Before I get into my project I want to say that I investigated this revovler out throughly to be certain it had no real collectors value. Just because a firearm is an Italian reproduction doesn't mean it couldn't have a certain amount of collectors interest. Some do.
I picked this gun F.I.E. .44 cal. perc up last week. The fellow I got it from said it was a kit. I differed from that assessment. From the code I forund out it was made in 1970 and that was all the information I could find out about it. It had never been fired or even disassembled.
Here are couple of before pics.
I cut the tappered barrel off to 3 1/4", squared the muzzle, beveled the edges and recessed the bore about 1/16 of an inch, just a kiss passed the bottom of the grooves. I then filed a dovetail for the new front sight. I then stripped off the blueing using "Naval Jelly".
The high gloss finish on the grips was removed using a paint stripper. Not sanded, or steel wooled. I used a home brew formula to restain it and a very light coat of LSO.
The brass frame, back strap and trigger guard was sand blasted with an air brush to remove the high polished original finish. An artificial home brew patina process was applied to give that 150 year old look.
Here are the after pix.
This homespun belly gun if ever shot will just shoot blanks or light squib loads for informal cowboy action shooting and plinking.
It made a fun afternoon project.
'Loose
I picked this gun F.I.E. .44 cal. perc up last week. The fellow I got it from said it was a kit. I differed from that assessment. From the code I forund out it was made in 1970 and that was all the information I could find out about it. It had never been fired or even disassembled.
Here are couple of before pics.
I cut the tappered barrel off to 3 1/4", squared the muzzle, beveled the edges and recessed the bore about 1/16 of an inch, just a kiss passed the bottom of the grooves. I then filed a dovetail for the new front sight. I then stripped off the blueing using "Naval Jelly".
The high gloss finish on the grips was removed using a paint stripper. Not sanded, or steel wooled. I used a home brew formula to restain it and a very light coat of LSO.
The brass frame, back strap and trigger guard was sand blasted with an air brush to remove the high polished original finish. An artificial home brew patina process was applied to give that 150 year old look.
Here are the after pix.
This homespun belly gun if ever shot will just shoot blanks or light squib loads for informal cowboy action shooting and plinking.
It made a fun afternoon project.
'Loose