Old School Mods

[CH4]

Has anyone seen this before? Looks old school. Anyone familiar with these modifications or if they were of any practical benefit? Kinda cool looking. I haven’t had a chance to measure the trigger pull, but it sure is smooth.

Thanks

 

[Adventurer104]

The Texas Ranger Model 19 issued in the 70s has a similar trigger guard.
I held one at my gunshop. I needed a duty gun so I went with a Model 58.

My misspent youth….

 

[StrawHat]

Bill Jordan popularized the triggerguard modification. His very large hand needed all the room it could get to allow his finger access to the trigger. His solution was to thin the triggerguard. The jeweling, merely cosmetic, in my opinion. It may have held a little bit of lubricant but also collected bits of grit or powder. Jewel ink was popular in the 50s-60s. (Going by memory.)

Kevin

 

[Rodan]

The circular polishing inside the action is technically called 'engine turning'.

Engine turning

The intent was to remove any potential drag and provide a surface that would hold lubricant, and the modification was pretty popular on revolver action jobs in the 70s-80s.

As noted above, the trigger guard mod was to get the gun into action 'faster'.

 

[Rick H.]

Some enterprising individuals used to mill off the front part of the trigger guard back in the day to make trigger acquisition faster. I don't know how safe that was, but none-the-less it was done.

Rick H.

 

[chief38]

To me those "mods" are basically telling people you have too much time on your hands - LOL!

IMHO thinning a trigger guard is asking for a negligent discharge and more liability than it's practically worth. Machine polishing the inside of the side plate is a waste of time as far as I am concerned. But that's just me - and if someone wants to spend their time machine turning and polishing..... then so be it.

 

[steelslaver]

Engine turning. Type writer eraser in a drill press with a cross feed vise.

Right up there with a chrome job and pearl grips. About all that is missing from this " bar room master piece"
Went to local shop today and saw something too stupid not to share

 

[2152hq]

I remember the scalloped out trigger guard as being presented as a 'Half Fitz' modification.
Nearly the speed of access w/o the danger of an unsupported guard hanging out there.

One of many modifications to guns IMO that can be placed somewhere in the middle betw Useful and Why did you Do That.

The Engine Turning or sometimes called Damascene (sp?) work actually cuts very shallow depressions in the surface of the steel.
That limits surface to surface contact but keeps the nice close fit over all in tact.
The shallow depressions hold lube as stated.

Now it;s mostly just bling as the parts aren't fitted so tightly as to benefit from the real purpose though in a few instances they may.

Rifle bolts are a common part that gets the treatment.

You can buy a couple different tools to produce the finish.
Small very short bristle brushes that produce the circles on a highly polished surface.
Used with or w/o some lapping compound it can differ the look.
Another is small soft rubber grit sticks the dia of the circles you want to produce. They are held in a special tool in a drill press or mill. Same idea as above.

Realy old school was the work done by hand with a Burnisher Tool or even a Scraper.
The highly polished burnisher tool tip was pulled across the surface of the likewise polished part.
The heavy downward pressure at thes mall point applied by 2 hands of the person using the tool. With the assistance of leverage in a long wooden handle that was at times rested on the users shoulder for support
and as a fulcrum, the burnisher point can depress the steel surface and leave a very highly polished mark on it.
A good person doing the work can do repetitive patterns across the part(s) and do them rather quickly.
USA made Custom rifles from the 1920's to the start of WW2 often show the hand burnishing marks on the bolts rather than the machine done Engine Turning style.
Some are better than others. It's a difficult talent to learn especially on small rounded surfaces.

Some older machine tools show their 'Scraped in Ways & Beds'. This was done to level the table and machine to precision.
When rebuilding worn machines, it was a standard procedure.

The high spots were taken down by hand with a simple hand tool looking just like a large wood chisel. Using it properly, the craftsman very lightly cuts the high spots down with it until the bed or way shows even contact.
The result is a surface which is completely covered in a Damascene type pattern and does the same thing as far as smooth sliding surfaces and retaining lube of very close fitting parts.

It's not always just for looks.

 

[JayCeeNC]

In my 20’s I took a 2.5” Model 19 and tinkered with it.
Bobbed the hammer, narrowed the trigger guard, rounded off the sharp edges of the rear sight blade, had it Magna-Ported, polished the rebound slide and hammer and trigger studs, narrowed the mainspring, and cut coils from the trigger rebound spring.
I thought it was pretty slick.

 

[steelslaver]

I never narrowed a main spring, I went the shorten main spring tension screw route and clipped off a couple coils on the rebound slide. Now it is easy to get a good selection of springs. There is really nothing mechanically wrong with jeweling.

 

[austintexas]

In 1968 I bought a 6" 32/20 off a Chicago police officer that had the trigger guard modified with a large half moon cut to the front of the trigger guard. He was getting rid of it because he couldn't find ammo for it. I think we have the same problem today. Back then I think It was worth about $50.
SWCA 892