S&W M27 questions.. Or how to restore a wreck.

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Al Thompson

Staff Alumnus
At my local gunstore, they got in a batch of police department trade-ins. These were all confiscitated guns with one badly surface rusted 3.5 inch M27. I looked the M27 over and noted that the interior was fine, but the external part was about 90% rusted. I purchased the M27 and soaked it in ATF and oil for two weeks so I could remove the screws. When I tapped the sideplate off, I pulled out the rebound slide and discovered a "nail" inside the spring and a wad of some fiberous substance in there as well. As I had soaked it, the fiberous substance had reached the point of "mushy" and was discarded. The slde was polished in anticipation of getting a hard chrome finish from APW. I'll probably get a set of grips from somewhere and have a darn nice .357 for a decent price, but this one is no longer on the collectors market. :(

Anybody know what the "nail" and "mush" were doing there? :confused:

Any thoughts and suggestions are appreciated.. :)
 
J

James K

Member In Memoriam
I don't know about the "mush" but the "nail" was put there by S&W as an overtravel stop. They used to have a tiny piece that screwed into the frame behind the trigger, but that was pretty expensive. So they went to that little piece of steel inside the rebound slide spring. With a bit of tinkering, you can get it to a nice letoff with no overtravel.

(Of course, you don't buy the part from S&W to fit it; you just use - are you ready for this? - a nail.)

Jim
 
A

Archie

New member
Have it engraved.

Then refinish it in blue or whatever. Since it's no longer an 'original' collector's item, a nice engraving job will increase the value should you ever decide to sell.
 
A

Al Thompson

Staff Alumnus
Thanks Jim - learn something new every day.

Archie, that's a good idea, but just getting it hard chromed is about all I can afford. :)
 
T

tulsamal

New member
The slde was polished in anticipation of getting a hard chrome finish from APW.
Click to expand...

Great idea. That's what I do with my N frame rescues. A M27/28 that has been brushed chromed by APW is like getting a new gun!

Gregg
 
V

Vic303

New member
Send it off to S&W customs shop for a nice workover & refinish! They did a wonderful job on my DH's M27 5" no-dash. Wasn't horribly expensive either and it is now beautiful!
 
A

Al Thompson

Staff Alumnus
Vic, it's just too pitted for a blue job. I'm hoping APW can just knock it down a bit and give me that stainless steel look. It also needs to be re-crowned due to pitting.
 
H

Hotdog1911

New member
Now hold on there a minute.

Don't no one here kid yourself.

Smith N frame...the steel on the frame hasn't been compromised, correct?

Rebuild that pup from the ground up. No special replating jazz. Once you have the frame its only a matter of ordering all new parts; slam it all together and it will go for say, 50 thousand 38 specail pressure loads.
 
A

Al Thompson

Staff Alumnus
Trust me guys, if I could have posted a picture of the M27 when I first saw it, y'all would have voted for a decent burial. :D For a shooter, I do prefer hard chrome or stainless over blued anyway. With the pitting, no way you could polish this one out.
 
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