The Snub Nose .38

Working for gun shops sometimes requires patience. When a firearm finds its way from their shop to yours it’s because a mistake was made in the "kicking the tires" process. It needs to be fixed and they want it done cheap! A steady source of income is appreciated but we must be paid in accordance with our work. In another life, I worked on vehicles for used car dealers. I am a glutton for punishment! A few weeks ago I ran across a typical assignment from a gun shop that turned out well for all concerned.

A Smith & Wesson Model 36 two-inch barrel .38 Special had been taken in on trade. The owner declared that not only had his associate salesperson allowed too much trade-in on the handgun, he has missed a broken hammer spur. The spur was sharp and had a ragged edge. This reputable shop keep points out defects to potential customers and had to fix the hammer spur as it was making the otherwise decent revolver non-salable.

While honesty has its own rewards, customers were passing on this revolver as the broken hammer spur was sharp. There had already been a sale and a return with the complaint being the revolver kicked like mad and the cartridges were sticking in the cylinder. All were legitimate complaints. While no collector’s item, it was a solid defensive handgun in need of TLC and a knowledgeable hand. A word on gunsmithing and increasing the usefulness of handguns.

After spending much time and effort on Glock and 1911 handguns, the result is a slightly improved handgun at best in most cases. It takes a lot of time and expense to recognize real improvement. On the other hand, with this revolver I was able to transform a handgun that was uncomfortable to use into a handy defensive handgun. It was also accurate enough for use by an outdoorsman as a backup. I began addressing the overall appearance. The revolver had been dropped, breaking the hammer spur.

This is common and the geometry of the handgun is such that many have predictable balance points. When dropped from a few feet with enough time for the revolver to turn 38 was less than desirable. in the air, the piece usually lands on its hammer. That is why the factory rebound and safety devices are so important. While some shooters may wish to convert to double action only, others shy away from such a conversion so that wasn’t something we would do.

A buyer not knowing the person that converted the gun may not trust it. After working in the shops around used guns for so many decades I cannot say I blame them. The same goes for a bobbed hammer. Unless it is done at the factory, bobbing a hammer takes away from the gun’s value or at least its attractiveness to anew owner. This hammer was broken in such away that it was possible to grind and polish it into a short spur.

While not original, the result was a neat looking spur that offered single action capability without snagging as much as the old one might. Also, it was still compatible with thumb break holsters. To begin, I looked over the hammer and decided to shorten it just to the point of the break. The gun shop owner would have went into

Some fitting was required. a fainting spell over the price of anew hammer and fitting! I was removing the broken area and moving it back to the original area that wasn’t affected. I carefully scribed the area to be ground and ground the broken section on the grinder. A careful hold, a learned touch, and the hammer bob was finished up with a file, resulting in an improved appearance. More important, the hammer is no longer sharp. This is an operation that takes a bit of care.

Some will put the hammer in a vise and run a file to straighten the broken edge. After forty years or so at this I simply hold the piece in hand and stand while I run it on the grinder. The revolver was examined and found to have corrosion beginning on the common spots: The rear sight channel, under the grips, and on the ejector rod. A bit of Flitz Polish and some effort addressed this. A neat trick that works surprisingly well on free standing rust is to take the edge of a penny and gently scrub the rust away.

Next, the customer had complained that the snub .38 kicked more than others he had fired. Testing revealed this was true even with standard loads. Modern grips are much better as the original thin grips are designed for concealment, not comfortable shooting. The other complaint was spent cartridge cases stuck in the cylinder. This was not completely true as only two of the chambers in the cylinder were affected. A combination of corrosion and infrequent cleaning were the culprit.

The cylinder was cleaned thoroughly using a Brownells Flex- Hone, producing shiny cylinders that effortlessly drop spent cartridge cases. With the hammer spur bobbed and polished and the cylinder properly honed, the next step addressing the sting of recoil. The laws of physics cannot be altered but energy may be redirected. A set of modern syn-

thetic grips were fit and the original grips were sold with the gun as some value original components. The shop owner balked at paying thirty dollars and fitting for anew set, so a used set of Uncle Mike’s grips were used and fitted instead. When first installed, the grips would not close at the top. While Smith & Wesson revolvers are usually pretty constant, the J-frame has been in production for some sixty years and variations exist. It is just as likely the injection mold process for the grips varied.

I took a look at the grips and found each had excess thickness at the sweeping "S" curve in the round butt grips. A bit of study, careful marking, cutting with a razor knife, and placing the grips on the frame, and taking them off again worked well. The grips were fit and tightened. Over tightening a set of grips that do not fit will often strip the screws. Far better to take the cut-and-try method and do the job correctly. Test firing the revolver proved far more comfortable with the new grips installed.

I fired a modest amount of Black Hills 125 grain JHP +P. While I would not have liked to fire these +P loads in the revolver with the small Sometimes a sow’s ear can become a silk purse! grips, the new ones improved comfort and concealment was not greatly affected. I took a standard revolver with a few complaints, paid attention to market demands and local mores, worked with a shop keep to do a good job at a reasonable price, and ended up with a more salable handgun and one that would serve the consumer well.

All in the day of a gunsmith’s work. AG