This post is about a known gunsmith, and the work that he did in restoring this circa-1908 4" 32-20 target revolver. Clearly there is no guessing about who might have done the work. And, there is no guessing about what the work involved. This makes it much easier to understand and appreciate the work that goes into refinishing and restoration.
The first three pictures are the gun before I sent it to Dave Chicoine. For fun, you might want to note what you think is wrong with the gun.
The gun shows a lot of wear and surface damage, and the grips show severe wear.
The next two pictures are Dave Chicoine's enumeration of the condition of the gun, and his estimate of the cost to restore the gun.
Note that I sent the gun without the grips. I had already sent them to Keith Brown for re-checkering.
Dave and I had already agreed that he would preserve as much of the original roll markings as possible, which he did. He noted a bulge in the barrel, in the vicinity of the front sight base. In the next set of pictures, that region of the barrel right-side roll markings is weaker, by necessity, than the rest of the markings.
The remaining pictures are the gun as it is today. I should mention that everything about the gun is original. The barrel, frame, cylinder, yoke, and grips are all numbered correctly. The grips are spectacular, and the rest of the gun is as good as it can get.
Regards, Mike Priwer
