GunarSailors
US Veteran
I always love to see things in really sad shape, being brought back to their former glory, or as close to it as possible. For me with this project it was about this heirloom deserving a better ending than just being a "truck gun". One of my most successful projects was this model 15-2. Ironically a couple of my bigger failures involved this same gun. I would like to see any project that you have taken on that were either a great success or an epic failure.
This story starts in the late 70's when my dad was a police officer in my hometown. The model 15-2 below was given to my dad by some people he knew, after their son (a young man) had committed suicide with it. It did have some pretty good bluing damage from the incident but it had a great trigger and shot wonderfully. I immediately took a liking to the gun and by the early 80's our whole family knew that gun as being my gun. It may sound a little funny but it wasnt uncommon for me to have my model 15-2 in my holster, walking around the house. Probably younger than 10 years old, and my mom & dad didnt have a worry in the world. They knew that I was extremely conscious of the status of any gun in my hands. I remember being real young when my dad would come home in uniform for dinner, it was almost an everyday occurrence for me to ask him if I could look at his model 686 service revolver after dinner. At first he would unload it for me but by the early 1980's both my parents knew that he could just hand me a loaded gun and I would do the exact same thing (unload it) immediately without hesitation.
By my high school years in the late 80's I had put my model 15-2 in and out of a holster quite a few times. So in my infinite wisdom, I decided to reblue my model 15-2 in shop class at school (with the schools permission). What a failure that was, I am glad I didnt take pictures documenting that. It was before Youtube, my teacher was my only guidance and he was a moron. I didnt know the difference between cold bluing and hot bluing, I was 14 years old. The stripping off of the factory bluing was the easy part...
I at least had enough sense to realize I was in over my head and took the model 15-2 to a gunsmith to have him send it off for a professional rebluing. It came back, I paid the bill but was never happy with the bluing job. I remember thinking just that it was better than what I could do, but the barrel had more of a brownish tint and you could almost see buffing mark like tigerstripes going up the barrel. It didnt look very good. I dont have any pictures to document that either. Over the course of the next 25 years I shot the heck out of that model 15-2, and as you can imagine the finish was getting pretty worn again. Once again, in my infinite wisdom, I let a buddy try to Duracoat my model 15-2 (the epic failure part). It looked more like it was dipped in concrete.
THE BEFORE PICTURE :
It didnt take long to realize that I had to do something with the model 15-2. So I called around to different gunsmiths who all were not very enthusiastic about restoring my gun, and I cant say that I blamed them. Not to mention how many hours it would take/how much money it would end up costing. So I opted to try my luck at refinishing it myself again. This time with a little more age and patience under my belt.
I did pay a local gunsmith to media blast the Duracoating off, but it did leave an orange peel texture on the metal, and as you can see uncovered some pitting.
I started sanding and polishing with 600, 800 and 1000 grit sandpaper. Carefully trying to keep the flat spots flat with the help of a small flat sanding block.
While I was at it I cut a dovetail in the front sight... Like I was going to hurt the value any more than I already had.
Ready for bluing so I found a different local gunsmith than the guys who media blasted it, he was willing to fire up the burners under his bluing tanks and let me dip my model 15-2 (using all of his equipment). That is his hand adding water with the ladle, making sure the temperature was just right. He only charged me $30 but I left a $50 bill just to show my appreciation.
In case anyone is wondering, I did end up completely wiping out the S&W logo on the sideplate during the process of removing the case number engraved (rather poorly) by the police dept evidence room. I hated doing it, but its just the way it is.
Poured the new front sight insert...
S&W Red Ramp Insert - Tips & Pics | The Outdoors Trader
A new set of factory stocks, a period correct hammer & trigger, and a .126 rear sight blade with a W/O.
THE END RESULT :
The coolest part for me is that I did all the work. Since the gun has so much history with me, the fact that I basically removed the S&W logo on the sideplate doesnt bother me too much. I would say my model 15-2 project ended up being a success. Lets see your projects!
This story starts in the late 70's when my dad was a police officer in my hometown. The model 15-2 below was given to my dad by some people he knew, after their son (a young man) had committed suicide with it. It did have some pretty good bluing damage from the incident but it had a great trigger and shot wonderfully. I immediately took a liking to the gun and by the early 80's our whole family knew that gun as being my gun. It may sound a little funny but it wasnt uncommon for me to have my model 15-2 in my holster, walking around the house. Probably younger than 10 years old, and my mom & dad didnt have a worry in the world. They knew that I was extremely conscious of the status of any gun in my hands. I remember being real young when my dad would come home in uniform for dinner, it was almost an everyday occurrence for me to ask him if I could look at his model 686 service revolver after dinner. At first he would unload it for me but by the early 1980's both my parents knew that he could just hand me a loaded gun and I would do the exact same thing (unload it) immediately without hesitation.
By my high school years in the late 80's I had put my model 15-2 in and out of a holster quite a few times. So in my infinite wisdom, I decided to reblue my model 15-2 in shop class at school (with the schools permission). What a failure that was, I am glad I didnt take pictures documenting that. It was before Youtube, my teacher was my only guidance and he was a moron. I didnt know the difference between cold bluing and hot bluing, I was 14 years old. The stripping off of the factory bluing was the easy part...
I at least had enough sense to realize I was in over my head and took the model 15-2 to a gunsmith to have him send it off for a professional rebluing. It came back, I paid the bill but was never happy with the bluing job. I remember thinking just that it was better than what I could do, but the barrel had more of a brownish tint and you could almost see buffing mark like tigerstripes going up the barrel. It didnt look very good. I dont have any pictures to document that either. Over the course of the next 25 years I shot the heck out of that model 15-2, and as you can imagine the finish was getting pretty worn again. Once again, in my infinite wisdom, I let a buddy try to Duracoat my model 15-2 (the epic failure part). It looked more like it was dipped in concrete.
THE BEFORE PICTURE :
It didnt take long to realize that I had to do something with the model 15-2. So I called around to different gunsmiths who all were not very enthusiastic about restoring my gun, and I cant say that I blamed them. Not to mention how many hours it would take/how much money it would end up costing. So I opted to try my luck at refinishing it myself again. This time with a little more age and patience under my belt.
I did pay a local gunsmith to media blast the Duracoating off, but it did leave an orange peel texture on the metal, and as you can see uncovered some pitting.
I started sanding and polishing with 600, 800 and 1000 grit sandpaper. Carefully trying to keep the flat spots flat with the help of a small flat sanding block.
While I was at it I cut a dovetail in the front sight... Like I was going to hurt the value any more than I already had.
Ready for bluing so I found a different local gunsmith than the guys who media blasted it, he was willing to fire up the burners under his bluing tanks and let me dip my model 15-2 (using all of his equipment). That is his hand adding water with the ladle, making sure the temperature was just right. He only charged me $30 but I left a $50 bill just to show my appreciation.
In case anyone is wondering, I did end up completely wiping out the S&W logo on the sideplate during the process of removing the case number engraved (rather poorly) by the police dept evidence room. I hated doing it, but its just the way it is.
Poured the new front sight insert...
S&W Red Ramp Insert - Tips & Pics | The Outdoors Trader
A new set of factory stocks, a period correct hammer & trigger, and a .126 rear sight blade with a W/O.
THE END RESULT :
The coolest part for me is that I did all the work. Since the gun has so much history with me, the fact that I basically removed the S&W logo on the sideplate doesnt bother me too much. I would say my model 15-2 project ended up being a success. Lets see your projects!
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