Hello all, I have been reading this forum for years, but decided to register and post at last. I am retired from Tennessee and moved to Florida a few years ago.
I recently bought a really nice Model 28-2 Highway Patrolman 4 inch. All original finish and fired very little, however the gun had a set of those cheap black pearl plastic grips on it. As you know, original N Frame target grips are not cheap, so I waited until I found a solution. I found a demilled 1970-71 Model 27-2 parts kit with 8 3/8" barrel. This gun had been laying in an amory puddle for some time before having it's frame cut in two pieces
and then the whole thing was sold to me for $160. The grips looked like they were solid and had black washers, so I bought it and commenced work to bring them back to life. They looked terrible, but are solid as new. It was a real shame because the M27-2 has .500 target trigger and target hammer.
Well, I took my time and used 1200 and finally 3000 grit sandpaper and VERY gently sanded the black mold and tiny bit of remaining finish off the grips removing as little wood as possible....I then stained the wood back to its original color and let it air dry a week. The I started adding very thin coats of urethane with a 3000 grit rough up between drying coats. After about two weeks, they were done. They had a chemical smell as they were still off-gassing the urethane, so I put the dry grips in a tight plastic bag with large bags of activated charcoal in the bag with the grips.
In two more weeks, here's how they ended up. Not factory new, but a massive improvement for trashed 50 year old coke bottle N frame target stocks.
Thought on it and I appreciate the chance to post on this forum with a ridiculous amount of S&W knowledge.
I recently bought a really nice Model 28-2 Highway Patrolman 4 inch. All original finish and fired very little, however the gun had a set of those cheap black pearl plastic grips on it. As you know, original N Frame target grips are not cheap, so I waited until I found a solution. I found a demilled 1970-71 Model 27-2 parts kit with 8 3/8" barrel. This gun had been laying in an amory puddle for some time before having it's frame cut in two pieces
and then the whole thing was sold to me for $160. The grips looked like they were solid and had black washers, so I bought it and commenced work to bring them back to life. They looked terrible, but are solid as new. It was a real shame because the M27-2 has .500 target trigger and target hammer.Well, I took my time and used 1200 and finally 3000 grit sandpaper and VERY gently sanded the black mold and tiny bit of remaining finish off the grips removing as little wood as possible....I then stained the wood back to its original color and let it air dry a week. The I started adding very thin coats of urethane with a 3000 grit rough up between drying coats. After about two weeks, they were done. They had a chemical smell as they were still off-gassing the urethane, so I put the dry grips in a tight plastic bag with large bags of activated charcoal in the bag with the grips.
In two more weeks, here's how they ended up. Not factory new, but a massive improvement for trashed 50 year old coke bottle N frame target stocks.
Thought on it and I appreciate the chance to post on this forum with a ridiculous amount of S&W knowledge.
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