What did I buy?

[MJS5678]

Found this M&P Target on Gunbroker a couple of weeks ago, Serial # 6774XX. It came with a set of goodyears that were quickly discarded. The barrel and cylinder have no serial numbers, but the chambers and bore are shiny and bright. The front sight is a King reflector.

Timing is off slightly and I suspect that the hand needs replaced. I have started to make a plug for the 3/16" hole in the hammer.

What are my chances that the hammer will letter to this revolver? Should I look for a 6" barrel or leave the 4" on?

 

[MJS5678]

Found this M&P Target on Gunbroker a couple of weeks ago, Serial # 6774XX. It came with a set of goodyears that were quickly discarded. The barrel and cylinder have no serial numbers, but the chambers and bore are shiny and bright. The front sight is a King reflector.

Timing is off slightly and I suspect that the hand needs replaced. I have started to make a plug for the 3/16" hole in the hammer.

What are my chances that the hammer will letter to this revolver? Should I look for a 6" barrel or leave the 4" on?

 

[arfmel]

cool. I'd leave the 4" bbl and shoot it.

 

[rayb]

If it were mine, I'd fix the timing issues and leave everything else as is..

just my opinion

But it is your gun, and I hope you enjoy it however it ends up.

rayb

 

[azmick]

cool. I'd leave the 4" bbl and shoot it

+1
any indication who did the work on it. it looks like a name or ? on the front sight ramp

 

[Joni_Lynn]

Cool revolver, it represents a period of revolver history and if it was mine I'd get the timing corrected and shoot it.

 

[digi-shots]

I'd leave it like it is too (except for the timing)..

Why is there an extra hole in the hammer?

 

[dbarale]

Most likely to reduce hammer mass and improve hammer speed. I think it's a great gun, I too, would leave it as is. A lot of good quality custom work was put into this gun and it looks really good.
Just fix the timing and enjoy an old school target conversion. Really nice gun.

 

[mikepriwer]

Mike

This might be an interesting gun. First, its in the serial number range
of hump-back hammers, which is what this is. For example, 6771xx was one of
the ranges for HB hammers. That hammer might well be the original hammer.

Second, I would be inclined to remove that King sight base temporarily, just
to see what is under it. Being not numbered probably means that it has been
replaced, but if what is under that base is a target sight base, then you might
want to fix that base up with an original blade. The extra holes can be
filled with pins. If its not a target barrel, but rather an old M&P , then
you can put the King base back.

The hole in the hammer is curious. I've owned a gun that had extensive work
done on it to make it much lighter. Holes were drilled all up and down the
grip straps, and the hammer itself had a lot of metal removed. This hole
may have been an attempt to lighten the hammer and make it faster. You might
remove the sideplate, to see if anything else has been done.

Before you go too far, you ought to request a letter. If it was shipped with
a humpback hammer, I'd be inclined to think about getting the original-length
target barrel put on it. Then, you also might want to look for another
unmodified HB hammer. I would not fill that hole - it will never look right,
and its not all that bad as it is now.

Later, Mike Priwer

 

[MJS5678]

azmick, The front sight ramp is stamped with King pat. pend. There are no other marks on the gun to suggest who did the work.

Mike, I pulled the front sight, had to make a drift to fit. It's a modified M&P barrel as we suspected.

I had the side plate off earlier today, there are no other modifications. The case color on the serrated trigger and hammer seem very close. That is why I thought the hammer may be original.

I do like the 4" barrel with the King sight. If I squint my eyes a little it looks like a mini registered mag.

I will fix the timing and have some fun with it.
This will be my first revolver to letter.

 

[glypnir]

I like the way it looks just like it is.

 

[mikepriwer]

Mike

So - I think a letter is the next step. I'd preserve what you have, for now.

If the gun was shipped with a HB hammer, as I'm guessing it was, AND if
you get lucky and it went to an individual, or was special-ordered, then
you might want to restore the barrel to an original target configuration.

Personally, I dislike that big bulky King sight base. I dislike it so
much that I sold one I had - someone on this forum has it, and posted a
few pictures some time ago.

If you like the 4" barrel, and come to dislike that King base, you can have
that barrrel converted to a target barrel. Dave Chicoine, or Monty
Mandarino, can do that easily. They simply mill out a slot in that old
base, and can then mount a nice blade - maybe a McGivern Gold Bead ? !!

Lets see what turns up in the letter.

Regards, Mike Priwer

 

[azmick]

could it have started it's life as a semi target?

Personally, I dislike that big bulky King sight base. I dislike it so
much that I sold one I had

Mike Priwar; we all know you have a "thing" for the barrel roll marks and the King base covers part of that so it makes perfect sense

a letter on this one may be intresting

 

[mikepriwer]

Az

This is about as ugly as it gets :

Believe it or not, this is a triplelock target. Its a 7" barrel ( the records
show it to be a target, but the length is not specified), and someone had that big
King front-sight base mounted on it.

If they had just left it original, its a many-thousand dollar gun. As it is,
its not much. This is just ugly, and it doesn't look any better on a K-frame,
in my view. The gun is about a 95 to 98% gun !

As to the roll-marking being covered up, that is not the case here. I am a big
fan of the side-marked patent dates, not the top-marked. This barrel would have
top-marked patent dates.

Later, Mike Priwer

 

[Joni_Lynn]

Beautiful Triple lock!!! Even with the King fromt sight it's still wonderful!

 

[j38]

Mike, Congratulations on owning a very unique - and interesting revolver! I think it looks very neat, very purposeful. Please let us know if you find out more about the history behind it. Thanks, Jerry

 

[Deacon KC]

mikepriwer, that ugly triplelock does not deserve to be at your house, send it my way!

 

[mikepriwer]

Kevin

I don't own that gun, for the very reason I have stated ! In fact, I
never owned it. When it was offered to me, it had mint Roper stocks.
I offered to buy the stocks, and throw in a proper pair of gold medallion
stocks. That part of the deal got done ; this picture is apparently
after taking off the Ropers.

I do know where the gun was - for whatever reason, after selling the Ropers,
the owner decided not to sell it. My concern was - what was under that
King base ? Beyond the two mounting holes, if it had been milled down, to
make room for the King base, then it would have been a real mess trying to
get it right. That is why I passed on it.

Later, Mike Priwer