[Northtidesix]

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
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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.

 

[Northtidesix]

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.

 

[Northtidesix]

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.

 

[Northtidesix]

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

 

[Northtidesix]

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)

Doc,
I know what you mean about the Ooops! and Challenge. I started out to rescue ONE 1890 Winchester and ONE 1912 Remington. I wound up doing a dozen of each. Needless to say several family members got antique pump .22's for Christmas for a couple of years. The jeweler is just something outside the box I came up with out of desperation. Just bear in mind these projects keep us busy, and it beats the hell out of making coasters out of popsicle sticks in a retirement home.
Roy

 

[Northtidesix]

Its always worth an email or a phone call to check. Parts houses often have some parts with insufficient quantity to list on their website.

Numrich Gun Parts stresses that point on their catalog site. I liked the old way of ordering parts from them. Call it in and if they had it they sent it C.O.D. That was a last ditch try at a long-term project. They also sent out a notice if they did not have it.
Roy

 

[Northtidesix]

C.O.D., now there is a blast from the past. I used to order lots of things like that, especially car parts from Summit and Jegs. I think companies getting burned on shipping costs for non-payment and UPS drivers getting robbed stopped that.

I did something similar when I was doing my gun parts/lead recycling business. I mail the part or lead to the direct sale customer. If the part met their approval, they mail me a check. If it didn't, they mailed the part back. Same went for the lead bars or sinkers. If they failed to send the check or the part, I threw away their address and blocked the email. I never got stiffed. I was selling the recycled lead at 50% below the going price on ebay. While using the Numrich pricing guide for the gun parts. Not trying to get rich off every transaction, just financing my gun buying habit.
Roy