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Turnbull Cost?


H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619

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I know it varies from gun to gun and that there are a lot of variables that can affect the price, but if you've got an ugly old Colt that otherwise mechanically sound and a good shooter, what kind of a price can you expect to pay Turnbull to make it look like new again?  Between 1 and 2 thousand dollars?   More?

I have 1, maybe 2 old pistols that I think would be good candidates.  One has been ugly refinished with chrome, and the other has had some hack customization done to it over the course of its life and is again rather ugly looking.   Both guns I was able to obtain for 500 bucks each at different times, so there's not a lot into them to begin with.

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You will have more in them than they will be worth. A fully refurbished Colt will not bring the same money as a non-refinished Colt in the same shape. If you want to do it as a labor of love, great. Keep in mind as you improve one thing, it focuses the attention to the next ugly part. It becomes a money pit.

Dave Lanara does extremely nice work as well and I believe costs less than Turnbull. I have seen a Colt 1877 revolver Sal Lanara refurbished and it was stunning. He welded new material back and then re-machined and re-stamped it, ending with what looked to be a mint revolver.

http://www.davelanaracolts.com/

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8 hours ago, Cholla said:

You will have more in them than they will be worth. A fully refurbished Colt will not bring the same money as a non-refinished Colt in the same shape. If you want to do it as a labor of love, great. Keep in mind as you improve one thing, it focuses the attention to the next ugly part. It becomes a money pit.

Dave Lanara does extremely nice work as well and I believe costs less than Turnbull. I have seen a Colt 1877 revolver Sal Lanara refurbished and it was stunning. He welded new material back and then re-machined and re-stamped it, ending with what looked to be a mint revolver.

http://www.davelanaracolts.com/

 

The gun most in question has no collector value whatsoever.  Pretty much all the markings except for the serial number have been scrubbed away, the gun itself has been rather poorly refinished, in chrome, the grips are worn and one of them has a big chunk missing.  It's a first gen antique.  I figure that if the cost of restoring it, plus the $500 I paid to get it combine to around what it would cost to get a 1st gen in decent condition, it would be worth the expense.

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3 hours ago, H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 said:

 

The gun most in question has no collector value whatsoever.  Pretty much all the markings except for the serial number have been scrubbed away, the gun itself has been rather poorly refinished, in chrome, the grips are worn and one of them has a big chunk missing.  It's a first gen antique.  I figure that if the cost of restoring it, plus the $500 I paid to get it combine to around what it would cost to get a 1st gen in decent condition, it would be worth the expense.

Contact Eddie Janis at Peacemaker Specialists.  He's worked over several of my Colt's for me and is a genius at what he does.  Given that these are not collectors pieces he could probably do a complete makeover for you, which might cost more than the cost of a NIB Colt, but frankly will be a better pistol than it was when it was made.

At some point I want to make a BBQ gun, and he's the guy I'll go through.

http://www.peacemakerspecialists.com/1st-generation-parts/

 

 

SC

 

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Unfortunately, I believe Eddie has passed on.  He did a great job on one of my Colts.  Bob Munden is also gone, but a man he trained still runs the shop does fine work, I'm told.

I think Eric Strand is still in business.  He took an absolute basket case Colt, completely restored it and did an action job equal to Eddies = no difference between the two.

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Warden Callaway has recommended Bill Fuchs in Ten Sleep Wyoming on a few occasions.  He might chime in on this thread.  He has posted pictures of a couple of SAAs that Bill has refinished for him.  I have stopped in to chat with Bill at his shop.  He is a great guy.  

https://springcreekarmory.com/

 

 

 

 

Edited for spelling

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21 hours ago, Rip Snorter said:

Unfortunately, I believe Eddie has passed on.  He did a great job on one of my Colts.  Bob Munden is also gone, but a man he trained still runs the shop does fine work, I'm told.

I think Eric Strand is still in business.  He took an absolute basket case Colt, completely restored it and did an action job equal to Eddies = no difference between the two.

I know about Bob Munden passing, he did two of my Rugers way back. 

Eddie is still around, I talked to him a few months ago.

 

 Seems like I better call down there soon, too many folks seem to think he did indeed pass away.

 

SC

 

 

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6 minutes ago, ShadowCatcher said:

I know about Bob Munden passing, he did two of my Rugers way back. 

Eddie is still around, I talked to him a few months ago.

 

 Seems like I better call down there soon, too many folks seem to think he did indeed pass away.

 

SC

 

 

Here is what I saw. https://gunsmagazine.com/our-experts/remembering-eddie-janis/

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7 minutes ago, Rip Snorter said:

Damn!  Sorry to read this, but thanks for posting it.  It must have been longer ago than I thought - losing track of my memory too!

Damn!

 

SC

 

 

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I'm sure a total refinish is very pricey, and even just color casing a frame will be as well.  I have no idea what that costs now, but as a "good ol' days" comparison, 20 years ago if an FFL holder sent 5 stripped SAA frames to Turnbull, it cost $50 each for CC.  I worked for a dealer at the time who was sending in some frames, so I just added my two new engraved conversion frames to the order (pretty dang easy to strip; no barrel unscrewing) and got them done for $50 each.  I wonder what that would compare to these days?  

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One more shout out for Sal Lanara....just sent him my 1877 .41 Colt    it had a few internal problems, Sal looked it over  called with a repair cost and repaired it then sent it back.   All at a VERRRy reasonable cost.  It is great fun to hear that old gun sing again.  Sal does fine work, and I now have my 3rd shootable original Colt.:wub:

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23 hours ago, Abilene, SASS # 27489 said:

I'm sure a total refinish is very pricey, and even just color casing a frame will be as well.  I have no idea what that costs now, but as a "good ol' days" comparison, 20 years ago if an FFL holder sent 5 stripped SAA frames to Turnbull, it cost $50 each for CC.  I worked for a dealer at the time who was sending in some frames, so I just added my two new engraved conversion frames to the order (pretty dang easy to strip; no barrel unscrewing) and got them done for $50 each.  I wonder what that would compare to these days?  

 

From articles I've read about Turnbull and others there is a huge difference in cost when they refinish a part that has been fully prepped and polished vs them disassembling a gun and them doing the polishing prep work. 

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