New Revolver.... .41 Model 58..

[Vtgw938]

Thank you for that I someone mentioned Evaporust as well.
Define long bath.... 4 hours, 24 hours?

Short answer is however long it takes. Both Metal Rescue and Evapo-Rust work slowly and they are safe to use. I pull the parts out every few hours and help the process with brushes etc. and check to make sure all is fine but it could take a couple days total to get all the rust out of any pits. Both will remove rust regardless where it is, including under the plating if it is there and if it can get to it. It will also remove bluing and case hardening.

I have used Metal Rescue the most and it seems to leave less black residue, which can be cleaned off as you go. I would test it on some tools or whatever to get comfortable with it.

 

[Doug M.]

Ammo can vary by use and your tolerance. As noted, the 950-ish fps with 210-ish SWC is a pretty good all around load. Not obnoxious, but adequate for SD against humans and most critters; maybe not bears. I suspect it would be enough for hunting deer. The SWC shape is among the best for all around use; good enough penetration and impact.

One can load that round pretty hot. I carried Silvertips as a duty load for quite awhile; 175 grains at about 1200. Amply stout, but controllable. My first LEOSA qual the only ammo I had that could be used at that indoor range was stupid hot JHPs, I think Gold dots. I didn't do too badly, but I'd have to work a lot harder to satisfy my standards. I also have some hot and heavy SWCs that I got for a trip to Kodiak that fell through. No interest AT ALL in shooting them.

The factory grips might not be great for shooting, and probably not worth the hunt for that reason. My M58 lost those grips almost immediately, replaced with Pachmyers. I came into firearms at a time when the replacement of grips was pretty much the norm. Most wood grips are not user friendly for serious use. I think my K38 is the only set of factory wood grips I have and use.

 

[jimmyj]

If it was mine: FORDS in Crystal River, Florida

 

[pbureau66]

If it was mine: FORDS in Crystal River, Florida

not sure what this is referencing to.

 

[pbureau66]

so, I took it apart and cleaned it and did a little inspection of each worn parts and comes to two conclusions, the pitting on the metal isn't as deep as I assumed it was, so metal rescue bath is in its future. secondly someone has definitely fired this gun before and put it way probably because of the modification they did to the rebound slide spring (seems they cut 1.5 turns too much making it short and barely touching the post it should be pressing against, as well I discovered the rebound slide pin is entirely missing from the assembly. cheap parts I hope to replace. Aside all this, the gun seems to be in a decent firing shape.

Grips: I will find something I can utilize for range shooting; I am not a bear or deer revolver hunter I prefer Moose and Caribou myself and those I hunt with a rifle and iron sights.

Anyone know a good place for parts for N frame? I read though on the S&W part listing the spring and pin I am looking at is identical among the K, L and N frames so I hope it will be easier to find than grips.

 

[Retired W4]

Yea, as ammo goes, it depends on what you are doing with the gun. I'm looking at my box of Barnes VOR-TX, 180 gr. XBP HP It comes smoking out of the barrel at 1520 fps. I have also used Silvertips (forget the weight). The Barnes will take care of most any thing you encounter on the streets and maybe in the woods.

 

[Retired W4]

so, I took it apart and cleaned it and did a little inspection of each worn parts and comes to two conclusions, the pitting on the metal isn't as deep as I assumed it was, so metal rescue bath is in its future. secondly someone has definitely fired this gun before and put it way probably because of the modification they did to the rebound slide spring (seems they cut 1.5 turns too much making it short and barely touching the post it should be pressing against, as well I discovered the rebound slide pin is entirely missing from the assembly. cheap parts I hope to replace. Aside all this, the gun seems to be in a decent firing shape.

Grips: I will find something I can utilize for range shooting; I am not a bear or deer revolver hunter I prefer Moose and Caribou myself and those I hunt with a rifle and iron sights.

Anyone know a good place for parts for N frame? I read though on the S&W part listing the spring and pin I am looking at is identical among the K, L and N frames so I hope it will be easier to find than grips.

If you are talking about the pin inside the rebound spring, it's just an over travel stop. They are fitted to the gun at the factory and I usually just leave them out. I can never remember which way the flat side goes anyway.

 

[jimmyj]

not sure what this is referencing to.

If it was my revolver I would send it to Fords and have it refinished. Fords does a better refinish then S&W.

 

[pbureau66]

If it was my revolver I would send it to Fords and have it refinished. Fords does a better refinish then S&W.

thank you for that clarification, though refinishing the nickel on the revolver is not at time on my priorities to do.

Just to be clear about the rebound spring and pin; the spring being too short prevent the return travel of the trigger after depressing it to fire a shot, thus why I need to replace it

As for the rebound pin inside the assembly. all videos I have seen about this indicate the pin should be there.
I am only going by what little information I have been discovering through hundreds of web pages, and videos on the subject, yes I assume it was removed for a reason, if someone can enlighten me why the rebound pin located inside the rebound spring should be ignored and not replaced I would love to learn from an explanation.

 

[pbureau66]

A
The factory grips might not be great for shooting, and probably not worth the hunt for that reason. My M58 lost those grips almost immediately, replaced with Pachmyers. I

check them out they only carry K/L frames grips, same for Hogues. why i asked, unless I am missing something.

 

[scout II]

Anyone know a good place for parts for N frame? I read though on the S&W part listing the spring and pin I am looking at is identical among the K, L and N frames so I hope it will be easier to find than grips.

I like Numrich Gun Parts Corp for parts.
Smith & Wesson Model 58 Parts | Gun Parts Corp.

 

[pbureau66]

I like Numrich Gun Parts Corp for parts.
Smith & Wesson Model 58 Parts | Gun Parts Corp.

yes! but they don't have the spring I need it seems.

 

[Vtgw938]

Ebay is a good source of S&W parts. You could also check Brownells. Ebay is great as others are often out of stock. Prices are reasonable as well.

 

[Muley Gil]

yes! but they don't have the spring I need it seems.

Send me a private message with your name & address and I'll mail you a rebound spring, free of charge.

 

[nutsforsmiths]

Jack First has S&W parts. Might want to check their site

 

[pbureau66]

Send me a private message with your name & address and I'll mail you a rebound spring, free of charge.

I truly appreciate the canarderie in this forum on the willingness to help, but at the reading of your message I had found and purchase a new one but thank you non the less.

I also found a set of PACHMAYR Rubber Grip that I think will do nicely for it.

now to wait for the mail to resume to receive these...

 

[stansdds]

Rubber grips certainly make control of the recoil with the magnum cartridges a lot easier. With rubber grips, remove them frequently to clean under them and keep the revolver's frame coated with oil or wax. Wood stocks will wick moisture away from the metal, but rubber has no water wicking capability and will hold moisture against the frame.

 

[glenwolde]

so, I asked the family (this is an inherited gun) about the history of the revolver, and as I was told the box in which the gun was in, was found in a Texas attic, in a box that was filled with clothes. boxes which were brought down from attic about 20 years after they had been forgotten up there. so yes, the "storage" was not proper at all and if you know how much humidity Houston has year-round. the pitting isn't terribly surprising.

The grips where nowhere to be found at all. I cannot answer what happens, again no one else in the family seems to know why no grips.

regarding the different colouring of the trigger, no one knows, except the pull on this trigger compared to the model 586 I also have is like half the pull required to fire the gun, so there may be something there I dont have the "pull tester" to give you a number, but the reset on the trigger is also about half of the very long 357 Magnum, so your likely correct it isn't factory as far as I can tell, but again I am not a S&W expert what so ever. and even less on revolvers.

I looked at previous image and notice alot of "yellow" showing I want to provide a better image and its all silver except those two items your correct (previous one seems to look like poor plating colour changes on the handle. which it isn't, it must be lighting at the time.

anyways, thank you very much, I'll be bringing it to my local gunsmith and see if it has been registered in his system, no one seems to know if it was or not. maybe he will have other insights about the trigger/hammer situation.

I'm not sure what you mean by: "I'll be bringing it to my local gunsmith and see if it has been registered in his system, no one seems to know if it was or not."

There's no gun registration system in Texas. Or do you mean to see if he's worked on it before himself?

I'm a .41 fan, and I also live in Houston. One needs to be a little careful taking S&W revolvers to "gunsmiths" these days. There are many that have very little experience with them. I'd be interested in knowing who you plan on taking it too. I have a couple I've used but I'm always looking to expand my list.

I'd restore that one for sure. I'll second the "Cowboy loads". If you aren't experienced with full power Magnum revolvers stick with the Cowboy stuff. I reload my own ammunition for it but my loads are equivalent to the Cowboy ones. As you can see the ammo is expensive.

 

[pbureau66]

I'm not sure what you mean by: "I'll be bringing it to my local gunsmith and see if it has been registered in his system, no one seems to know if it was or not."

There's no gun registration system in Texas. Or do you mean to see if he's worked on it before himself?

I'd be interested in knowing who you plan on taking it too. I have a couple I've used but I'm always looking to expand my list.

re: registration, I guess I meant to check if the gun had been reported stolen or something. last thing I need is a hot gun. After long conversations, no one seems to know really where the gun came to arrive in this 90-year-old man attic. maybe a brother-in-law, maybe a daughter maybe something else. and no one to recall.

I Figured not all gunsmiths would be able to handle older revolvers that is why I was going to go to my gun club (Athena Gun Club) they deal with a lot of older revolvers and military weapons, and I was going to get either get them to have a look at it or suggest a gunsmith. if not, I can always go talk to Cater country in Spring.

I think there may be something binding in the extractor, I have tried to figure out what it is, but I am at a loss. I ordered springs for the assembly and see from there.

 

[Hair Trigger]

I would clean it well, but would not even consider refinishing it. As a collectible, it's worth more with its damaged original finish than it would be with a non-factory refinish and I don't think S&W does nickel refinishes any more. Refinishing doesn't make it shoot better, and if it's not a collectible, then what is the point of refinishing for value? In the grand scheme of things, M58's were low production guns; only 20,287 or so total made between 1964-1977 and my guess would be maybe 1/4 of those are nickel. That makes yours relatively rare, so enjoy it like it is for what it is.

 

[okto]

Hey, thats my gun! I just bought this from pbureau a couple days ago and started tearing into it today.

I might actually believe the "never shot" story; the barrel and the charge holes are all mirrors and I can't discern ay gas cutting at all on the top strap.

However, the reason the extractor is binding is that at some point whoever owned it before P dropped it on its nose and bent the yoke very badly. Oddly, though it bent the yoke pivot about a degree, it seems also to have bent the cylinder arbor the same amount, so the gun still cycles fine, minus a BC gap of "probably" and a very early bolt drop that is likely unrelated.

I'd like to restore rather than replace as much as possible, as the parts all have matching factory and serial numbers, and matching that nickel on a replacement yoke is going to be impossible. I'm a machinist by trade, with access to all the relevant cutting and metrology tools, and this will be, oh, the fifth revolver whose action I've repaired, timed, and tuned, so 8 look forward to the challenge of getting this old girl running right again.
I think I'll start a new thread for the repair and restoration, but I wanted to chime in here for those interested in this gun to follow its journey.