwise the remainder of the finish is about 85%
The barrel is dark and slightly pitted. The inside of the cylinder is great.

My question is, should I have it refinished ? I have a good smith that can strip it and blue it perfectly, or should I leave it as is and shoot it.

What is the value unaltered as opposed to professionally redone ? I can post pics as soon as my wife returns ( she is in Russia adopting a new grand daughter )

 

[LEO918]

Personally I wouldn't have it refinished. As a shooter the original finish would be much preferred. If you strip the original finish it will be considered a no finish gun.

 

[rburg]

Leave the finish as it is. Spend the couple of hundred bucks on ammo. Better still, spend it on a reloading outfit for the gun. Still better, if you reload, buy components for the 44!

The economics aren't there to refinish. The gun is worth as much in its present condition as it will bring if you refinish it. The money you blow on a refinish will never be recovered when it comes time to sell it. Most of us would greatly prefer an original gun to a refinished one.

 

[Oldiron]

Coronjs, The refinishing question will stir up a hornets nest. Personally I use a simple rule, if the finish is original I leave it alone. If it isn't original, what the heck, refinish and have a good looking shooter. I just finished a 4th change last week that the nickle was flaking off and looked terrible. A box of Brownell's room temp nickel remover and a bottle of Classic rust blue and bingo, a shooter that looks good. I have a 32-20 I picked up Sat I will do the same thing to but this time I am going to try the Belgian blue.
Open the cylinder and in the area of the assembly numbers see if there is an N or a B also pull the grips and look around the grip locator pin and under the ejector rod where the s/n is stamped. The B (blue) or N (nickel) may be there instead/also. I have a '53 vintage .32 I frame with about the same nickel that you described and since it has the N under the crane, it stays as is. Hope this helps, but most of all enjoy.
Larry

 

[coronjs]

Decided not to refinish

After cleaning over 70 years of crud and dirt with solvent and compressed air and cleaning barrel I have decided to keep everything as is.
All parts are original as well as the service stocks with no medallion. the rifling is strong even if a little brown and pitted it should be a good shooter.
I will load some 6.5 of Unique and a 421429 SWC. I hope it proves to be a keeper.

 

[Dave T]

I will load some 6.5 of Unique and a 421429 SWC.

Don't mean to sound like I'm giving you a hard time but that's a heavy load for a pre-War 44 Special. The factory load back then was a 246g lead RN at 750 fps. I'm betting that's a much lower pressure load than your 6.5g of Unique behind a 250g SWC. Your gun and you can do what you want but I would load originals for that old warrior. Period matching loads may have a better chance of shooting where the sights look too.

Just sayin',
Dave

 

[50 target]

Don't mean to sound like I'm giving you a hard time but that's a heavy load for a pre-War 44 Special. The factory load back then was a 246g lead RN at 750 fps. I'm betting that's a much lower pressure load than your 6.5g of Unique behind a 250g SWC. Your gun and you can do what you want but I would load originals for that old warrior. Period matching loads may have a better chance of shooting where the sights look too.

Just sayin',
Dave

Dave, I don't know that that particular load is all that stout for a 44 special. I believe that gun should have a heat treated cylinder. I used to shoot 6.5 gr with a 240 swaged Speer and it was extremely mild and very accurate. Now raise that load to 7.5 gr with a 250 gr and she becomes a totally different gun altogether. My 50 Target has digested a lot of the load I quoted with no ill effects. I remember reading an article by one of our old writers/sages and he stated that he used the 6.5 gr Unique with a 250 gr SWC in a New Serice Target and shot lots and lots of them with no beating the gun to pieces. Honestly with the NS I would be a llittle more gentle just from the standpoint of no locking point up front and the tendency of Colt's to wear quicker, but not from a strength standpoint. Like you, comfort levels vary.
Bob

 

[Dave T]

Dave, I don't know that that particular load is all that stout for a 44 special. I believe that gun should have a heat treated cylinder. I used to shoot 6.5 gr with a 240 swaged Speer and it was extremely mild and very accurate. Now raise that load to 7.5 gr with a 250 gr and she becomes a totally different gun altogether. My 50 Target has digested a lot of the load I quoted with no ill effects. I remember reading an article by one of our old writers/sages and he stated that he used the 6.5 gr Unique with a 250 gr SWC in a New Serice Target and shot lots and lots of them with no beating the gun to pieces. Honestly with the NS I would be a llittle more gentle just from the standpoint of no locking point up front and the tendency of Colt's to wear quicker, but not from a strength standpoint. Like you, comfort levels vary.
Bob

Bob,

If you're comfortable with it more power to you. I wasn't trying to start an argument, just offering a cautionary opinion. I tend to think of guns from before the Magnum era (1935) as more suitable for the original 44 Special performance level. Good luck and good shooting.

Dave

 

[Muley Gil]

"Don't mean to sound like I'm giving you a hard time but that's a heavy load for a pre-War 44 Special."

I believe old Elmer might disagree with you.

 

[Dave T]

"Don't mean to sound like I'm giving you a hard time but that's a heavy load for a pre-War 44 Special."

I believe old Elmer might disagree with you.

And, old Elmer blew up his share of guns too!

Dave

 

[29aholic]

Dave,
It's good to see people posting words of caution. FWIW 8.5gr of Unique with a 240 lswc is about 950fps in a 44 magnum. Dropped 2gr even in a special case is probably safe.

 

[Oldiron]

Our collectables were Old Elmer's buy by the dozen and throw them away when they were worn out or he blew them up. Little difference in us running 10,000 rnds through a mod 10.

 

[Muley Gil]

"And, old Elmer blew up his share of guns too!"

I read statements like that fairly often. I believe I have read all of Elmer's handgun books and the only reference I have found is a Colt Single Action Army that had the loading gate blown off. Elmer said that the load was a 300 grain .45-90 bullet sized to .454" and 35 grains of FFg black powder. He stated that a weak case let go, breaking the shank of the loading gate.

This incident lead him to use the .44 Special as his ideal cartridge. His load, in ballon head cases, was 18.5 grains of 2400, topped with a 250 grain semiwadcutter of his design. He fired many of these rounds in a Triple Lock Target. When solid head cases came out, he cut back to 17.5 grains of 2400.

If he had blown up any other guns, he would have written about them too.

 

[TACC1]

As usual, the Forum is full of good advice, on just about any firearms related issue. As far as the refinish is concerned, why not wait awhile
and see how you feel in six months. You'll have a better feel for the
subject, and you'll know what you really want. TACC1