Found in my dad's gun safe...

[Gadfly]

A follow up to some items found in my father's garage.

Below I have some photos of treasures from the back of the safe that have not seen daylight in 20-25 years...

(photos to follow)

[Gadfly]

Both in 32-20. The Smith was my grandfather's. The colt may have been my grandfather's or great grandfather's... My dad can't remember.

The colts cylinder locks up when cocked, but can be hand turned with the hammer down.... Not sure what the issue is.

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/11/68c95edff3e59ff5773807d9a5f214af.jpg

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/11/659635dc2193d5c1d46d34cac562fe24.jpg



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[TCinVA]

Broken spring on the cylinder stop, perhaps?

[MichaelD]

Man, those are pretty.

[Dagga Boy]

Great find. Both are neat guns.

[Gadfly]

Model 58. He had her in the pachmyers, but digging around, I found the original factory wood grips in the garage. I could swear he said he only paid $150 used in 78-80, but that sounds too low even then...

Tam, enjoy.

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/11/d0debd32726f43477dcabf0c97e981ef.jpg

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/11/87a50f5040c7edd9f51361322cff9bfa.jpg


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[JDM]

That 58 is incredible.

[Gadfly]

The first pistol my dad bought was the .357 Redhawk. Back in the '60s when he was at UT Austin...

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/11/3cd2d9b6cf03cebcdfe1a7c06f09b81f.jpg


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[Gadfly]

My dad liked the 1911, but was more into accurate that reliable. The top was a Clark
Custom build.

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/11/012a36d75433c7bd47d27d0a43b0f7fb.jpg


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[Gadfly]

Was there a trend of big adjustable sights in the 70s?? My did sure seemed to like them...

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/11/f05a486cdbe34c47345d9fe7e926b8c8.jpg


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[okie john]

Model 58. He had her in the pachmyers, but digging around, I found the original factory wood grips in the garage. I could swear he said he only paid $150 used in 78-80, but that sounds too low even then...

That's about what I paid for mine in that era, and I've never been known for scoring exceptional deals. Back in those days, everyone wanted a Model 29 because of some movie or something, so they were going for $450-500. The Model 27, Model 57, and Model 25 were definite also-rans, so you could get them for $275-300 with the presentation case and tools. Oklahoma cops wanted a 357 with adjustable sights, so the Model 19 and Model 28 ran $200-250, with the N-frames being cheaper because they were heavier. The Model 10 went for about $125, and the Model 13 was about $150. The Model 58 was an N-frame, which commanded a premium, so it was priced a little higher than a Model 10 or 13. Those prices are all for blued guns. I didn't care for nickel guns, so I didn't pay much attention to them, but they were $15-20 more when nickel was an option.

That M-58 is probably worth $900-ish these days, but nyeti or tam could tell you for sure.


Okie John

[Gadfly]

Dad said he wanted a 4" 29, but could not justify paying scalpers prices because of "Dirty Harry". He figured going down from .429" to .410" was worth saving many hundreds of dollars... It was in impulse buy. No box, no papers, just a good price.

[Gadfly]

Questions....

So, for those in the know, do you think it would be safer to try and fire the 32-20s? I assume new mfg ammo is loaded to very low pressures.

Also, I would love to change the hammer on the BHP to a rounded style. Just handling the gun tells me I will get hammer bite. I see the Cylinder and Slide kits, any other recommendations?

[Tamara]

That 58 makes my heart go pitter-pat. :o

The .32-20s should certainly be safe with cowboy loads; probably, being 20th Century guns, safe with regular Remchester stuff, too, but IANAL or a gunsmith or an engineer; all I know is my prewar .32-20 Smif has seen a fair amount of factory ammo without any hiccups.

The Smith .32-20, with what looks like a parti-color refinish from the plum color on some parts, looks like it might have an interesting story behind it?

[Gadfly]

That 58 makes my heart go pitter-pat. :o


The Smith .32-20, with what looks like a parti-color refinish from the plum color on some parts, looks like it might have an interesting story behind it?

Can't wait to shoot the 58!

The plum color refinish.... I simply assumed the finish held up differently over time since parts may have been finished in different batches of bluing.

Do you think the color differential means the gun has been back to the factory for work / parts change?

[theJanitor]

Oh, that Clark:p

[dbateman]

Wow those are nice.

Thanks for sharing.

[Tamara]

The plum color refinish.... I simply assumed the finish held up differently over time since parts may have been finished in different batches of bluing.

Do you think the color differential means the gun has been back to the factory for work / parts change?

It's possible. Factory refinishes of that vintage will usually be accompanied by a star stamped on the frame under the stocks. There are a couple visual cues other than the plum color that make me think refinish, but a quality one and not the usual Bubba refinish where they do the hammer & trigger, too. So if it was indeed refinished, it was by someone who gave a crap about doing it right, and some time ago, to boot. That's why I'm dying to know if there's a story. :)

[Gadfly]

Stopped by the range this after noon.

The 58 was a dream to shoot with 210grn cast lead wadcutters. It was not full power magnum ammo, but about 1000fps. Recoil is not nearly as much as I expected. Fixed sights, DA for each shot, 10 yards. Not the best group, but not the worst. I have no doubt that cocking the hammer would tighten those groups up considerably. That or some practice on the DA trigger.

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/13/066faf47d642badd2b80de2e8b0472de.jpg


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[Gadfly]

The high power likes to bite. I wanted to keep things as my dad had them, but that spur hammer needs to become a round "commander" style hammer...

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/13/774b3322f7cd3e45c690f47b581360d3.jpg

That, or I need to lose weight in my hands...


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[Dagga Boy]

My first revolver was a full house Magna Port custom 4" Model 57. As an academic college kid with no real shooting background I did a lot of research and concluded that on paper my choice was about perfect. Cooper was a big advocate of a 10mm round pushing a 200 gr. hollow point at about a 1000 fps as just about perfect. In my world a 10mm pistol was a no go,but .41 Mag was very viable. I was a big .41 Mag lover for a long time, but could never really carry one at work. I finally got to the point where between the .44's and .45 Colt's, I could not justify staying on the .41 Mag path. I recently let my last beloved hard chromed Model 58 former SFPD and DEA gun go to a new home with a 6.5" 29-2 .44 Mag coming to live in my safe. It was hard seeing the last one go. It is a great round and the 58's are really neat guns.