My new projects

2068 Views 27 Replies 8 Participants Last post by Northtidesix, 10 mo ago

DocBernard

Discussion Starter · 11 mo ago

3

So today is my birthday. Yesterday my wife said I could buy a gun at the pawnshop😁. So I bought three. A pawnshop about 50 miles from me does evidence/confiscation buys from local LE agencies and they have the “bargain section”. And I am needing to have some other pieces to showcase my work. A lot of these guns are absolute junk: missing parts, JB weld repairs, solid blocks of rust. Some, the only thing that classifies them as a firearm is there is a readable serial number. But there’s a few gems in there.

So I walked away with a Smith&Wesson 4013 .40 cal, an old Smith&Wesson .32 long pistol, and a Stevens 12 gauge pump shotgun with choked barrel. All for 600.00

They are in rough but very restorable shape. I think I found my new favorite place.

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Artie1957

· #2 · 11 mo ago

Post some pictures after you clean them up.

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IowaShooter

· #3 · 11 mo ago

Nice hobby! Do you keep them or sell them and buy more projects?

I look forward to seeing that revolver once finished.

Reactions: 1

DocBernard

Discussion Starter · #4 · 11 mo ago

Still working on my gunsmith license/FFL, so right now the plan is to keep them. But I want to use them as “examples” of my work to show my abilities. Maybe down the road they will be sold.

On another note, does anybody have the Smith&Wesson book for dating? That .32 Long has a serial number of 42332 (all matching numbers). Looking to at least find the shipping date on it.

Northtidesix

· #5 · 11 mo ago

DocBernard said:
So today is my birthday. Yesterday my wife said I could buy a gun at the pawnshop😁. So I bought three. A pawnshop about 50 miles from me does evidence/confiscation buys from local LE agencies and they have the “bargain section”. And I am needing to have some other pieces to showcase my work. A lot of these guns are absolute junk: missing parts, JB weld repairs, solid blocks of rust. Some, the only thing that classifies them as a firearm is there is a readable serial number. But there’s a few gems in there.

So I walked away with a Smith&Wesson 4013 .40 cal, an old Smith&Wesson .32 long pistol, and a Stevens 12 gauge pump shotgun with choked barrel. All for 600.00

They are in rough but very restorable shape. I think I found my new favorite place.
View attachment 138318
View attachment 138319
View attachment 138320

That old S&W needs lots of love, but that is the one I would focus on. I hope the bore is good. If not those barrels pop up from time to time.
Looks great have fun.

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DocBernard

Discussion Starter · #6 · 11 mo ago

I agree, Northtidesix. Last night, as soon as I got it home, I stripped the handles off and soaked it in CLP. The cylinder release was frozen but after soaking and some gentle but repeated tapping with a brass drift punch I got it to break loose and was able to remove the cylinder assembly. Internals look pretty decent, bore has some wear but looks serviceable.

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jomana fenzi

· #7 · 11 mo ago (Edited)

nice pieces ! needs just a little bit cleaning

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Northtidesix

· #8 · 11 mo ago

DocBernard said:
I agree, Northtidesix. Last night, as soon as I got it home, I stripped the handles off and soaked it in CLP. The cylinder release was frozen but after soaking and some gentle but repeated tapping with a brass drift punch I got it to break loose and was able to remove the cylinder assembly. Internals look pretty decent, bore has some wear but looks serviceable.

When I get one badly rusted, I put it in a sealed tank full of ATF then let it cook for a few days, sometimes weeks. The hot sun in a sealed ATF container will dissolve lots of grime, corrosion and rust. ATF is the best cleaning solvent I ever came across.

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DocBernard

Discussion Starter · #9 · 11 mo ago

I’ll have to try that on the next one.

Square target

· #10 · 11 mo ago

Can't wait to see the after pics. I've seen quite a few guns over the years that were rusted because of contact with blood, mostly from deer. It always looked a bit different than regular rust. That S&W 40 has that look...Hmmm

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DocBernard

Discussion Starter · #11 · 11 mo ago

Yeah, good eye. I noticed that the rust was a different color too. I was thinking it was the type of metal or coloration of the slide that caused that “brighter” color of rust. And the pattern was odd, only on the top of the slide and nowhere else. Haven’t touched it yet to figure it out. But it is fully functional and so I put it off until I get the .32 done

Popeye

· #12 · 11 mo ago

I've cleaned up six or eight 'suicide guns'. Some had set for years and some had set for months in an evidence locker. In all instances it was about the first inch the muzzle area, both inside and outside, that was most effected.

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DocBernard

Discussion Starter · #13 · 10 mo ago (Edited)

IowaShooter said:
…….I look forward to seeing that revolver once finished.

Here ya go. BTW, got my answer on the model and ship date for the revolver. It is a 1903 Smith & Wesson (shipped in 1906) .32 cal Long Hand Ejector, 6 screw 1st Change.
(Over 116-118 years old). Now fully functional and shootable. Still need to get the letter from S&W to get the original recipient and establish some provenance on it.

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IowaShooter

· #14 · 10 mo ago

Looks great! Well done!

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jrbfishn

· #15 · 10 mo ago

DocBernard said:
Here ya go. BTW, got my answer on the model and ship date for the revolver. It is a 1903 Smith & Wesson (shipped in 1906) .32 cal Long Hand Ejector, 6 screw 1st Change.
(Over 116-118 years old). Now fully functional and shootable. Still need to get the letter from S&W to get the original recipient and establish some provenance on it.

That cleaned up really nice.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

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Northtidesix

· #16 · 10 mo ago

DocBernard said:
Here ya go. BTW, got my answer on the model and ship date for the revolver. It is a 1903 Smith & Wesson (shipped in 1906) .32 cal Long Hand Ejector, 6 screw 1st Change.
(Over 116-118 years old). Now fully functional and shootable. Still need to get the letter from S&W to get the original recipient and establish some provenance on it.

It looks great. Everytime I do one of these old timers I find myself thinking: If you could only talk....What a story they could tell us.
Good job another piece of history recovered.

Reactions: 1

DocBernard

Discussion Starter · #17 · 10 mo ago (Edited)

2

So, on to the next fun project: A 1923 Walther PP Model 4, 3rd Variant. This one is gonna be a challenge:

1st it's all in pieces.

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Second: Oops. The hammer is broken in two spots.

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So, since I can’t find a hammer anywhere for this pistol, I am gonna fabricate one. Client said “ if you can fix it that would be great, if not give it a good cleaning”

Challenge accepted, good sir. I have been waiting to put my hand scraping, metal hardening, and machining skills to the test.

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Northtidesix

· #18 · 10 mo ago

DocBernard said:
So, on to the next fun project: A 1923 Walther PP Model 4, 3rd Variant. This one is gonna be a challenge:

1st it's all in pieces. View attachment 140133

Second: Oops. The hammer is broken in two spots. View attachment 140134
So, since I can’t find a hammer anywhere for this pistol, I am gonna fabricate one. Client said “ if you can fix it that would be great, if not give it a good cleaning”

Challenge accepted, good sir. I have been waiting to put my hand scraping, metal hardening, and machining skills to the test.

Doc,
In the past I have taken this type of damage to a jewelry fabricator that was able to braze weld the small parts. Even bridging the broken out parts. I would bet, as a last ditch, a silversmith could repair this hammer. What do you have to lose if you cannot fabricate the part? I rescued an '86 Winchester .38/70 (talk about a rare bird) cartridge lifter in 1977. Silver welded the broken piece on the tip. It was still shooting in the 1990's when I sold it.
They really are worth the effort.
Roy

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DocBernard

Discussion Starter · #19 · 10 mo ago

Northtidesix, I will definitely look in to that.

My concern is that this is the hammer, and I am not sure brazing will hold up to the forces generated on that part and that bottom pin enclosure is so fine and those little pieces are nonexistent with the pile I received.

And, I’ll admit it, I am looking forward to the challenge of the process. I haven’t done this level of precision in a while and I get to break out my machinists box. Already sourcing the steel, going to use a 1095 because I can heat treat it and forge the rough shape first ( buying enough for at least 10 of them for the oops factor)

Reactions: 1

Square target

· #20 · 10 mo ago

I don't think this is the same but worth a look.
Walther PP PPK Hammer

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