Registered Magnum? (Finally Restored!)

[bwade]

(Update: See restoration photos)

Hello,

I just purchased this Smith which has the number REG 3621 under the crane and the SN 56313 on the barrel, frame, extractor star and cylinder. The nickle appears to be a refinish and the trigger and hammer are nickle too.

I would like to know what to do with this gun to restore it. I guess I need a letter from Roy to start. What grips do I put on it and who should I send it to for the restoration? Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,

Blaine

 

[Art Doc]

This is one of those rare circumstances where I would advocate refinishing (to undo the damage done by a previous owner). The hammer and trigger should NOT be plated and the quality of the refinish is awful.

Yes, letter it and determine what finish it was in when shipped. Then select a quality refinisher (I doubt S&W will do it) and restore it to its original appearance. It is worthwhile on a gun this valuable.

The letter will tell you what stocks were on it. Either Magnas (expect to pay around $400-$500 for a good set or pre-war n frame Magnas) or Service type.

PS: My RM from 8/38 is 146 after yours in serial.

 

[gjamison]

congrats on RM find. i have sent several gun's to David Chicoine, he does
a great job on restoring old smith's.

 

[Allen-frame]

Just my suggestion.
Leave the gun as-is for now and order a factory letter from Roy Jinks
right away.
The letter will tell you where or who it shipped to
and most importantly, the original configuration of the gun.
From there you should have an expert such as David Chicoine
look at it and give you an estimate for restoration.

Good luck
Allen Frame

 

[jphendren]

First off, nice RM. A factory letter is a great place to start, it will tell you what configuration the revolver left the factory. You can look under the stocks and see if there are any re-work marks. For instance there would be a * stamped next to the serial on the butt, there would also be a date stamp such as 5-52. This would indicate a May 1952 trip back to the factory. Look for a diamond stamp as well, this would indicate a major component replacement, such as a barrel or cylinder. There also will/should be either a "B" stamp, or an "N" stamp, this indicates whether the revolver left the factory finished in bright blue, or nickel. If the gun has a "B" stamp, then it has definitely been refinished.

Only 144 Pre-War Magnum's were shipped in nickel, and I don't see yours in the list of known REG numbers. I would recommend Dave Chicoine for a restoration on one of these. The stocks would either be standard service stocks with a Wesson adapter, or pre-war magna's.

Does the hammer have concentric grooves on the sides along with checkering covering the entire top surface?

Jared

 

[rck281]

By the time you pay for restoration and a proper set of stocks, you may be spending enough to buy a better gun. Then it is a question if you would rather have a restored gun that looks near new or an original gun with lesser finish.

 

[DCWilson]

For restoration of a valuable collector's piece, I always think first of Dave Chicoine, oldwestgunsmith.com.

Underneath the failing finish that gun does not look half bad. The frame and impressions do not look over buffed to me (except that I can't see the company logo), so I think a refinish or restoration to its original configuration would be achievable.

The gun would have come either with service stocks (and a possible grip adapter) or prewar magnas. The letter would tell you which to look for.

I'm kind of envious. I think you got a diamond in the rough, and I hope you keep us all posted on future steps in returning it to glory.

 

[bwade]

Markings

The only markings under the grips are an "s" on the left side and a "B" on the right side.

The hammer does have concentric grooves on the sides along with checkering covering the entire top surface.

It does not appear to be overbuffed anywhere, but the logo on the side plate is weak.

 

[jphendren]

"The only markings under the grips are an "s" on the left side and a "B" on the right side."

It was originally blued. Pretty much what I suspected. It looks to have about a 4" barrel. The hammer and trigger would have been color case hardened.

Jared

 

[RKmesa]

The only markings under the grips are an "s" on the left side and a "B" on the right side.

The hammer does have concentric grooves on the sides along with checkering covering the entire top surface.

It does not appear to be overbuffed anywhere, but the logo on the side plate is weak.

Another indication of a blued gun, would be a "B" in the ejector rod shroud on the left side of the serial number. Congratulations on a great find. I too would recommend a letter and then a trip to Mr. Chicoine's. BTW my 1st RM was REG 3261 (with an 8.75" barrel), and for a minute the dyslexia kicked in and I thought that you had posted the REG number for my gun. Do you mind posting the barrel length from the front of the cylinder - it looks to me to be longer than 4" but shorter than 5" which would be real cool.

Thanks for sharing,

 

[lonegunman762x51]

+1 for Dave. I had him do a complete makeover on my pre-war Magnum and the results were beautiful. I added a set of KB grips to finish the job and the gun is as good as new.

The gun was unsafe to shoot when purchased and is like new these days and a pleasure to shoot.

 

[bwade]

.

Thanks for all the great information. The barrel length is 4 1/4" and I am sending the letter form to Smith this morning! Hopefully, I can get the letter back to share my results. It appears that Dave Chicoine is the best for the restoration, but are there any more for a more reasonable price restoration? His bluing for RMs starts at $800. Just asking

Blaine

 

[murphydog]

This is not a criticism in any way, but higher quality work will always take more effort and cost more. It depends on whether you want it "refinished" or "restored"; the latter is much more involved.

 

[mikepriwer]

4 1/4", if its original, is a very scarce barrel length. Somewhere
between 4 and maybe 10 revolvers were ordered with this length.
This is perhaps the primary reason why a letter is so important. It
will confirm the original barrel length.

Dave Chicoine is a good choice. I'm not aware that his prices are
out of line - perhaps they may be a bit less that others.

As others have pointed out, there is a vast difference between how
the factory would have refinished it, and a restoration. Of course, the
factory will not work on that gun today, but the Chicoines offer both
a 'factory refinish' and a restoration. The factory refinish simply
reapplies the finish, but does not remove any dings, dents, scratches,
etc. A restoration attempts to restore the gun to as-new condition.

First things first - get a letter to confirm the barrel length. If indeed it
is a 4 1/4" gun, then I'd have it restored. Otherwise, if the barrel has
been shortened from some longer length, then a factory refinish might
be more appropriate.

Mike Priwer

 

[RKmesa]

Thanks for all the great information. The barrel length is 4 1/4" and I am sending the letter form to Smith this morning! Hopefully, I can get the letter back to share my results. It appears that Dave Chicoine is the best for the restoration, but are there any more for a more reasonable price restoration? His bluing for RMs starts at $800. Just asking

Blaine

Blaine:

Like Mike said, 4.25" is a rare barrel length. If it letters as such, "restoration" is what I would do if it were my RM. Let us know what you find out from Roy.

Thanks,

 

[mikepriwer]

Blaine

Would you remeasure, as carefully as possible, the barrel length
again ? See if maybe its 1/16" or 1/8" longer than 4 1/4". Also,
could you measure the length of the extractor rod, from the front
face of the cylinder to its end ?

Thanks, Mike Priwer

 

[bwade]

.

Ok, I have measured again and the tape stops exactly at 4 3/8" from flush against the cylinder to the very tip of the barrel. The tape I used copensates as if it was a straight ruler for accuracy. Does 1/8" make that big of a difference?

Also, the letter went into the mail this morning.

Blaine

 

[mikepriwer]

Blaine

Yes - it makes all the difference in the world. Its probably a 4 1/2"
gun. Typically there is a tolerance of at least +/- 1/16", and its
not uncommon to be +/- 1/8 inch. They are rarely longer, and almost
always shorter. This is because the barrel is cut to length before being
fit to the frame. In the fitting process, if the barrel runs into the
cylinder, or does not turn up tight to the frame, they have to shorten
it a bit, and do a bit more threading. This always makes it shorter.

Mike Priwer

 

[bwade]

Mike, you evidently have a lot of experience in this area. Is the 4 1/2" a common RM or do I need to hope for it to letter as a 4 1/4" ?

Blaine

 

[mikepriwer]

Blaine

4 1/2" is one of the scarce lengths. There were about 90 of them, out
of about 5000 guns. Almost everyone likes the 3 1/2", of which there
were about 314. 4 1/2" is very desireable, and much less production.

Mike Priwer