How bad is this?

[gunzik]

I got what I thought was a nice little .30 rimfire from a guy on the EE. He mentioned that it didn't cycle / carry up properly and needed a little help to lock, had minor pitting in the bore, but otherwise was shootable.

Once I cleaned the rust out and put it back together properly, it worked as he described. When I got it, the side plate wasn't on properly and the cylinder latch wouldn't drop to allow the cylinder to rotate at all.

Unfortunately, being out of time, someone had dry-fired the crap out of it and peened the firing pin badly. It doesn't reach the safety notch any more, let alone a cartridge in the chamber.

But worse, I don't know if you would want to put a cartridge in this chamber:

That's a major dent, just visible inside the chamber too, and even though .30 rimfire is no .357 magnum, I don't know if that would ever be safe to shoot. I thought it might be possible to ream it slightly to get rid of the minor constriction.

Then I though, wait, I bought this as a project that was worth while. A simple carry up problem, something to play with this winter, and the challenge of loading up some .30 rimfire (ball) ammo ... with a reward at the end. A shootable little antique. With the cylinder damage, I'm not sure I want to play any more.

A grip was cracked too. A finishing nail body for the trigger pin, which falls out of course. Those are minor things you can expect with an antique. The damaged cylinder, clearly visible ... Has anyone here got something like this, and how bad is that dent?

I still like the little guy, but of course the amount of work needed to make it go bang just went way up. And with the cylinder damage, tell me if you would shoot it, or give up and send it back.

Thank you.

 

[Skinny 1950]

This is the kind of damage that can happen when you bring a gun to a sword fight.
Looks like you still have four usable cylinders so fill the dented one with wax so you can't load it.

 

[Lionel]

Low power loads might not be a problem, but what about making a new cylinder? All NEW steel, and if you've got your timing right, it will go bang without spitting lead out the cylinder gap.

They make 'em for the cap and ball guys, but that is on a production scale, not in the realm of "one offs"

Might be very expensive if you don't know the right people who know how to do this sort of thing, unless you have your own lathe and milling machine.

 

[tiriaq]

The hammer nose could probably be drawn back out to its previous condition by careful use of a light hammer.
Raising the dent in the chamber is certainly do-able. Just like raising a dent in a shotgun barrel. Would require a tapered slug of the proper diameter pushed through the chamber.
Given the work that you have already done on it, I don't know that returning it for a refund is reasonable.

 

[gunzik]

Thanks, Gentlemen!

Lengthening the firing pin with a hammer sounds like a stressful job. Careful use indeed! It probably needs a little less than 1/16 of an inch, but it's less than 3/8 long, and that 1/16 could seem like a mile.

Making a modern cylinder is already planned for a couple of Remington .38 rimfires, which are exact dimensional matches for the S&W model 36 / 60 cylinder. The cylinder will of course need to be shortened and a whole bunch of work done, but you can use an existing cylinder. I'm up for that, with a lathe and milling machine at my disposal. I'm not up to making a new one out of a round piece of 4140 steel...

I still enjoyed my time with this little revolver. The design is simple, elegant and surprisingly robust for a "suicide special".

It's on its way back to the Land of the Free, with a stopover at the EE seller's house. The original Gunbroker seller agreed to refund my EE friend, who will refund me, and that's probably for the best. I'm not up to hammering a longer firing pin, reforming the damaged chamber, or carving a new hand. "A man's got to know his limitations."