Picked up a revolver.....

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Doc Hoy

New member
.....while traveling through the back roads of Florida


Heading down 301 near Waldo, Fl, my wife, who I thought was dosing, exclaimed, "There is a gunshop".

A suite of storage garages had been turned into vendor stalls and one was Kim Andrews Knives and Guns. So we spun around and stopped in.

He had (I say "had" because I own it now.) a .357 Peacemaker clone in 4 3/4 inch barrel in pretty good shape. This revolver is marked "Geroco" and the owner told me it had been manufactured in Germany. Bote of the pistol is in good shape. It has been fired and I would say it has not been well cared for, although I think a good cleaning will restore it to presentable condition. It has pearl grips which are just a bit too large and the owner told me they came from a Vaquero. Well, it just so happens that I have a Vaquero which could use a nice set of pearl grips

I gave 250.00 for it and I feel like I did okay. Time will tell. I won't be back to the house until the 18th. Maybe I'll go home early and fondle it.

Anyone know anything about Geroco?
 
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OutlawJoseyWales

New member
Doc, what is up with you swoopin' through my state and picking up all the good gun deals. I've been through Waldo 100's of times and never saw that place. There you go again. Man, we gonna' have to have a state trooper stop you at the state line or something. :p

OJW

BTW, you'd better drive 45 through Waldo, it's one of more famous spee...err, "safety zones." Kinda' like Lawtey, where a big sign says "We are NOT a speed trap, we are just concerned about safety."

OJW
 
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arcticap

New member
I've heard of a Geroco cap & ball pistol before. But a Google search turned up info. about Geroco and centerfire guns.
Here's the info. in case the link goes down at some point in the future. The link also has a photo of a single action revolver.

http://www.gunslot.com/pictures/herbert-schmidt-revolver

Herbert Schmidt revolver

GE Geroco (George E. Rose Co.), importer, (couldn't find any address info)

Herbert Schmidt of Ostheim an der Rhon Germany. Schmidt has marketed firearms under a long list of trade names in Europe and the USA including Deputy Marshal, EIG, E8, PIC, Geroco, Madison, Bison, Omega, RG, AMCO, Spesco, Valor, Liberty, LA's Deputy, Liberty Scout, Deputy Magnum, Deputy Adjuster, NATO, Western, Burgo Mod 21, Gecado Model 21 , Indian Scout, VOL, Eusta, Cheyenne Scout, Texas Scout, and Buffalo Scout. The basic Schmidt pattern was a six-shot double action solid frame revolver, with a swing-out cylinder and a short barrel. Schmidt's other principal pattern was a western-style .22 revolver with either no ejector and a removable cylinder arbor, or with a rod ejector beneath the barrel. All Schmidt revolvers have the maker's name stamped into the lower edge of the butt grip frame, visible when the grips are removed. As with Em-Ge, Schmidt revolvers were also widely sold in the USA before the passing of the Gun Control Act of 1968.

Same Gun, Different Name: The German Manufacture Small Frame Single Action is imported under various names including: Hawes, Deputy Marshall, Western Duo, Herters, Buffalo, Texas Scout, Omega, Excam TA-22, HS-21, Geroco Liberty 13, Kimel and Guy Jones, and many others
Click to expand...
 
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Doc Hoy

New member
Responses

Denster,

I spend nearly every waking moment trying to be worthy of her. We have a great arrangement.

I don't ask her to go shooting and she doesn't ask me to go to church.


OJW,

Sorry about scavenging in your back yard. You are dead right about the attitude of the peace officers in these small towns. I purposely avoid doing any business, buying gas or eating a meal in Lawtey simply because of their attitude about how city revenues should be generated. My father who is a long time FL resident was ticketed for four miles over the limit in the approach to the Lawtey. Starke is little better. I pay strict attention to the limits in all of the towns on 301 and I avoid trouble. But I don't have to like it.

Kim Andrews is the name of the guy and there is a gunsmith right next to him. Watch out for his dog. The snoring interupts the conversations.

Cap,

Thanks for the point. Kind of validates what the vendor said about the origin of the pistol. The revolver in the photo is identical to the one I bought, with the exception of the grips.

Photos when I get home and I let you knbow who she shoots.
 
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Doc Hoy

New member
Went to the LGS ....

...And picked up the revolver I purchased....mentioned above.

This revolvers is much similar to the Heritage Arms revolvers being marketted right now.

The most striking similarity is the fact that there are a great many external parts that are cast from white metal and then coated or treated to resemble (unsuccessfully) bluing.

Trigger guard, backstrap, loading gate, ejector housing and ejector tab are all white metal.

I did't like that and so I tried swapping the trigger guard and backstrap with one from an 1860 Brass Frame Army from ASM.

It worked perfectly. Parts fit like a glove including the spring.

I think I also said that the grips on the recently acquired Peacemaker are pearl and were originally made for a Vaquero. So I swapped out the grips, put them on my Vaquero and again, a very good fit.

So now I have a Vaquero with nice pearl grips. I Geroco Peacemaker clone with brass externals, and an 1860 Army with a brass frame, white metal trigger guard and backstrap and Ruger grips.

Here are some pre cleanup photos

geroco001_zpse8b8fdba.jpg


geroco004_zpsc5bc8a5b.jpg


geroco002_zps199b10cb.jpg


Notice how large the grips are for the revolver.
 
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Doc Hoy

New member
Here are a coupla shots after swapping parts

High on my list of priorities for this pistol are replacement of the white metal parts.

geroco006_zps6dfdcf94.jpg


geroco005_zps047b902b.jpg
 
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bedbugbilly

New member
Nice Doc! As they say . . . "I wouldn't be a kickin' her out of bed few eatin' crackers."

You keep buying too many more of these old west guns and you're going to have to by a horse to carry 'em all! :D

Will be anxious to hear how she shoots!
 
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Doc Hoy

New member
Two responses

First Bedbug...

I am a little embarrassed to say that I have got the BP cartridge bug like I have the cap and ball revolver bug. Every Peacemaker style revolver I see, I want.

I haven't even begun with the Remingtons.

Mykeal et al.

I owe you all an apology for my use of the term "white metal". I know it means a different thing now, than it did thirty years ago. I was inadvertently going back to those days. And I did not mean it as an ambush. Sorry guys.

My Grand dad was a die caster at a metal fabrication plant in South Eastern PA. He used the term "white Metal" to refer to ferrous alloys which were high in other metal content. The two properties that were being sought were:

1. lower melting temperature so that methods for casting could be used other than sand casting allowing parts to be made in their finished state. (No grinding, only polishing to complete the part)

2. Parts which achieved the structural strength approaching and I guess in some cases, surpassing steel or cast iron.

For reference, my Grand dad told me that "Tootsietoys" were made from white metal. I know most of you remember Tootsietoys.

The characteristics of the metal were:

- As I recall, slightly lighter than an equivalent steel or iron part.

- Grey in color and tarnished to a very dull grey color

- a little softer than steel and thus easy to polish

- Didn't take finishes very well. Paint chipped or wore off quickly

The first time I examined a Heritage Arms revolver I noticed some parts that were not finished in the same way as the barrel, frame and cylinder. They actually appeared to be painted. To me that was a dead give-away that the parts were (in my language) white metal.

I noticed that same style parts on this Geroco revolver. When I took it apart I found that the trigger guard and back strap were cast and had no finish grinding. The internal surfaces had exactly the same texture as the external surface. In the case of the Geroco revolver, the finish that Schmidt used was not paint but some other process, possibly akin to bluing. But just as I remember from my Grand dad's experience, the parts did not take the finish well, nor did it last as well as the steel parts.

Others of you who are more familiar with ferrous alloys and metal processing will have more infomation on this issue.
 
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bedbugbilly

New member
Hey Doc . . . there's nothing wrong with being bitten by another bug . . . they are nice revolvers and they do say "variety is the spice of life" . . . plus they look nice alongside the C & B models . . . .

The "addiction" can happen to anyone and with anything . . . . besides my "gun addiction" . . . . I also play fiddle. I knew I was in trouble when I had accumulated about 45 of them . . . they're sort of like guns . . . you always are looking for the "perfect" one. Thankfully I came to my senses on those . . much to the relief of my wife and I "weeded" them out as well . . . but that doesn't stop me form looking at every one I run across! (And every once in a while another one follows me home!)
 
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BirchOrr

New member
bedbugbilly

Great post!

I hear ya. As we speak I've narrowed down my vintage guitar collection from over 50 to less than half that. Even still... I have over $500,000.00 worth of guitars. (That is not a misprint). Kinda silly as my kids will probably sell most of 'em someday but been a professional player all my life and I won't part with 'em.

(BTW) I have a great fiddle story to tell you but will send you a PM. Don't want to bore folks here with that!

Guns are my other passion. Have too many of those too. So I've spent my money on things I love. A lifetime of collecting. Sounds like a dream come true to me. :D

Birch
 
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