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Polishing a Nickel Plated Pistol


Waimea

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So I didn't come back from Black Gold with any awards just a sweet little nickel plated spur trigger pistol.

I like shiny things so I would like to bring back the finish, if possible.

The 13 minutes of research I did revealed these tidbits:

Don't use ammonia based products (like Hoppes) to clean it. Use CLR.

Use Flitz or Simichrome for polishing.

The key to cleaning and polishing seems to be a good microfiber cloth.

 

If you can identify it please do. It's a Smith and Wesson not sure the model.

Model 2 I think.

.32 S&W caliber.

 

Thanks in advance for your kind input.

 

Waimea

 

 

IMG_20190721_155308_01.jpg

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Chemical Guys Heavy Metal Polish for Chrome. I use it & work very well.

 

Check out their web. Chemical Guys Metal Polish just enter into a search such.

 

 

JRJ

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I shot my niclel Colt at one match in the spring and came home to find a big ucky place on the top strap.   I was sick.  I thought I'd messes up a perfectly beautiful Colt. I asked on for advice on the Colt Forum and was advised to use Flitz. I did and WOW!, it made the nickel pop. The spot turned out to be something stuck on instead of an abrasion to the finish.  

 

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1544578206/flitz-paste-metal-polish

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Howdy

 

What you have there is a 32 Single Action. Sometimes also known as the Model 1 1/2 Centerfire. While it is common to call out the large frame Top Breaks by frame size (#3), with the smaller Top Breaks it is more common to call them out by caliber, single or double action, or Safety Hammerless. As Phantom suggests, It is less confusing to only use frame sizes with the earlier Tip Ups. Collectors get into arguments over this all the time.

 

This one shipped in 1889. This model came nickel plated or blued, but nickel plated was more common.  As has always been standard with S&W, the hammers and triggers were case hardened on either version.

 

32%20Single%20Action_zpsnqsbvmhm.jpg

 

You may be able to make out the text in italics at the bottom of the Directions for Use. "This Pistol has the Patent Automatic Rebounding Lock". What we would call today a rebounding hammer. After a cartridge fired, the hammer would rebound and be locked in position with the firing pin backed away from a cartridge. No, I would not trust it. I have never taken this one apart, but I have examined the rebounding hammers on other S&W Top Breaks, and the cross section of the sear and 'safety cock' notch is very thin. I would not trust it to not fire if dropped on the hammer, something might break. And yes, S&W called these pistols, not revolvers.

 

 

 

As with so many things S&W, model names often varied over time. When this one shipped it was simply called (reading between the missing part of the label) Single 32 Action. As the box says, this one has a 3 1/2" barrel. They also came with 3" barrels, which is what the OP's gun looks to have. The Standard Catalog of Smith and Wesson says 6" barrels were scarce, and 8" or 10" barrels are both very rare.

 

32%20Single%20Action%20Box%20Label_zpsbq

 

 

 

 

Manufactured from 1878 until 1892, there were three minor variations. , the first 1000 or so did not have patent markings on the Top Strap. This one does.

 

32%20Single%20Action%20Top%20Strap%20Pat

 

 

 

 

Up until about SN 6,500, there was an eccentric strain screw to tension the hammer spring underneath the grips. After SN 6,500 there was a conventional strain screw on the front of the grip frame.

 

Like this:

 

32%20Single%20Action%20Strain%20Screw_zp

 

 

 

 

Here is a photo of the patent dates on top of the barrel rib.

 

32%20Single%20Action%20Patent%20Dates_zp

 

 

 

 

Interestingly enough, I just came across one of these yesterday. I already have two, and they were asking too much for that one, so I passed.

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Thanks everyone for your answers.

Model  1 1/2 sounds cooler than Model 2.

Although I have always wanted one I didn't know much about them.

 

Driftwood, thanks for your answer (with photos). Very informative, as always. 

The strain screw is for lightening the hammer? Right now the hammer pull, I'm guessing, is around 1000#.

 

Can I safely shoot light loads of smokeless through this gun?

 

Waimea

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10 hours ago, Waimea said:

Driftwood, thanks for your answer (with photos). Very informative, as always. 

The strain screw is for lightening the hammer? Right now the hammer pull, I'm guessing, is around 1000#.

 

Howdy Again

 

Smith and Wesson strain screws are meant to be screwed all the way in. Both with antiques and modern revolvers. The strain screw bends the spring to the proper shape. With some Smiths if you unscrew the strain screw too much the shape of the spring changes so much that it binds against the frame, and the hammer cannot be cocked. That does not appear to be the case with this one. I was going to remove the side plate, and take a look inside to see if the spring would bind against anything, but the screws are frozen pretty tight. I suppose I could soak them in Kroil, but this little pistol is 130 years old and I don't really need to take off the side plate. Anyway, these were not meant to be quick draw pistols. They were meant for close in shooting, and accuracy was not too much of a concern. The hammer pull on this one is not bad at all, perhaps yours just needs some oiling to clean out 100 years or so of gunk from inside.

 

32%20Single%20Action%20Hammer%20Spring_z

 

 

10 hours ago, Waimea said:

Can I safely shoot light loads of smokeless through this gun?

 

I never fire smokeless ammunition in any of my antiques. Never. Yes, plenty of guys will tell you that you can, but I never do. My big #3 Smiths, Schofield, Russian, and New Model Number Threes only get fired with ammunition loaded with Black Powder. If you don't want to mess with bullets specially lubed for Black Powder, you can load regular hard cast bullets with APP, which does not require special BP compatible bullet lube. I have loaded a few boxes of 38 S&W with APP for my 38 S&W antiques.

 

By the way, just so we are all on the same page, Trailboss is not a Black Powder substitute. Some think that it is, but it is not.

 

 

 

 

Take down of these little pistols is very simple. You lift the latch to open the gun. Then with the action completely open, lift the latch all the way with your thumb and spin the cylinder counter-clockwise (looking down on it), while pulling up slightly on the cylinder. Lifting the latch all the way clears the tab on the bottom of the latch that holds the cylinder in place. There is an interrupted thread on the cylinder arbor and spinning the cylinder like this while pulling up will allow the cylinder to climb up the interrupted thread and come off in your hand. Revers the process to reassemble.

 

32%20Single%20Action%20Broken%20Open_zps

 

 

 

 

Here is why you don't want to unscrew the strain screw on a Smith too much. This is a Number 1 1/2 Tip Up, not a Top Break. In this first photo, the hammer is down. Notice that long extension at the rear of the hammer.

 

lockwork.jpg

 

 

 

 

Now see where that long extension at the rear of the hammer is at full cock. If the strain screw is backed out very much, the spring will straighten out a bit, and the extension at the rear of the hammer will contact the spring. Too much and the hammer cannot be brought all the way back to cock it. This is true with many modern S&W revolvers too.

 

lockworkcocked.jpg

 

 

 

 

While I'm at it I might as well show the relative sizes of the 3 sizes of Tip Ups and 3 sizes of Top Breaks. The three pistols on the left in this photo are Tip Ups.  As the name implies to break them open a latch at the bottom of the barrel was pulled up and the barrel rotated UP. See the photo below for an illustration of a Tip Up with the barrel rotated up for reloading. All Tip Ups were rimfire. All Tip Ups had spur triggers. Starting at the bottom left is a No. 1, First Issue,  Fifth Type. 22 Short only. Next up is a No. 1 1/2 New Model, 32 Rimfire. Next up is a No. 2 Old Army. 32 Rimfire.

 

The three pistols on the right in this photo are all Top Breaks. The bottom most pistol is the 32 Single Action (Model 1 1/2 Centerfire) we have been talking about. Next up is a 38 Single Action, First Model (Model No. 2, 1st Model or Baby Russian). Chambered for the 38 S&W cartridge. And the big brute at the top is a Russian 2nd Model (#3 sized frame.) Chambered for the 44 Russian cartridge.

 

Notice there is no Top Break in the No. 1 sized frame. S&W did not make any Top Breaks that size. S&W experimented with the Tip Up design in 44 caliber, but determined the design was not strong enough for a 44 caliber cartridge, so the #2 was the largest Tip Up manufactured. While both the #1 1/2 and #2 Tip Ups chamber the 32 Rimfire Cartridge, the #1 1/2 is a five shooter, the #2 is a six shooter. And thereby hangs a tale. The #1 22 Short Tip Ups were the first revolvers S&W made, starting in 1857. In 1861 S&W introduced the six shot 32 Rimfire Number 2. 2 being the next logical number. Much larger than the #1, these revolvers were often purchased by Union soldiers during the Civil War. Because the Rollin White patent was still in force until 1869, Colt and the other revolver manufacturers could not legally make a cartridge revolver. So the Civil War was mostly fought with Cap & Ball .31 and .44 caliber revolvers. In 1865 S&W bowed to the idea that many localities no longer allowed open carry, so a smaller 32 Rimfire Tip Up was developed that could be more easily concealed than the #2. Numbers 1 and 2 having already been taken, this new pistol between #1 and #2 in size was then called the # 1 1/2 size. The cylinder was smaller in diameter than the #2, so the new pistol was only a five shooter.

 

There was much more variety in Top Breaks than there was in TIp Ups. Note two of the Top Breaks shown have spur triggers, but Top Breaks were also available with trigger guards. There were single action and double action Top Breaks. And there were also the Safety Hammerless Top Breaks in 32 and 38 caliber that had a grip safety. Leading to them often being referred to as lemonsqueezers.

 

But as I said earlier, the numbers 1, 1 1/2 and 2 usually are used to refer to Tip Ups. Top Breaks are usually not referred to by frame sizes.

 

Tip%20Ups%20and%20Top%20Breaks%20Four%20

 

 

 

 

This is a #2 Old Army opened up for reloading. When the latch at the bottom of the barrel was pulled up, the barrel could be rotated up much like a Remington double derringer. Hence the name Tip Up. The cylinder was then pulled out of the frame, and the rod under the barrel was used to poke out the empties. Then the cylinder was loaded with fresh cartridges, the cylinder was placed back in the frame, and the barrel was rotated back down and latched, ready to fire six more rounds.

 

No%202%20Old%20Army%2032%20RF%2002_zpsoi

 

 

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To be clear, I never inferred that Trail Boss was a BP sub, only that is produces much less pressure than many of the smokeless powders and I use a VERY small dose. This is what I do, you would have to make your own choice on what to use.

Trail Boss is NOT a BP sub!

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