$30 Gun Show Navy

[99whip]

A few months ago I went to the local gun show and while standing in line to buy a ticket bought this non-working Navy model from the guy standing in front of me for  $30.  Tore it down, cleaned it, replaced the hammer and mainspring, works great.  It's a Pietta model, from 1971 or so.  Since it's a brasser and thought it might make a neat Confederate style revolver, I decided I'd take off the blueing (vinegar and water), put some mustard on it and let it bake outside for a day or so then cleaned it up with some steel wool.  Then, I built a presentation case and painted a little known State of NC Civil War flag on the outside of the box. 

Kind of a neat project for $30.  Lot of satisfaction in finding something that just needs a little TLC to be useful again.  It is a great shooter and has a really smooth action.  Here's a few pics below.

[Captainkirk]

Nice! What you have there is actually an "accidental Schneider & Glassick" due to the bare cylinder...which makes it a bit more desirable that your run-of-the-mill brass Navy...see this post over on the Collector's forum:

http://blackpowdersmoke.com/revolvers/index.php?board=15.0

Nice work, and great 'find'! 

[sltm1]

Excellent save and display!!

[Ringo]

Great all around job, 99whip !
I knew about the vinegar with or without water to remove the blueing, but not the mustard. What effect does it have on steel and brass ?
The box looks good too. Did you really build it yourself, or fit it out ?

[DoubleDeuce1]

Good save on the revolver. I really like your display box also. Where did you buy the lining material for it?

[Fingers McGee]

Nice save whip. 

[99whip]

Ringo,
I used the mustard after the blueing was gone to give the gun an older look.  I only used it on the steel, not sure what affect it would have on the brass, but basically it just darkens it and gives it some "age".  I only did one application of it, but, you might get better results doing it a few times over.  To be honest, I know almost zero about it, it was the 1 and only time I've ever attempted it.  Also, I did build the box myself.

DD1,
I got the lining for the box at Hobby Lobby.  The flash from my camera makes it look bright green, but it's a very dark green color in reality.  I didn't have it in this pic but I eventually put a copy of the original colt's loading instructions on the top half of the box.

Thanks for the additional reference CaptainK, I had read that somewhere but wasn't exactly sure. 

Nothing like a $30 gun...that's just crazy to me.

[Ringo]

Thanks for the answer, 99whip.
I might try the mustard trick sometime.
I wish I was able to build a box as you did. Unfortunately, I am not very gifted, and I don't have that many tools.

[Captainkirk]

Most brassers have a much smoother action than their steel counterparts, I've found.....
Since there's no finish on it, now might be a good time to defarb it. A lot of the original confederate revolvers I've seen bear the CSA stamp on the various parts (frame, cylinder, barrel, TG and BS) Hard to tell about the S&G as there are, I believe, only a handful of originals ever recovered.
Mine is too nice to abuse but I've thought about doing another one, stripping the bluing, defarbing and giving it a real beat-up look just because. I've found a lot of nice deals, but never a $30.00 revolver! Nice score!

[99whip]

Yea, I figured for $30 it would be a good learning experience no matter what happened.  I think the guy I bought it from got it used when he was a teen, shot it till it broke, put in a drawer and never fixed it.   

Ringo - building those boxes isn't terribly difficult. A decent table saw is needed, and a router is helpful, although not required. 

[Hawg]

Hard to tell about the S&G as there are, I believe, only a handful of originals ever recovered.

Only three known and one of them is iron framed.

[Mad Dog Stafford]

Hi 99whip, Great job on that. 

[Ringo]

Ringo - building those boxes isn't terribly difficult. A decent table saw is needed, and a router is helpful, although not required.

I haven't got a table saw or a router. I only have hand tools, and I am not very handy with them. I guess I'll just continue scanning Ebay for nice ready-made boxes...

[Captainkirk]

Ringo - building those boxes isn't terribly difficult. A decent table saw is needed, and a router is helpful, although not required.

I haven't got a table saw or a router. I only have hand tools, and I am not very handy with them. I guess I'll just continue scanning Ebay for nice ready-made boxes...

Ringo; check out this link from our sister forum (1858 Remington):

http://1858remington.com/discuss/index.php?topic=6804.msg107506#msg107506

[mazo kid]

Nice work, thanks for showing us your handiwork.