Joined
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33 Posts
I know I am going to get more flack off this that I WANT, especially from grammatically correct readers (thank god we have an English teacher on the forums who can alert us to this) in regards to BOLD print; however, I feel that this is something that I would like to pass on as a LAST RESULT before sending my gun to the “powers that be” to make perfect at a cost of “Time does not matter” trade off. As many of you know who have posted and replied to my quest to find out as much about the Trooper Mk V .357 4” Nickel gun, dealing first with a broken Trigger (still don’t know what happened there), then sending it to Colt repair for 120 days, then finding out in 93 days the barrel was “BULGED” (noticed I referred to this as bulged and not my “QUOTE” from Colt repair shop as being Busted), and needed another barrel, which THANK GOD they had one unbelievable enough (what are the odds hugh?) and was able to get my gun fixed and like NEW.
I have to hand it to COLT for making it SOO GOOD in the trigger pull, and feel like I like it to be. I am an owner of TWO pythons (1977 – 1983), and as you know, it is hard to compare the two “IN THIS AREA”. I am a automotive machinist, and know how HYPE works, especially in the cylinder head arena, and it is much the same in SOO many ways. After reading from so many about you cannot polish nickel, and how abrasives can damage the finish, I was left with discontent. Yea, Colt fixed my gun, yea they done it good, yea it was dirty and a couple of screws were finger loose, but in the end, after I took it all back apart and went through it all myself (from the mechanical end to cosmetics) this is what I got.
The gun was DIRTY from Colt, which is fine as I have no problems there (I would expect at least for some superficial trim); however, there was two screws loose I did not notice when I first got it, the cylinder latch screw and the clockwork screw on the handle. It was really filthy and when I sent it to them apart (in pieces) it used carb cleaner and Hopes 9 in every single part including the frame. One thing I was scared of and I knew was going to happen (and it did) was the mis-match of the new barrel (used off another gun) to my nickel. As I mentioned I had already asked Mr. Brewer in Colt repair what was the cost to have it re-nickeled (funny, he never replied PERIOD on something I was going to pay for) and I still don’t know, but I figured about $400.00 or so. The side of the gun had semi-deep grip marks into the nickel where grips had been on the gun, along with “cloudiness” all over the gun, and some holster marks of wear. Combine this with the mis-matched barrel (and a NASTY mis-matched barrel with rust like SPOTTING along the main part of the barrel where it was most seen) and I was at the point of “take it in the giggy pipe and say goodbye for a year maybe!!!
After spending about 10 hours in cleaning (taking apart the entire gun and using HOPE 9, then using water, then alcohol wipes to remove all the solvent) I shot REM OIL on the gun from Wal-Mart. I got it CLEAN, and well-oiled and greased (Hopes gun grease, not too much, just on the parts that had direct contact on the metal as 4130 Steel needs some lube on direct metal to metal contact). I took film (DVR) and Lots of photos in Flash and non-flash so as to expose what I was talking about. Then, in a Makers Mark decision, I called my good friend Troy, who has been the best Auto Pain and Body man in Middle Tennessee for over 25 years. He does a LOT of nickel and chrome stuff and when I told him of my problem, he told me “I promise you I can pull that crap out to like knew, if I don’t you owe me nothing, and if I do, then steak at Outback!!!
The next day, I read the forums and seen all the response to my post about the gun and the work the Colt shop done, and spending HOURS looking for post about polishing nickel (especially Dfariswheel, who I respect VERY MUCH) I thought I would just send this back to Colt. Then, logic kicked in and I just said WTF (what the Fruit), if I am going to send it back anyway, why not give this a shot, and what can I hurt? What really got me was one of the post on my gun about the finish and time, when one reply pointed out to me that “if this is in honor to your deceased brother, and was his only and favorite thing in the world, then I would leave the finish alone like it was, and leave it like he remembered it (or something like that) and to that person I say “THANK YOU VERY MUCH”, you really got to me on that. I just thought my brother would want me to try (you would have to know him) and if I messed it up BAD, then I would be justified in sending it back and waiting till doomsday to get the gun back, hopefully before I died.
Here is the photos, which I have posted in order (I hope they let me post them all as to show the before, polish, after is about 25 picks as I tried to get it so you know EXAXCTLY how and what I used to come up with this. I will give the conclusion here now, rather than at the end, which is UNBELIEVEABLE!!! I cannot believe what my friend Troy done! He did it with a Midas touch, smooth and with skill of many years of nickel and chrome polish, and what he used which he had it in a special area for those type of parts. All I can say is, I used a 4 megapixel Cam-Corder (my SLR was at home, and I had my cam corder there filming stuff on my website) and I tried to get it the best I could with side, level and Flash and non-flash the best I could. I know I will hear “Send it to Colt” as many of you are 100% Perfectionist gun guys and what is MINT anyway? What mattered to me is the difference (the picks just don’t do it justice I promise you that), before and after, and that I got it to the point that what the guy who posted about “keep it like your brother had it” would be STOOKED to see how it turned out.
I can tell you this for sure, you cannot tell (almost with a magnifying glass) where the different finish of the barrel connects to the frame, and the only area’s that really you can tell is where I had masking tape (around the sights, and to keep the mainspring from flying out). Could it be better? HELL YES!!! It could be NEW from Colt for $400.00 and a year’s wait. Is it worth the 400.00 and a year, maybe, or maybe not. When you factor in my brothers hands held it the way it was (minus the barrel) that is priceless to me, and that I took the chance and my friends advice to “TRY” this and it WORKED to the point you can barely tell it needs to be re-finished (I would say this is ABOVE 85% mint like this, and I left the end of the cylinder UN-POLISHED so as not to take away from the fact the gun has been shot (I buffed it a little with the Foam Pad, with is what was used on the entire gun to show how little pressure was used in polishing this gun as a benchmark).
I will let the forum be the judge, I would like comments either to my balls or my stupidity or both, but one thing is sure, it looks A HELL OF A LOT BETTER THEN IT DID BEFORE!!! I hope I passed down something that gives some of you something to think about if your gun is NOT BAD on the finish (this one was just DEEP CLOUDY and BAD grip marks and just a little spot rust on the new barrel). As for the gun with I got through with all the buffing and compound, I once again took Carb Cleaner, Hopes 9 and took all the compound OFF the entire gun, then Rem Oiled it all over and fine polished it with Charmen toilet paper till the oil was all but gone on the outside. It is retired now, with all the paper work from Colt (I got a real surprise for all you who are MK V guys, I found on EBay the original 1983 issue of Guns and Ammo Magazine which gave a pretty good review of the gun, and anyone wants to see it I could scan and post it for you to see) and the Guns and Ammo review, all I need is the $175.00 expedited letter of origin of the gun and I believe I have covered all my tracks on the gun, keeping with the original finish and PERFECT working order! I can feel what it must have been like new in the box, as the “ON RANGE” test of the gun was BIG DIFFERENCE in terms of accuracy and speed of the double action fire. Anyway, Thanks Dfariswheel, and Judge Colt (really) for all your help and support, and to everyone in this Colum for your post in my quest to restore my brothers gun for my father (he is 83, and served 38 years in the USAF). Enjoy (laugh or absorb)
I have to hand it to COLT for making it SOO GOOD in the trigger pull, and feel like I like it to be. I am an owner of TWO pythons (1977 – 1983), and as you know, it is hard to compare the two “IN THIS AREA”. I am a automotive machinist, and know how HYPE works, especially in the cylinder head arena, and it is much the same in SOO many ways. After reading from so many about you cannot polish nickel, and how abrasives can damage the finish, I was left with discontent. Yea, Colt fixed my gun, yea they done it good, yea it was dirty and a couple of screws were finger loose, but in the end, after I took it all back apart and went through it all myself (from the mechanical end to cosmetics) this is what I got.
The gun was DIRTY from Colt, which is fine as I have no problems there (I would expect at least for some superficial trim); however, there was two screws loose I did not notice when I first got it, the cylinder latch screw and the clockwork screw on the handle. It was really filthy and when I sent it to them apart (in pieces) it used carb cleaner and Hopes 9 in every single part including the frame. One thing I was scared of and I knew was going to happen (and it did) was the mis-match of the new barrel (used off another gun) to my nickel. As I mentioned I had already asked Mr. Brewer in Colt repair what was the cost to have it re-nickeled (funny, he never replied PERIOD on something I was going to pay for) and I still don’t know, but I figured about $400.00 or so. The side of the gun had semi-deep grip marks into the nickel where grips had been on the gun, along with “cloudiness” all over the gun, and some holster marks of wear. Combine this with the mis-matched barrel (and a NASTY mis-matched barrel with rust like SPOTTING along the main part of the barrel where it was most seen) and I was at the point of “take it in the giggy pipe and say goodbye for a year maybe!!!
After spending about 10 hours in cleaning (taking apart the entire gun and using HOPE 9, then using water, then alcohol wipes to remove all the solvent) I shot REM OIL on the gun from Wal-Mart. I got it CLEAN, and well-oiled and greased (Hopes gun grease, not too much, just on the parts that had direct contact on the metal as 4130 Steel needs some lube on direct metal to metal contact). I took film (DVR) and Lots of photos in Flash and non-flash so as to expose what I was talking about. Then, in a Makers Mark decision, I called my good friend Troy, who has been the best Auto Pain and Body man in Middle Tennessee for over 25 years. He does a LOT of nickel and chrome stuff and when I told him of my problem, he told me “I promise you I can pull that crap out to like knew, if I don’t you owe me nothing, and if I do, then steak at Outback!!!
The next day, I read the forums and seen all the response to my post about the gun and the work the Colt shop done, and spending HOURS looking for post about polishing nickel (especially Dfariswheel, who I respect VERY MUCH) I thought I would just send this back to Colt. Then, logic kicked in and I just said WTF (what the Fruit), if I am going to send it back anyway, why not give this a shot, and what can I hurt? What really got me was one of the post on my gun about the finish and time, when one reply pointed out to me that “if this is in honor to your deceased brother, and was his only and favorite thing in the world, then I would leave the finish alone like it was, and leave it like he remembered it (or something like that) and to that person I say “THANK YOU VERY MUCH”, you really got to me on that. I just thought my brother would want me to try (you would have to know him) and if I messed it up BAD, then I would be justified in sending it back and waiting till doomsday to get the gun back, hopefully before I died.
Here is the photos, which I have posted in order (I hope they let me post them all as to show the before, polish, after is about 25 picks as I tried to get it so you know EXAXCTLY how and what I used to come up with this. I will give the conclusion here now, rather than at the end, which is UNBELIEVEABLE!!! I cannot believe what my friend Troy done! He did it with a Midas touch, smooth and with skill of many years of nickel and chrome polish, and what he used which he had it in a special area for those type of parts. All I can say is, I used a 4 megapixel Cam-Corder (my SLR was at home, and I had my cam corder there filming stuff on my website) and I tried to get it the best I could with side, level and Flash and non-flash the best I could. I know I will hear “Send it to Colt” as many of you are 100% Perfectionist gun guys and what is MINT anyway? What mattered to me is the difference (the picks just don’t do it justice I promise you that), before and after, and that I got it to the point that what the guy who posted about “keep it like your brother had it” would be STOOKED to see how it turned out.
I can tell you this for sure, you cannot tell (almost with a magnifying glass) where the different finish of the barrel connects to the frame, and the only area’s that really you can tell is where I had masking tape (around the sights, and to keep the mainspring from flying out). Could it be better? HELL YES!!! It could be NEW from Colt for $400.00 and a year’s wait. Is it worth the 400.00 and a year, maybe, or maybe not. When you factor in my brothers hands held it the way it was (minus the barrel) that is priceless to me, and that I took the chance and my friends advice to “TRY” this and it WORKED to the point you can barely tell it needs to be re-finished (I would say this is ABOVE 85% mint like this, and I left the end of the cylinder UN-POLISHED so as not to take away from the fact the gun has been shot (I buffed it a little with the Foam Pad, with is what was used on the entire gun to show how little pressure was used in polishing this gun as a benchmark).
I will let the forum be the judge, I would like comments either to my balls or my stupidity or both, but one thing is sure, it looks A HELL OF A LOT BETTER THEN IT DID BEFORE!!! I hope I passed down something that gives some of you something to think about if your gun is NOT BAD on the finish (this one was just DEEP CLOUDY and BAD grip marks and just a little spot rust on the new barrel). As for the gun with I got through with all the buffing and compound, I once again took Carb Cleaner, Hopes 9 and took all the compound OFF the entire gun, then Rem Oiled it all over and fine polished it with Charmen toilet paper till the oil was all but gone on the outside. It is retired now, with all the paper work from Colt (I got a real surprise for all you who are MK V guys, I found on EBay the original 1983 issue of Guns and Ammo Magazine which gave a pretty good review of the gun, and anyone wants to see it I could scan and post it for you to see) and the Guns and Ammo review, all I need is the $175.00 expedited letter of origin of the gun and I believe I have covered all my tracks on the gun, keeping with the original finish and PERFECT working order! I can feel what it must have been like new in the box, as the “ON RANGE” test of the gun was BIG DIFFERENCE in terms of accuracy and speed of the double action fire. Anyway, Thanks Dfariswheel, and Judge Colt (really) for all your help and support, and to everyone in this Colum for your post in my quest to restore my brothers gun for my father (he is 83, and served 38 years in the USAF). Enjoy (laugh or absorb)
