Stainless Fix (feedback solution)

[jaestridge]

Long story short. I acquired this knowing that someone had did some grinding of sorts on both sides of this 66-1. The side plate side is more deep than the opposite side.

Question is what’s the options for correcting? Thoughts?

Been told finding a side plate that matches up is going to be hard to find. Keep the Og side and have it possibly all smoothed up with a polishing? Just really looking for some feedback.

 

[Rule3]

OH MY!
I would see about getting the whole gun blasted with whatever they use these days,

 

[Ameshawki]

Bead blasting sounds like the best option to me as well.

 

[steelslaver]

I would take out the screws, remove cylinder, rear sight, grips and thumb piece etc. Then take pieces of about 220 grit emery cloth backed by a flat piece of steel and holding it flat, go to sanding. Once I had the worst of it out, I would bead blast the whole thing and call it good. You could leave the cylinder and barrel as is or polish them for contrast. Just put duct tape on barrel before bead blasting.

This gun's frame

became this

In the last photo you can see some pits above grip, but later on another set of grips hid that


I can not imagine the reason behind this stupidity. Are the serial numbers intact?

 

[Alk8944]

Unfortunately that is an extreme amount of damage. If you sent the gun back to S&W they will classify it as non-repairable. There is no practical way to repair that and you will just have to live it if you keep the gun. Did the idiot grind the S&W off of the barrel too, and the serial number from the butt?

If the SN has been removed too my best suggestion is to turn it in at the next Police "Buy Back" that comes up. What they will give you is probably more that the gun is worth unless you part it out!

I'll bet "Bubba" removes the name badges from his cars too!

My big question is why did you even consider buying a gun in this condition?

 

[VictorLouis]

Cut the O/P some slack, guys. Perhaps it was a smoking deal, on an otherwise serviceable shooter. That said, I was immediately inspired with another idea.....

Use the sideplate as a background for an engraving. You could use the exsiting round border as the moon, and have an artist put a sitting wolf, howling upward. I'm sure the hint of REG. USA could be hidden, or Blended also.

That said, you MAY be surpised at how well a replacement sideplate will fit. IF so, then perhaps consider your three initials inside the left side scrapes, with a suitable border placed around them.

 

[stansdds]

There ain't no fixing that! I expect the best outcome would be to smooth sharp edges of those gouge marks, then have the entire revolver bead blasted to give it a matte finish.

 

[Bald1]

I’d go with Steelslavers plan. But as stated replacement side plates might fit better than you think. I’d have bought that gun just for the grips if price was right. Let’s see pics of them.

 

[chief38]

I'd say it can be improved a bit by sanding but it will never be "corrected". I hope you got a killer cheap deal! Best you can hope for is less ugly, but utilitarian.

 

[Geeorge]

Just clean and oil it and carry it, or sell it to me cheap

 

[notsofast]

I like the steelslaver plan too. Shoot it a lot first tho.

 

[scruffy]

Those scratches (gouges) look too deep to be removed or hidden by bead blasting. Best you could hope for is to make them less noticeable with a flat finish of some kind like bead blasting and cerakote.

 

[BillBro]

WHY!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Squarebutt]

Maybe smooth out the high ridges and Cerakote the whole gun?

 

[mchom]

FWIW
I replaced a side plate on a 66. It took 2 attempts...first plate did not fit. Second plate fit perfectly. Grand total for both combined was roughly $70. Ebay...

 

[stansdds]

Unfortunately that is an extreme amount of damage. If you sent the gun back to S&W they will classify it as non-repairable. There is no practical way to repair that and you will just have to live it if you keep the gun. Did the idiot grind the S&W off of the barrel too, and the serial number from the butt?

If the SN has been removed too my best suggestion is to turn it in at the next Police "Buy Back" that comes up. What they will give you is probably more that the gun is worth unless you part it out!

I'll bet "Bubba" removes the name badges from his cars too!

My big question is why did you even consider buying a gun in this condition?

I am curious as to the condition of the serial number too.

 

[Apec]

I posted a thread in which I inquired about my options for damage similar in nature.

In this case, you would probably need to find someone who can do stainless welding (recommendations were posted in my thread). They fill in the grind marks with welds, and reblend the surface. For the side plate you'd need to then have someone re-engrave the S&W logo, unless you want to leave it sterile.

Obviously if the serial was removed from the frame, do not send the frame in.

Any smiths who can do stainless welding? Cosmetic repair on 639 beavertail

 

[2152hq]

Those scratches and damage can all be polished out and the surfaces returned to 'normal'.
No welding,,no new side plate.

It can be done by hand,,or if you are good at it,,with the aid of a belt grinder and different grit belts.

The latter can also cause more damage than you have already if you are not experienced using one to polish parts and shapes such as this.

By hand it is a very slow process as there is no clear path to easy filing. But it can be done.

Start with rough cut, clean and SHARP files to rapidly take the surface down. These will also tend not to snag chips in their teeth which will then further scar the surface you are trying to remove damage from.
But you must keep an eye on such things as it can occur and just causes more work for you.

Then to finer cut files.
During this process don't be worried about the direction of the cut lines.
Cross cutting is of an advantage as it will help keep the surface level by quickly telling you what high spots you are cutting down and where the low spots are. The difference in the 'look' of the file directional cuts does that.
Working for the same direction all the time is a recipe for ending up with a lopsided surface.

Just as the last of the orig scars are taken off by file work,,switch to abrasives backed by a file or other hard surface.
Work in different directions again and gradually go to finer grits but not until all the grit lines of the previous abrasive are gone.
If you miss some,,go back now and clean them up.

Get the surface down to 400 or 500 grit. Again non-directional polishing is fine. You can even polish in circles if you want to.
The next step will elliminate all the polishing grit lines.

Cover the surface with a thin film of oil. Most any oil is fine. WD40,,3in1, motor oil, gun oil...
Now with a FINE wire wheel on a motorized arbor like a bench grinder..lightly wirebrush the surface all over.
That will burnish the surface,,remove the grit lines and leave a smooth even tone to the metal.
IF you have missed any grit lines in your filing or abrasive polishing,,they will now stand out like dark lines in the burnished surface.
Go back and repolish and wirewheel again to remove them

How flat and even the surface ends up depends on how much effort you put into the job. Rounding the edges is from rolling the abrasives over them when in use.
The fewer passes you need to meet a level of luster you want , the less likely you are to roll edges over and dish out holes.

Use new abrasives of good quality. When they are spent,,change to new. Don't try to squeeze an extra few minutes out of a piece of 320 grit that's now polishing like it's 500 because it's so worn.

Jobs like this are common in the Restoration biz.
It takes some skill and patience as well.