Not a Smith however..
I picked up an old Llama pistol. Dont know exactly how old but from what I could find online, possibly 1930s-50s service weapon. Its was on consignment for $150. I offered $100 and waited to hear back.
I was looking for a "beater" pistol my gunstore had one on consignment for $150. The whole gun was spray painted black. The salesman said that the owner told them that he had kept it in his car as a trunk gun and checked it once a week. If he thought he saw the slightest bit of corrosion he would quickly apply several layers of regular black spray paint. This gun has layers upon layers upon layers of paint but it slides smooth and the trigger is also very smooth. There is dark brown crud behind the trigger, behind the safety and inside the serrations on the slide. I guess its a combo of spray paint, dirt/crud, and maybe some minor surface rust. We came to the conclusion (myself, my buddy and the salesman) that most likely there is actually very little is any surface rust on the gun, overall, since the owner practically painted it once a week. The barrel...oh boy the barrel....lots and lots of dots inside but not a sewer. Kinda brownish/black but they only go about half way down and then stop. Since this guy spray painted the gun without taking it apart or even taping off parts we are betting that a lot of this brownish black coating is just the over spray. He did make an attempt to not hit the grips with the paint so they are only painted around the edges! They look to be original wooded grips with deep vertical serrations. Left side has some dents in it from hitting something (maybe the owners head) I did not see any pitting on the gun. At least nothing that ate holes in the metal.
Very similar to the Star pistol. Has no grip safety, a small thumb safety on the left, same type of hammer as the Star and about the same size. On the left side on the bottom of the frame toward the back it has one of those lanyard rings and comes with a ww2 type holster. I dont know if the holster is original but it looks like its been to Stalingrad and back. This is what makes me think its ww2 era. The price is $150. I told them $75 at first but they said that was too low. I said $100 and the salesman went to call the owner. The owner didnt pick up so they put it aside for me and waited for the owner to call back
After doing research I figured out it was a Llama (pronounced Yama) Especial. This Llama Especial was produced for a long time however this particular gun was made in 1946 and by the serial # appears to be early 1946. Everything seems to match and there are no import marks...so far. Also this particular gun with vertical striations wood grips were all used in the Spanish civil war and they we're built with match barrels. Checked grip versions were built for export.
Anyhow, I proceded to take it apart. Well the whole guy is spray painted black inside and out, including inside the barrel.
These are just a few of the many pics I took as I took the gun apart.
Next I proceeded to take off the paint out of the barrel and off of the slide. BTW as a side note the slide, bushing, barrel, spring work just like the TTs. With very few minor differences. Ok after I took the paint of the slide I was left with a dirty looking, oxifized, tarnished gun.
I set out to try and completely de **** the slide. Overall it was a failure but not a total loss of a day. The main problem was getting the paint out from inside the slide. It was so caked on that it was taking forever using carb cleaner and paint thinner and multiple brushes. And still I was only able to get about 5% of the paint off.
The outside of the slide was a different story. I used some metal polish/tarnish removed and a cloth and by hand started to rub out the oxidasion.
Here you can see the rear part as it was under the paint. The front had been polished slightly.
With these results I desided to try the tarnish remover and a dremel on a small part. The mag release.
Before
After
I took the slide to work and let it sit in gasoline or some other desolving fluid for a while. To get the paint of easier.
Meanwhile I cleaned the slide inside with CLP as well as the frame. After I put it back together the slide moved like butter and the hammer and trigger were like silk as compared to before.
Here is a pic of the gun assembled. You can see the before and after in one pic.
There is pitting all over the slide but its very light and not deep. My ultimate goal is to restore this gun to a presentable condition and make it a nice shooter.
Had some spare time and managed to clean up the frame a little. I couldn't find the paint thinner and I was to lazy to drive out and buy some so I dipped the frame into degreaser and let it sit for about an hour. Afterwards I scrubbed it down with a rag and a tooth brush. That took 99% of the paint off. The end result left me with a brown oxidized frame. Now I know why it was spray painted. The gun had about 0.0001% of its bluing left
I then did a quick polish using 0000 steal wool and polish/tarnish remover
Here she is all cleaned up
I cant find pics of the range results however it was impressive for a 70 year old gun thats been thorugh who know what.
I still have to blue her and then she's all done!
