HomeSmith Trainwreck: The Mixmasterpiece

[Shotguncoach]

New year, new Trainwreck!

Today's project was a re-rebuild. This gun was born in 1977 as a 15-4, then was rebuilt into a PPC gun by W. C. Cabell in Vermont. After a hopefully successful career in PPC, our poor subject fell on hard times, got addicted to meth, picked up a few diseases, and ended up selling itself to the lowest bidder.

Welcome to The Mixmasterpiece.

 

[Shotguncoach]

I didn't buy The Mixmasterpiece because I wanted a PPC gun. I bought it because it was cheap. Hammer price at the auction was $225. After fees, taxes, and shipping the total cost was just under $300 delivered to my FFL.

I picked him up on Christmas Day (we all have Christmas dinner with our FFL, right?), took a few pictures, and started researching W.C. Cabell. The all-knowing search engine brought me right back here to this post by Vtgw938. Per that thread, "W.C. Cabell was Walt Cabell, the Chief Game Warden in Vermont in the 70's and a avid gunsmith."

After letting that rattle around in the empty space between my ears for a while, I decided that if there was a personal connection between one of our members and the maker of the gun there was a conversation that needed to take place. On Monday, I reached out.....grrrr....strike that....too much time in the corporate world.....I sent a message to Vtgw938 on the SWCA forum. (We're all members of the SWCA right? If not, this is a great time to join!)

Over the next few days Vtgw938 and I talked back and forth about how he didn't need another one, but that he would check with the other retired wardens and the current group that was on the job to see if anyone was interested. He came up with two names of people who were possibly interested.

All this time, The Mixmasterpiece had been sitting in the safe in the new acquisition soft case (a Crown Royal bag). Today he came out for an inspection. I knew that there was surface rust on the rib and barrel and that there was a bad case of hammer push off but not much else. My plan was to fix the hammer push off, then boil and card the gun to stop the rust and put it back in the safe to await the resolution of the various conversations.

Everything about the Mixmasterpiece was dirty and scrungy, so all the insides were moved to the outside for a deep clean and the rib was removed from the barrel. The internals weren't too bad, but underneath the rib was trouble in the form of prehistoric loctite on the screws, rust, and a big glob of something in between the mounting holes. Looking at how the globs are arranged and how the rib sits on the barrel, I think it may be 40+ year old bedding compound that was used to "shim" the rib and reduce the amount of sight elevation needed for long shots. That's my theory. It may just be glop. In it's present state it's crumbling and little pieces fall off with just fingernail pressure.

 

[Shotguncoach]

The real tragedy was revealed when I attempted to clean the barrel. The pictures tell the tale of woe......

A "full stop" message was sent to Vtgw938 with pictures of the carnage. Between the unsafe condition created by the hammer push off and the sewer pipe bore, The Mixmasterpiece was no longer a viable candidate for a sale. I didn't want to inflict him on anyone else.

 

[Shotguncoach]

With all potential future deals cancelled and the true nature of the first trainwreck of the year revealed, I did what seemed appropriate: I took a nap.

When I woke up and extricated myself from the various dogs and cats that like to use me as a pillow, I had a plan. We can rebuild him. We have the technology.

After popping out the barrel pin with a cup-tipped punch, the MGW action wrench was installed and The Mixmasterpiece made the journey over the rainbow bridge to the place where guns are reborn.....the big vise in the sky.

While I was removing the barrel the emotional support llama scampered around the work room stirring the pile and crying softly to himself. When I returned from the garage there were two potential replacement barrels waiting for me and the emotional support llama was doing vodka shots behind the safe. If I keep bringing things like this home I'll have to get an emotional support animal for my emotional support animal.

The barrel from a 15-3 that met an unfortunate demise at an evidence destruction facility somewhere in Nevada fit the best and was chosen as the 'go forward' configuration.

A trip back to the garage...a little jump....a little snorkel....and we had something that resembled a gun again.

 

[Shotguncoach]

I never cease to be amazed at how good the people were that worked at the Smith & Wesson mothership during the glory days. (or, as my millennial employees put it "the 1900's" ) The replacement barrel and the original yoke, cylinder, and frame combined to give a .006" cylinder gap. The endshake measurement came in at .001" and the yoke was already perfectly aligned. That perked the emotional support llama up just a bit.

Things were looking up. I dismantled the cylinder using the handy dandy cylinder dismantling and remantling tool, and then dropped the frame, cylinder, sideplate, and yoke into the deep fryer for a 45 minute boil in distilled water.

I'm really starting to like using the deep fryer for boiling guns. It takes less distilled water than the pot I was using, and the removeable basket makes drying the pieces with compressed air quite easy. The Mixmasterpiece was starting to cooperate now and the carding wheel did a rather nice job of bringing back the original finish.

 

[Shotguncoach]

I tend to take a rather minimalist approach to trigger work. Other than the area of the frame where the rebound slide moves and the polish on the rebound slide itself, there is very little visual indication that I've been inside a gun. If you know what to look for you'll spot the bevel that I put at the top of the flag on the hammer block and the areas where the pieces that touch one another have been stoned, but I try very hard not to make it obvious.

Mr. Cabell, on the other hand, polished everything on the inside. The first two pictures below are how things looked when I first popped the sideplate off. The third picture is the bare frame after the boiling and carding. Is one method better than the other? Pull up a chair and let's talk....

Figuring out the source of the hammer push off involved the extremely scientific approach of swapping in 'known good' parts until the source was located. In this case it turned out to be the hammer. It's hard to tell in the picture, but there is substantially less sear surface on the left side of the hammer. (the down side in the picture)

The replacement hammer that I used was a service hammer instead of the original semi-target style simply because it's what I was using to test with and it fit well. I didn't even swap the double action sear....it just dropped in and worked like it had been born there. I took that as a sign that I should just shut up and be happy. When a gun tells me what it wants I try to listen.

 

[Shotguncoach]

As I was reassembling everything, I approached it as if nothing had been done inside and performed all my usual smoothing and stoning with the exception of the frame itself.

Did that make a difference? The trigger pull gauge says yes. During the initial inspection, the Mixmasterpiece had a double action pull of 8 1/2 pounds, a single action pull of 2 1/2 pounds, and 72 ounces of hammer tension. When I was done the double action pull was slightly over 7 1/2 pounds, the single action pull was dead on 2 pounds, and we had 50 ounces of hammer tension.

Does that mean I'm better? No it does not. It simply means that this gun, in this condition, with these parts, on this day, responded well to what I did. That's all. Keep in mind that it's probably been over 40 years since Mr. Cabell was inside this gun and there have been hard times since then.

I still needed a rear sight, so I moved to the shrine, drew the Smith & Wesson logo on the stone with sight blackening soot, and burned a set of Taurus stocks in the middle of it all. My offerings were accepted and a K-frame rear sight rose to the top of the pile.

Ok....maybe that was a slight exaggeration but that's what my wife says it looks like whenever I start looking for parts.

 

[Shotguncoach]

I don't mind rubber stocks on some guns for some uses, but I really prefer wood. I wanted something that would cover the scratches on the frame but all my "extra" target style stocks are non-relieved diamond targets that are too early in style for a 15-4. Expanding my search to the aftermarket drawer turned up a set of Herrett's Shooting Master stocks that worked quite well.

Was this how I expected the project to go? Not really. Did I need another model 15? Again not really, and if I were shopping for the collection I would have chosen a less abused example. What I did end up with is a period correct example of the state of the art in combat handguns from a time I fondly remember. An elegant weapon for a more civilized age.

I'm ok with starting the year that way....

 

[Llance]

Well done lad. While I'm no fan of those stocks, they fit and work for that piece. If it's for sale............. maybe I might find a use for it. I can always use another wheel gun.

Llance

 

[Old_Cop]

What a save, excellent job.

 

[Heinz]

Nicely done and I enjoyed your post. Is there a photo of the llama at work?

 

[Shotguncoach]

Nicely done and I enjoyed your post. Is there a photo of the llama at work?

Here's the emotional support llama...he was a gift from my youngest daughter years ago.

And before someone asks, the things on the wall in the background are powder bushings for an RCBS 'Grand' progressive shotshell reloader.

 

[Martyk]

A very interesting post/journey, thank you. I did receive a telepathic message from the support Llama that you need to scratch him under the tail to continue your good fortunes in 2025. ��

 

[S&W ucla]

Very well done. I wouldn't chunk the target bbl, it could be bored out and a new sleeve installed. Similar to the two piece barrels used on some models today.

 

[Mark Pilcher]

Great work, but that trigger shoe would have to come off for me. I don't understand how a barrel is allowed to deteriorate to that extent. It's not like sophisticated technologies have to be employed to maintain it. Criminy.

 

[Shotguncoach]

The range trip was a partial success. The Mixmasterpiece went bang every time and the bullets hit the target.

Those nice looking Herrett stocks had to come off because even though they felt nice at the workbench, at the range I could feel them moving on the frame. Not a huge deal to fix...just a bit of fitting needed. I slapped on a set of goodyears that I keep in my range bag to finish out the test session.

The other issue is 100% my fault. I didn't examine the rear sight that I put on before installing it. At 15 yards, I couldn't lower the rear sight enough to get the point of impact where I wanted it. With the sight all the way down, to get into the middle of the black I was having to use a "pumpkin on a post" 6 o'clock hold with a big white stripe between the front sight and the pumpkin. No bueno.

The reason became instantly apparent when I compared the rear sight that I had installed against the rear sight of another model 15 when I got home. A few minutes rooting around in the pile turned up a rear sight with the correct height blade. It took longer to find one than it did to install it. In the attached picture, the sight on the right is the one I took off. Things should be much better now.

Oh darn. I have to go to the range again and shoot it more.