M1903 .38 Hand Ejector- refinished

[Tinker Pearce]

Some time ago I posted a 6-1/2" barreled .38 hand ejector bought at a nice price because a previous owner had bead-blasted and re-blued it. The finish was pretty ugly, but the gun was a superb shooter. Since the gun had no collector value I decided to refinish the gun and, presupposing I could find a suitable piece of antler, make a set of stag grips for it.

When I stripped the gun I discovered that it had not been bead-blasted. There was a fine network of small pits consistent with 'pickling' with a corrosive chemical. Cleaning these up was much more difficult, but the results were overall pretty good.

I started re-bluing it and during the process produced a lovely antique gray and decided to stop there. Still looking for that piece of antler, so in the meantime it's still wearing the ugly Pachymers but I am pretty happy with the finish.

 

[snuffy51]

Good morning. Very good looking piece. I am a shooter, can't afford to be a collector. I have a model of 1905 .38 spec. from 1919 that has incorrect stocks and barrel has been shortened from 5 or 6 inch to 3 5/8". It has been re-blued at sometime. Only rust stain on it is top half of barrel around front sight. Fine handling shooter. If I ever get bored enough I plan to try to attempt to touch up blue on the end of barrel and front sight. Thanks for making me feel better about mine.

 

[Waveski]

Lovely , mellow look to the steel. Could we see the other side?

 

[Muley Gil]

There is no Model 1903 .38. The Model 1902, the first K frame with the ejector rod lug, has a round butt. The Model 1905 has a square butt, generally. Then the dates were dropped and the Military & Police name was used.

 

[DocB]

That looks pretty good! The 6 and 1/2 inch barrel went out of production around 1909. After that Smith would put the longer barrel on guns when they were special ordered that way. . .did this until the longer barrel inventory was depleted. This was sometimes done with the target revolvers. I have one from 1910 (lettered) with the long barrel. I'm guessing that your gun is pretty early. . .pre 1909.

 

[Tinker Pearce]

Lovely , mellow look to the steel. Could we see the other side?

It's not a good picture- lighting in the shop isn't the best for photography- but you are welcome to it:

You can see the previous refinisher had 'bubba'd' the side plate a bit; the S&W logo is mostly gone and the blast-shield has been reshaped a bit at the bottom. I'm guessing they reground it to get rid of some pitting or some such.

 

[Tinker Pearce]

Good morning. Very good looking piece. I am a shooter, can't afford to be a collector. I have a model of 1905 .38 spec. from 1919 that has incorrect stocks and barrel has been shortened from 5 or 6 inch to 3 5/8". It has been re-blued at sometime. Only rust stain on it is top half of barrel around front sight. Fine handling shooter. If I ever get bored enough I plan to try to attempt to touch up blue on the end of barrel and front sight. Thanks for making me feel better about mine.

I can't afford collectible guns and I like to shoot, so rehabbing neglected old guns has become a big part of my hobby. Van's Instant Blue has proven to be an excellent product for touch-ups on guns like yours.

 

[Tinker Pearce]

There is no Model 1903 .38. The Model 1902, the first K frame with the ejector rod lug, has a round butt. The Model 1905 has a square butt, generally. Then the dates were dropped and the Military & Police name was used.

Thanks for the correction! Still new to this, but learning!

 

[Waveski]

" 'bubba'd' "

Yes , someone got to it before you did. But now that old revolver is receiving some excellent home brewed TLC , and I think you should feel good about that. And - I'd bet that with all the hands on effort you have put in you now have a strong sense of "My Gun".

Nice work.

 

[Waveski]

There is no Model 1903 .38. The Model 1902, the first K frame with the ejector rod lug, has a round butt. The Model 1905 has a square butt, generally. Then the dates were dropped and the Military & Police name was used.

Someone help me out here. The revolver in question is a round butt , which is typical of the model of 1902 , but the 1902 has the rebound spring in the grip frame. The subject revolver has no rebound spring in the grip frame. So , no rebound spring , not a 1902 ; is there such a thing as a round butt model of 1905 , and is that what we have here? If so , I was not aware that there were any round butt 1905s.
(But then - I was recently corrected on "Partridge" sights , so anything is possible...)

 

[Muley Gil]

It's a mite confusing.

You should read Mike Priwer's essay in the SCSW, 4th edition, starting on page 158.