HANDS OFF MY BARREL, DR. JONES!!!

[GrapeApe]

That's why I said "dumb question time"

I admit to knowing next to nothing about old S&Ws and that thought/question crossed my mind, so I figured I'd throw it out there. Figured either you or Junkman would have a pretty good idea as to the answer

[Bigslug]

Went back to the shop today to take some measurements for the bullet casting process. Paused to look harder. . .Realized that I'd been so hung up on figuring out the metal that I never really gave the A.M. grips a proper look. They do bring a fair amount of "Yowza!" to the party:

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They may not permanently have a home on THIS N-frame, but I'm surely gonna use 'em somewhere.

Brought along the pin gauge set to get diameters on the cylinder throats and bore, and pounded a couple of .457" round balls through the barrel to get the groove diameter:

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Pretty danged happy about that. The throats are all uniform at .434", and half a thousandth bigger than my tumble lube bullets are dropping out of the mold, so we have the perfect snug slip fit. The barrel's groove diameter at .430" will be giving that bullet a little bit more squeeze than the .001" to .002" that's regarded as ideal these days, but it should seal tightly and shoot clean.

Melted up 20 pounds of 0.3% antimony alloy rendered from jacketed range scrap bullet cores, added four ounces of tin, and got busy.

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Hoping to have a range report on it between Xmas and NYD. My Dad is using the same bullet in a powder-puff Special load for his 4" Mountain Gun. We'll probably start with that, tweak the charge up or down to get it to shoot to the sights, and move the adjustable sights on the Mountain Gun to that load as the new standard for .44 SPL.

[Freezer]

Those grips fit that piece very well! Nicely done and great find

[Chiro1989]

Those grips fit that piece very well! Nicely done and great find

Yes, the fit and finish look good from here

[Elk Creek]

Those grips are really amazing in their own right…..

[Wambli Ska]

Here’s an alternative that was quite popular in old school cop guns. It’s Jay Scott fake stag grips. These look darn good for $40.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/155935940339?m ... media=COPY

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[Bigslug]

Never really could warm up to stag as a grip material, and ivory has always been a tough sell. In .44 Special, this one's not really a candidate for the WWII "pinup under plexiglass" category either.

This Purgatory period really does SUCK. California should know perfectly well that by now, if I WAS going to go berserk, I wouldn't have to wait for a new one.

[Gene L]

I don't like fake stag. They're obvious at being faked. Something else I don't like for looks is a Pachmayer grip on an old gun.

[CPJ 2.0]

I don't like fake stag. They're obvious at being faked. Something else I don't like for looks is a Pachmayer grip on an old gun.

All stag looks like ass, real or fake. Same with pearl.
Unless you’re a pimp.
Rubber Pachmayers are the ugliest grips known to man, on any vintage.

[Gene L]

I took the stag grips off my 1911. I don't know why. I had pearl grips (factory smith pearls) on a .32 hand ejector. Nickel. I sold it to a pimp in a New Orleans whorehouse.

[Zee]

I took the stag grips off my 1911. I don't know why. I had pearl grips (factory smith pearls) on a .32 hand ejector. Nickel. I sold it to a pimp in a New Orleans whorehouse.

Ha!

[Zee]

I don't like fake stag. They're obvious at being faked. Something else I don't like for looks is a Pachmayer grip on an old gun.

All stag looks like ass, real or fake. Same with pearl.
Unless you’re a pimp.
Rubber Pachmayers are the ugliest grips known to man, on any vintage.

This.

[Gene L]

Will a lanyard loop fit on those grips? Looks like too much wood below the butt.

[Bigslug]

Current grips are wrap-under target style, so no lanyard ring with those.

Got a set of replicas in-process from Altamont that'll do the trick.

[Bigslug]

Got it home today and dove inside to face some honest grease of ages past:

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Broke out the Ballistol and got busy. Found a bit of an odd thing:

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Somebody had padded the ends of the sideplate where it bears against the inside of the frame. Some kind of oil-soaked paper on the left; brass on the right. Not sure what the reasoning behind this was, as the sideplate settled down nice and flush without binding anything after reassembly. Weird.

Clean and shiny lockwork bits:

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Absolutely no reason for S&W to mirror polish the side of the rebound slide or the DA sear, but they went and did it just because. Yes. . .the Old Time Rock & Roll has its charms...

A close up of the A.E.F. eagle head I mentioned:

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Gotta wonder how many frames S&W churned out as fast as they could for Uncle Sam, only to have Uncle Sam yell "WHOA!" on them after 11/11/18. I like my 1921 inventory clean-up.

Clean and back together:

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It can't be properly described with the photos, but it's got one of those actions that you'll cycle slowly all day just to listen to the thing.

Inside of the aftermarket grips. No sign of who made 'em, but wonderful fit all the same:

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Can't install the lanyard ring until the "correct" grips arrive, but it's standing by:

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It came with a holster. Kinda cool:

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I don't think I've encountered the George Lawrence Company before, but as they marked it for a 38/44, it's probably nearly as old as the gun.

Hopefully, I'll get a range day and report to y'all on Friday.

[Chiro1989]

Very cool take down, not brave enough to do that myself to my one old Smith, had a gun smith do it for me, hope that trigger makes you giddy

[Wambli Ska]

George Lawrence holsters are very good quality and they were huge in the first half of the 20th century. That are becoming a little collectible with others like Heiser and Bauer and the prices are coming up on eBay.

Worth giving that leather a little cleaning and TLC

[JunkCollector]

I saw a set of 1917 grips yesterday
Thought of you and this gun when looking at them.

[Bigslug]

Very cool take down, not brave enough to do that myself to my one old Smith, had a gun smith do it for me, hope that trigger makes you giddy

Now you see gaps between parts. . .

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. . .and now you don't.

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Between helping my Dad clean up some of his acquisitions and my own interests, I've been lucky enough to work on things like a Sharps carbine produced a the height of the Civil War on one extreme, and a few Maxim-pattern belt-feds of WWI on the other. Even though they were operating under the press of their greatest national calamities EVER, they were turning out stuff at this level - mainly because that was just how they did stuff.

So yeah. . .a little bit giddy.

[Wambli Ska]

Like you I just love the old craftsmanship. Thanks for taking that side plate off. It made me smile

[Bigslug]

Got a repro lanyard ring on the way and an inquiry sent off to Altamont. It looks like original specimen grips are medallion-free, but like Wambli says, close enough is close enough.

Something of an update on my half-assed research on grips:

I went back and reviewed Othias' C&Rsenal video on the 1st Model Triple Lock, in which they also break out a British service 2nd Model in .455 for discussion of the changeover. Both of those have the bronze S&W medallions. The Indiana Jones "Bapty" also started life as a Brit .455 and also sported medallions.

Between that, my Standard Catalog, and photos on GB, I don't really have a big enough data pool to be definitive, but it looks like there may have been a "medallion free" period in the 1920's and they brought them back later.

Meh. I asked Altamont for bronze on darker walnut if available. It should look the part.

[JunkCollector]

The 20's was a time of no medallions
The 1917's and victories/BSR's are war guns hence no medallions.

Medallion size,color, and composition changed many many times over the years
.even a short time with plastic ones post WWii

[Wambli Ska]

The 20's was a time of no medallions
The 1917's and victories/BSR's are war guns hence no medallions.

Medallion size,color, and composition changed many many times over the years
.even a short time with plastic ones post WWii

Junk collector was kind enough to find me a non-medallion pair that was in decent shape (medallion grips of that era were more $$$ than my gun) and I was then lucky enough to find a trashed Lady Smith set with the correct medallions for cheap so they became the donor. So cautious woodwork and I got my Indy Jones copy looking the part.

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[Bigslug]

Wambli is easy to find - he leaves a red line behind him on the map everywhere he goes.

I put in an updated request to Altamont to leave the medallions off. I'll probably end up with the medallion-free thumbprint depression instead of the convex top your Indy gun started with - both were a thing at that time. Will be happy either way.

These guns are just sexy. When my Dad and I went to see Public Enemies in the theater, I was struggling to sum up to my Mom how the old blue steel stands out on screen in a way you can't fake. Dad thought about it for a second and said, "They glow". Yep. Nailed it.

[Wambli Ska]

I agree with your dad and I can’t wait to see the final product with the Altamont grips on it. They do excellent work!

The red line is annoying but it lets my wife know how to find me

Oh, and my gun also has the lanyard ring now like yours, just like the original