Michael Tinker Pearce
Member
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2016
- Messages
- 1,577
Some time back I picked up a JP Sauer & Sohn Western Marshal .45 with the intent of turning it into a Sheriff's model. I modified the front of the frame to look more like a Colt and stripped the finish (it seems to be stainless) and left it at that. More recently I picked up an ASM New Dakota .45, which I actually like better than the Marshal. This week I decided that it was time for it's original destiny to play out.
The gun came with a .45 Colt cylinder and a spare, un-fluted .45 ACP cylinder that had been languishing on the shelf since I bought the gun. I like the look of an un-fluted cylinder on a short gun, so I reamed the chambers to accept .45 Colt, then (since the gun would have no ejector) I put a nail-nick in the edge of each chamber to assist with removing spent brass. Finally I cleaned-up and polished the cylinder.
Moving on to the gun I removed the ejector, marked the cut with a pipe-cutter, sliced the end off the barrel with the bandsaw and trued up the end of the barrel on the belt-grinder. I broke the edge on the belt sander and I crowned the barrel with a conical burr in the drill-press.
The original front-sight was far too tall, so I sliced it off the cut-off end of the barrel, then dressed the bottom on the belt-grinder. I carefully marked the barrel and cut the slot for the front-sight with a cut-off wheel in a flex-shaft tool and silver soldered the shortened front-sight in place. The sight is placed further back on the barrel than one might expect, but I have seen the sight on a number of originals mounted this way.
The end result is a very handy, well-balanced little gun. I need to reload some shells for it and get it out to the range this weekend.
The gun came with a .45 Colt cylinder and a spare, un-fluted .45 ACP cylinder that had been languishing on the shelf since I bought the gun. I like the look of an un-fluted cylinder on a short gun, so I reamed the chambers to accept .45 Colt, then (since the gun would have no ejector) I put a nail-nick in the edge of each chamber to assist with removing spent brass. Finally I cleaned-up and polished the cylinder.
Moving on to the gun I removed the ejector, marked the cut with a pipe-cutter, sliced the end off the barrel with the bandsaw and trued up the end of the barrel on the belt-grinder. I broke the edge on the belt sander and I crowned the barrel with a conical burr in the drill-press.
The original front-sight was far too tall, so I sliced it off the cut-off end of the barrel, then dressed the bottom on the belt-grinder. I carefully marked the barrel and cut the slot for the front-sight with a cut-off wheel in a flex-shaft tool and silver soldered the shortened front-sight in place. The sight is placed further back on the barrel than one might expect, but I have seen the sight on a number of originals mounted this way.
The end result is a very handy, well-balanced little gun. I need to reload some shells for it and get it out to the range this weekend.
