HomeSmith Trainwreck #2 "The Geezer"

[Shotguncoach]

What I received was a rather nondescript bag, containing several other bags.....it was the gun parts hoarder version of the Russian doll sets.

Once it was all spread apart, there it was: the spring that cannot be found. As an added bonus there was a top sideplate screw also.

The serial number on the cylinder and barrel in the kit is 11885 if anyone wants to take a shot a dating this pile of treasure.

 

[Shotguncoach]

My 1/16" punch was just a bit too large for the pin holding the old, broken spring to the frame, so I had to use my special 'ordered from Japan via Amazon' 1.2mm punch to get it out. That thing is the best $18 I've ever spent. I thought it would only ever get used for front sight pins but it saved me today.

After getting the replacement rebound spring pinned in place it was time to reassemble all the pieces.

I will never again complain about installing a rebound slide and coil spring.

Ever.

Maybe there's an easy way to assemble this design, but I sure don't know what it is. There is a lever arm inside the trigger rebound piece that extends into the trigger, which appears to require the two rebound pieces, the trigger, and the hand to all go into place at once.....while the leaf spring is compressed.

If there was ever a time that I needed a third hand, this was it.

I ended up using a clamp to hold the spring mostly against the frame, got the trigger and rebound pieces started on their studs, then used two fingers of my left hand to guide the rebound pieces, three fingers of my right hand to guide the trigger and hand, while applying leverage to a small screwdriver with my left forearm (!!) to get the spring compressed that last little bit that the clamp wouldn't do.

Wow.

I thought it was strange when I had to use a piece of dental floss to tie the hand into place so that I could reassemble a large frame Dan Wesson. That was a cake walk compared to The Geezer.

In the end, all the pieces did finally go back into place.

 

[Shotguncoach]

So does it work? Yes, it does.

We came out with a 3 3/4 lb single action pull and a 9 lb double action pull. Both are incredibly smooth. Over 100 years of service has worn the parts together pretty well.

Placing some fired cases into the cylinder fixed the carryup on the two chambers that were slow. The cylinder stop spring is a bit weak but it will do the job for now.

Out of respect for the age of this old guy it's going to be shot with the lightest ammo I have available.

Range report tomorrow!

 

[RMFnLA]

Fun!

If it makes you feel any better, I just picked up three 1877 Colt Lightnings, all with the usual issues.

Here's the Sheriffs Model, the other two are 4-1/2".

The madness continues…

 

[Shotguncoach]

Today the Geezer came out of retirement and showed the young'uns how it was done in the old days.

The stocks are tiny and the sights are miniscule but it goes bang and puts holes in the right place. The first 6 shots were with Federal factory 148 grain wadcutters and worked perfectly. Hard primer hits and the empty cases fell out of the cylinder when the muzzle was raised.

The test with the target ammo went so well that I stepped up to my normal standard .38 load: 3.5 grains of Bullseye and a 158 grain lead semi-wadcutter from Missouri Bullet Company. These also worked perfectly in both single and double action even though they were a bit more stout than the target loads.

Geezer's front sight blade is bent slightly to the right, causing the impacts to drift left if I didn't compensate. In order to get it to hit the bullseye at 21 feet I had to hold at 3 o'clock on the line between the 9 and 10 rings on a B3 target and on the number '10' with an SR-1C target. Not horrible, but it needs fixing. I'm betting that a few judicious thumps with a lead babbitt bar will bring it back to where it needs to be.

Next up after the front sight thumping will be some quality time with Mother's Mag Wheel Polish to bring the finish back a bit.

The Geezer's 120th birthday is sometime this year. I would say the old guy is doing just fine....

 

[Shotguncoach]

After an hour with Mother's Mag Wheel Polish and a microfiber rag......

My wife asked me what I was doing, so I told her I just needed some alone time to polish my pistol. Not sure why she rolled her eyes that way.

 

[goatsnguns]

I tried making a new trigger return spring for an 1899 out of a later mainspring......almost worked......need to brush up on my heat treating abilities or lack thereof! It worked for about five trigger pulls then broke.

 

[steelslaver]

During HT temps are critical. You need to get it to 1500f, NO MORE, higher temps cause grain growth that will cause it to become brittle. Any simple way to tell it is close to 1500 is that a magnet will no longer be attracted to it at around 1420f so one more shade lighter red from there. I would also temper it at 750 for 2 hours, (molten lead will work) cool it off and temper it again for 2 hours. Hardening is changing the grain to martensite, and with low alloy steel that doesn't take much time, but tempering breaks up the martensite and that does take time to do a complete job. A double tempered piece will be superior and last way longer than one just snap tempered

 

[goatsnguns]

Jim,

Thanks for the information. I will give it another try this winter. I did get a lead pot for tempering.

Gary

 

[Muley Gil]

What I received was a rather nondescript bag, containing several other bags.....it was the gun parts hoarder version of the Russian doll sets.

Once it was all spread apart, there it was: the spring that cannot be found. As an added bonus there was a top sideplate screw also.

The serial number on the cylinder and barrel in the kit is 11885 if anyone wants to take a shot a dating this pile of treasure.

Those came from a 1899, so 1899-1902.

Not only did you get that rare spring, you also got an ejector rod knob!