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FUGLY ,,,,,,, with a capital F . View at your own risk.

4K views 26 replies 19 participants last post by  Akmiah 
#1 ·
Bad enough to make any tough ole cop cry. At one time it was probably someone's only friend in a dark alley. How does this stuff happen ?
Anyway , enough singing the blues. Always wanted a E/I frame that was cheap enough to be able Dis/Re -assemble and in general putz around with. Try to learn something about how they work. S&Ws are easy , Colts are a mystery. Here it was $88 bucks ,out the door lijf;




So ,as sad as it looks the internals are not bad ,bore and chambers are fine with timing better that most Colts . It does have a very problematic ,sluggish trigger return and is missing the rear sight blade.
Currently sitting in a Ed's Red soak before wire brushing and disassembly..
 
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#2 ·
I've rebuilt worse, it's still mostly there & functional. A replacement sight & maybe a trigger return spring & she's all there. The right grip is more worn than the left, saw a lot of holster duty. It looks like maybe it got a dose of saltwater. A good scrubbing & polishing then re-blue & it will make a nice shooter.. At $88 you stole it!
 
#4 ·
Congrats you will have to do a progress thread mate...

Thewelshm
 
#7 ·
This is my $400 Colt Python with 2 1/2" barrel. It was given to a guy for a graduation present in 1978. He shot a few rounds through it and put it on a shelf in the barn. He left on a graduation trip and got a job while there. It was forgotten in the barn for thirty-nine years. The box and paperwork were disintegrated and tossed. The internals are like new and it shoots great.


Firearm Gun Revolver Trigger Starting pistol


Firearm Gun Revolver Trigger Gun accessory
 
#15 ·
Heck, that ain't too bad. Had a buddy that recovered an alloy frame Colt from the muck in a salt marsh while fishing.............coal mine doesn't even begin to describe it.......he sent it to Colt for a rebuild and they refused. Later on he bought parts and got the action back up and running but the salt water corrosion was so extensive that I wondered just how many rounds it'd take for it to literally fall apart.............wish I'd taken a photo of that one.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Seems like this has a little interest so here is a smallish update.

After a heavy duty cleaning with no tender technics .the true starting point is established .




Two problem areas identified ,,,,so far.
First is the trigger return ,now barely working at all. Second is the cylinder bolt popping out prematurely , way prematurely. Standard for a S&W or Ruger , Not good for a Colt.
Time to strip & clean & re-assemble. Then strip and reassemble trying a V spring from another gun ,,, no love for a simple swap. Strip and re assemble about 10 more times. nvonjvila



Trigger return problem seems to be resulting from a bind with the safety hammer block stuff. Not a repair but I removed it and got instant gratification.
The premature bolt drop seems to be wear allowing the bolt to move sideways and may require a couple of hard to find parts or a easy bubba fix. Guess what I'm gonna try first.
As the finish is so far gone I am going to remove all the rest of it.
 
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#21 ·
Yo Irv, V spring swap was just a stab in the dark for a quicki fix , but it had no reward. So not the problem .
The bolt ,cylinder latch, Is a long pivoting thing made out of hard spring steel . being very thin on one end is allowing it to deflect sideways and disengage from the cam on the rebound lever dropping it early.
Cheap Bubba fix mentioned involves a shim on the inside of the frame to stop this deflection.
The small cams and lobes on these two parts are small and must be perfect to work , or they aren't and they don't.
 
#22 ·
Yeah, Colts cylinder rotates backwards, their screwy action design isn't as smooth or rugged as S&Ws & goes out of time more often. Because they were used up long ago replacement parts aren't as available & must be made. The later guns kind of rode in on the coattails of the SAA... outside of all those failings they do have the cool name & are pretty accurate (a couple still take up lodging in my safe). It's been my experience brass makes the best shims on a Colt but sometimes you need to carve out a whole new part the hard way.
 
#23 ·
Well, I'm gonna put a plug in this one for now and call it functional.
A couple of quick file strokes on the rebound lever cam and the bolt started behaving properly. It is now dropping right in the middle of the leade, 1/8 of an inch before the slot.
Action is smooth and trigger pull both SA and DA are dandy .
Striped completely naked of finish it still has the complexion of a 16 year old fry cook.



How much surface restoration will be done will depend on how she preforms at the range .
Pretty comfortable with E/I/ colts now ,so for now done deal .
 
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