HomeSmith Trainwreck: Mr. Fitz

[Shotguncoach]

I've been trying to move up from Trainwrecks to working on nicer revolvers, but I have to admit.....bringing Trainwrecks back to service is fun.

Like any good addict, I "moved on" from Trainwrecks by not changing a darn thing in my search habits. Along with a very nice pair of Model 15's (I said I was trying...), I found this little gem. For the princely sum of $200 I became the proud owner of a state of the art CCW piece from around 120 years ago.

Project name: Mr. Fitz

 

[Shotguncoach]

Based on the serial number and my 4th edition Standard Catalog, Mr. Fitz appears to be a very early Model 1902. The Model 1902 serial number range is 20976-33803 with manufacturing dates of 1902-1903. Mr. Fitz is number 22990 so I'm going to guess early-to-mid 1902.

In addition to the hammer bob and trigger guard cutaway, Mr. Fitz appears to have had his barrel shortened. The best I can say about the front sight blade is that it appears to be straight and is mostly attached.

Whoever did the Fitz conversion appears to have done a fairly good job on the area where the trigger guard used to be. We've got some freckles and a fair amount of surface rust, but the pits don't seem to be really massive. Overall, Mr. Fitz has managed to accumulate fewer scars than I have.

 

[Shotguncoach]

The left side stock panel has the name J H Sanders inscribed on the inside, along with another word that I can't make out. Any suggestions about the other word would be appreciated...

Edit: the random dog hair is courtesy of my buddy Max

 

[Shotguncoach]

So how does Mr. Fitz look on the inside?

Starting with the barrel, I see some ugly fouling, some pitting, and what might be a ring in the bore. We'll find out more about that after a good scrubbing.

Speaking of scrubbing, the chambers look like they haven't been cleaned since Teddy Roosevelt was in office. They look to be more fluffy than pitted so there may be hope.

Mr. Fitz is also missing one leg from his ejector star. He will still eject the empty cases that I use to support ejector stars when descrewing ejector rods, so there's some hope there too. I really don't expect Mr. Fitz to see any extensive range time. What's left of the star may be enough.

 

[Shotguncoach]

How about 'dat gap? Let me tell you friend, Mr. Fitz has got gap. Lots of gap. Everywhere.

With a wedge in place, our cylinder gap measured out at .009". Not great, not terrible.

I should have guessed that something was up when the emotional support llama ran away as I was trying to find a feeler gauge big enough to measure the cylinder gap without the wedge. Venturing into an area of my feelings that I have never explored, I finally found something to fill the emptiness and got a measurement of .022"

Wow..

I see a barrel set-back in my future.

The emotional support llama stuck his head out from behind the safe and told me "At least you don't have to worry about fouling build up!" I threw a screwdriver at him and he went away again.

With .013" (!!!) of endshake, it really shouldn't come as a surprise that the .068" maximum gauge just kinda fell through the canyon between the cylinder and the recoil shield. (Question: if I use a gauge to check the rear gauge, is that a rear gauge gauge? I want to get my terminology correct )

 

[Shotguncoach]

With his sideplate off, Mr. Fitz looks surprisingly good. The trigger return flat spring is in place and everything works. Carryup on all chambers is good and the cylinder stop pops into place just before the end of the double action trigger stroke.

Looking at the sideplate itself, there is a glob of what appears to be JB Weld where the trigger stud fits into the sideplate. I'm not sure yet what the purpose of this is...it may be an early form of shimming the trigger, or it may be a repair of a waller'd out hole. Stay tuned for more on that one.

The strain screw didn't want to come out so Mr. Fitz sat in a vise with his butt in the air for a week while a few drops of Kroil worked their magic. The strain screw came out today with no issue.

Once the strain screw was out, the rest of the insides were moved to the outside and the major pieces of Mr. Fitz were boiled for 30 minutes to kill the surface rust. All the pieces have been carded and actually look pretty good. Mr. Fitz is currently relaxing in a bath of Wonder Drug Four Zero.

We'll be back tomorrow with more updates....same bat time, same bat channel.

 

[stansdds]

0.013" end shake? I'd say that Fitz train wreck got fired a lot. A whole lot! Perhaps even saw a good amount of .38-44 HD ammo?

 

[max503]

That gun definitely deserves to see the light of day. How much more it sees is up to someone like you who knows more about guns than someone like me.

Thank you for posting. There is a special place in my heart for Fitz's even though I have never actually seen one.

 

[mikerjf]

There's a J H Sanders car dealer around Madera CA... also a J H Sanders Sr 1834-1924 on Findagrave in Pickens County, AL which seems promising.

Seems like your other word should be a town name, maybe? But there's nothing around the above two locations that seems to fit. Some examples: Chowchilla, Pickensville, Delmaville...

 

[Shotguncoach]

Mr. Fitz came back from his trip to the spa looking very dapper.

A pair (I can't believe I just typed that) of .005" cylinder shims found their way into the cylinder as the pieces were reassembled. This brought our endshake down to .003" and set the cylinder crevasse at .019-.022" with and without the wedge. The rear gauge is now in spec with the .068" rear gauge gauge not entering the gap at all.

It's obvious that Mr. Fitz has had clearance issues for quite some time. After resetting the rear gauge, the first few cycles of the action had a hint of "my hand is just slightly too wide" hesitation in the double action pull. It's getting better with use so I'm just going to let it wear itself in.

 

[Shotguncoach]

The chambers and the bore sort-of cleaned up. It all looks pretty rough but seems shootable.

There's a hint of a S&W logo showing now on the sideplate. Other than that and the serial numbers I haven't been able to find any markings on the gun at all.

 

[Shotguncoach]

After posing for a few glamour shots, Mr. Fitz allowed me to test his double action trigger pull: 8 1/2 lbs. Not too shabby.

The single action sear is still functional and it's possible to cock the hammer, but only by partially cycling the action and grabbing the hammer/firing pin with your thumb. After having it slip out from under my thumb twice at the bench I talked it over with the emotional support llama and we agreed that Mr. Fitz is double action only from now on.

 

[Shotguncoach]

I've fired The Geezer with the original itty-bitty stocks in place and with the size of my hands it just plain sucks, so Mr. Fitz needed new shoes before we made a range trip.

After performing the proper rituals and stirring the pile for a bit, 3 sets of round butt magna stocks and a few grip adapters floated to the top. I know these aren't anywhere close to "proper" for the time Mr. Fitz comes from, but I'm reasonably sure that his previous owners had a "pretty is as pretty does" attitude about modifications.

Since I had enough stocks and adapters to do 3 guns, The Geezer and Squibly popped in for some new shoes of their own and a group photo.

It was time for a geriatric range trip......

 

[Shotguncoach]

Based solely on interpolation of the serial number and year ranges in the 4th edition Standard Catalog (I haven't been able to ask Mr. Jinks for ship dates on The Boys yet), I'm making an educated guess that todays range trip had guns from 1902 (Mr. Fitz), 1904 (The Geezer) and 1906 (Squibly).

Mr. Fitz was the first up and showed that even at 122 years old with a cylinder gap big enough to throw a dead cat through and a bore rougher than truck stop toilet paper, he was still capable of showing the youngsters how it's done.

The first cylinder was Federal 148 grain wadcutter target loads as a test, then all subsequent shots were with my standard load of 3.5 grains of Bullseye, a 158 grain LSWC from Missouri Bullet Company, and whatever brand of small pistol primers happened to be in the Dillon at the moment. This batch of primers appeared to be from Winchester.

Shooting standing with two hands at 7 yards, Mr. Fitz was able to reliably plunk every shot into the black. The broken ejector rod star turned out to be a non-issue, as did the rough chamber walls. The empty shells (both factory and mixed brass reloads) fell from the chambers without any stickiness at all.

After putting about 50 shots through Mr. Fitz, I pulled Short & Sweet off my belt and contemplated the two of them for a few minutes. Things haven't really changed that much in 120 years.....

At the end of the day I put up a new target and fired 6 shots each from The Geezer, Squibly, and Mr. Fitz. Sadly, I threw one shot left with Mr. Fitz because my left thumb decided to be stupid for a moment and messed up a really neat group. I can't blame Mr. Fitz for that one though because he put the other 5 right up Main Street with the rest of them.

I hope that somehow J H Sanders knows that Mr. Fitz is still on duty.

 

[mikerjf]

Shotguncoach, I been staring at that other word, and once I got "Okinawa" in my head it stuck... there's something following it, ending in "lice"... I try to see "Okinawa Police" but just can't get there.

I have to say it, might be worth a letter? LOL...