Back in mid-2009 I found a 38/44HD at an AL gunshow at a Police Supply vender table. It was ruff to say the least, but the price was right (little did I know). It seemed OK at the table although it had little finish, but cycled across all 6 chambers. "I didn't look too close" for $300. The adventure begins! Got it home for a closer look, opended the cylinder and observed some YAHOO had done reconstruction around the hand slot on the recoil shield with a file! Ouch!!! The action seemed smooth as butter, it seemed to index OK! Fast forward to range time, loaded with real bullets it hangs up on two chambers. Timing is not good. Endshake is notable. The idea of parts gun or custom rebuild enters my head. A very expensive thought!!! What to do? I fired off an email to David Chicoine at oldwestgunsmith.com . We talked and he said send it to him and he would assess the work needed. Boxed up and shipped out! A few days later he says "I can fix it and bring it back to factory specs". And oh by the way the barrel has been set back at least once and the barrel is ringed at the breech end! Looks like somebody shot some really hot loads thru it! What to do! This thing has now taken on the color of mission status, it has a life of its own. I could not bring myself to bury this old warhorse. I gulped, "please fix it". It went into the Q to wait out its time for the workbench.
Meanwhile, in the days/weeks that followed, while surfing the net I found, of all things, a factory unfinished 38/44 postwar 6" barrel. It had tons of machine tool marks and grooves on the surface. It also had been threaded and roll stamped. I figured it had to be a factory reject, however the bore was mint and of course unfired. I contacted David and he said that it would be very expensive to get it polished to the point of installing it on my HD. What to do? Decided it was not worth it. This was already getting expensive. Fast forward a few weeks later.
Was visiting a gunsmith friend at his shop (does only Colt SAA restorations) and he says why don't you polish out the barrel yourself? Why not!!! I took a crash course on gun polishing and saw the Harry Potterfield video a gullizion times. Being retired I had all the time I needed. It took about 3 weeks of hit and miss effort but it shaped up to a usable product. Got it to David who was just getting the HD on the bench, timing is everything! David did an outstanding job on the old gun, bringing it back to a 100% functional 38/44. It now needed a blue job.
I decided on Fords as they had done some guns in the past for me and I was very pleased with their work. Called Fords Gun Refinishing for the final phase. Talked to Larna and explained what I wanted done (high polish blue) with attention given to keeping the lettering as high as possible. They did their magic and here is the final product, A custom "JUST FOR ME" 38/44 that is virtually brand new built the way I lik'em.
Meanwhile, in the days/weeks that followed, while surfing the net I found, of all things, a factory unfinished 38/44 postwar 6" barrel. It had tons of machine tool marks and grooves on the surface. It also had been threaded and roll stamped. I figured it had to be a factory reject, however the bore was mint and of course unfired. I contacted David and he said that it would be very expensive to get it polished to the point of installing it on my HD. What to do? Decided it was not worth it. This was already getting expensive. Fast forward a few weeks later.
Was visiting a gunsmith friend at his shop (does only Colt SAA restorations) and he says why don't you polish out the barrel yourself? Why not!!! I took a crash course on gun polishing and saw the Harry Potterfield video a gullizion times. Being retired I had all the time I needed. It took about 3 weeks of hit and miss effort but it shaped up to a usable product. Got it to David who was just getting the HD on the bench, timing is everything! David did an outstanding job on the old gun, bringing it back to a 100% functional 38/44. It now needed a blue job.
I decided on Fords as they had done some guns in the past for me and I was very pleased with their work. Called Fords Gun Refinishing for the final phase. Talked to Larna and explained what I wanted done (high polish blue) with attention given to keeping the lettering as high as possible. They did their magic and here is the final product, A custom "JUST FOR ME" 38/44 that is virtually brand new built the way I lik'em.
