RM Grip Restoration Quandry (Gun pic added post 9)

[quinn]

When is it not appropriate to restore/refinish a set of grips?

There was recently a thread on gun restoration. Though I own several refinished guns (mostly factory done) I have never had a gun refinished. I have had several set of pre war magnas refinished (beautifuly)... however NONE of them were serial numbered to the gun.

Hence my quandry. These grips number to a registered magnum ordered by a Texas cop in a rough part of the state. This cop served 20 years in his department only interrupted by service in WWII.

The RM shows honest wear with 85-90% original finish. The grips show "cop wear" as you can see in the photos with a crack above the medallion on one side.

Pros & cons of sending these off for Curt's magic? Would you?

 

[handejector]

On that gun, I'd probably leave them alone. They won't look right all fixed up!

 

[S42N8]

To stabilize the crack, yes. Otherwise, our proprietor has it.

 

[burneyr]

I'd send them to Curt to stabilize the crack and go no further. Put another pair of period appropriate Magnas on it to shoot maybe.

 

[StrawHat]

Take a brand new set of Magnas and install them on that old RM. How they look on it will give you your answer.

Kevin

 

[Keith Brown]

Agree with Lee completely, and if it's a LEO gun that look is nearly required. Everything that gets touched will end up getting into something else. The checkering is nearly gone, but if you miss when recutting which is very easy then it looks like a sore thumb.

 

[gmborkovic]

What a relief! No history removed. Just stabilize and conservation.

 

[mojave30cal]

What does the RM look like? Post a pic if you can.

 

[quinn]

Here she is:

And her owner, Henry Milczarek, Det. Galveston PD

 

[oink]

I bet Galveston was an entertaining place to work in that time period.

 

[mikepriwer]

I don't see any value or historical significance in maybe 80 years of accumulated dirt and grease and oil and grime and hard use, particularly since the gun is really very nice, and much nicer than the grips.

Keep in mind that the first thing collectors do, with a new acquisition, is clean the gun up, as best as possible. No one would suggest that all the dirt and dried-up oil has any historical significance. I think the same thing is true with the grips.

Assuming the medallions are not plastic, I would soak the grips in acetone, to get rid of the accumulated oil etc, and patch up the crack. I'd then make a light cleanup pass over the checkering, and then evaluate them. If you are satisfied at that point, put a fresh coat of linseed oil on them.

Normally I always agree with Lee and Keith. In this case, I feel a bit different.

This, of course, is a job for someone knowledgeable, like Keith or Curtis.

Regards, Mike Priwer

 

[2152hq]

Glue the crack from the back side to hold that in place. I doubt it's going anywhere anyway.
Don't over do it and get the glue everywhere. You shouldn't see any evidence of it when done.

...ADDED.. This not an attempt to make the Crack disappear. It'll still be there.
But it can settle somes nerves about this need to 'Stabilize'
things. That term seems to be used quite frequently now.
As I orig said above , 'I doubt it's going anywhere anyway.....'

If the crack doesn't bother you then don't mess with it.
If it really does, then it can be made to disappear altogether. It's not VooDoo science.
Choose the look that you are after.
.....

One of the very 'thin' versions of superglue works very well for this as it draws deeply into fine cracks.
Brush the crack out with a very small artists brush first with acetone to clear any oil so the glue can work.
Just work on the crack itself and from the back side of the grip.

Then a simple tooth brush and linseed oil cleaning.
Scrub the grip panel(s) with it. It'll loosen and clear a lot of plain old dirt and discoloration w/o doing anything to the wood or it's current condition.

Wipe the excess off. Then further wipe and rub down the surfaces with a clean soft cloth.
What ever Linseed remains on the wood after you try to wipe all of it off is what you want.
Don't slather the wood w/ Linseed oil and leave it on the wood. It'll just be a mess.

All done.

 

[glowe]

In order to make that crack disappear, you will need to clamp the stocks, pulling together and closing the crack when you glue it. Without soaking in acetone and eliminating all the oil and grime, there is little chance the glue will hold over time. You just can't squeeze glue in the crack and call it good because over repeated cycles of heat and cold, dry and humid, the glue will likely fail and the crack could continue to work its way down the stock.

 

[Keith Brown]

I'll jump in again. The gun, grips and HISTORY are a package just as they are. ANY attempt to alter the pieces wipe away some of that history. The crack, so what, it's not going to disappear and it's actually more or less riveted with the medallion and washer. Numbered to the gun means more than likely that sweat wear and tear was added slowly by the fella in the pic. I could go on a bit more about this and that having done a good bit of this kind of work, with perspective of time I would now have preferred I'd left some things alone.

To me they are not perfect, which is perfect.

 

[lestert357]

Here she is:

And she is PERFECT as is!

 

[quinn]

I think Keith and Terry (and others) have won me over. I'll be keeping what I've got as I got it. Thanks for all the wonderful thought, folks. This is exactly why I asked the question... and why I love this forum.

 

[S&W ucla]

That's a fine Magnum Randy! I can see why Henry made Detective, he was a wise man, as are you. Registered Magnum, humpback hammer, King mirror ramp with red post, just what I would order. Except with 4.75" barrel. 4.5" is my favorite for an N-frame but 4.75" much rarer, so......

 

[Dennis2149]

Beautiful handgun. Can you share with us the reg #???

 

[paplinker]

Love seeing any Reg Mag with King sights,
Ad the HBH and a story,now I would love to own a gun like that!

Just curious, does it appear the crack is from it being hit or could it be from shrinkage?

I do not see that crack very often.

 

[quinn]

To answere a few questions: This gun is Reg. # 4687, Shipped May 9, 1939. It is one of about 150 RMs shipped with a 5.5" barrel. I have wondered if Det. Milzcarek carried a 1917 before and that is why he selected this relatively rare barrel length.

Henry took leave of the department to go to war, then returned to the department. He was a championship swimmer and held the record of 28 hours nonstop swimming in the gulf. There is scant newsprint on him as the Galvestong paper (and a lot else) was destroyed by hurricanes. The GPD ws gracious enough to search their salvaged files to find Henry's photo for me.

Henry died at a relatively young age of throat cancer. I have wondered if he was gassed during the war.

I have no ide how the grips came to be cracked. I can see no evidence that Henry cracked a lot of skulls with his sidearm.

Yes, in the 30's and 40's Galveston was a pretty rough place. My grandrather was a visiting judge there off and on during those years. Lot of drunken sailors, gambling, prostitution and the like.