Dans Club
December 5, 2008
I don't know why, but I fell in love with this gun when I saw it on Gun Broker. I won the bid and now I have it.
Of course the first thing I had to do was take it apart and clean, etc. Found some interesting things when I did.
The hand spring was incorrectly positioned on the hand (see photo).
The crane lock was not factory and was crudely replicated. Had to be replaced.
Had to replace the short sideplate screw cause the head was nearly stripped.
Had to replace the hand spring cause it was stretched out of shape from incorrect position.
The hand is "new" and not stainless like other internal parts. There is no 'notch' on the bottom of the tip of the hand like there is on my other 715 and 15-2 hands.
The hammer appears to be a bobbed Large Frame hammer.
The long side plate screw would not reach the mainspring guide as needed to disassemble. I had to buy a longer (3/4 inch) screw in order to proceed with the usual disassembly.
Interestingly, the 4" barrel is marked 1:14 and the 5" barrel is marked 1:18.75.
After cleaning and a 'quick' Average Joe Tune-up, the DA Only trigger pull went from 12 to just under 10 pounds. Looking forward to getting it to the range.
February 16, 2016
snake-eye said
Found some interesting things ...
The hand spring was incorrectly positioned on the hand.
The crane lock was not factory and was crudely replicated. Had to be replaced.
Had to replace the short sideplate screw cause the head was nearly stripped.
Had to replace the hand spring cause it was stretched out of shape from incorrect position.
The hand is "new" and not stainless like other internal parts.position.
There is no 'notch' on the bottom of the tip of the hand.
The hammer appears to be a bobbed Large Frame hammer.
The long side plate screw would not reach the mainspring guide.
Well, it has obviously been repaired by an experienced Gunsmith ..
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January 24, 2009
Dans Club
December 5, 2008
Charger Fan said
I assume you reinstalled a small frame hammer? Someone sure did some funky stuff on that one. Have you had a chance to shoot it yet?
Have not made it to the range with it yet. Hopefully this week.
I have a replacement standard stainless hammer, but I want to wait on that replacement. I'm happy with Double Action only, at least for the time being. The "bobbed" large frame hammer does not appear to be a hammer that was simply bobbed. It seems larger/heavier than the usual large frame hammer. Could be an illusion but it could be intentional. The gun seems to function fine with good timing and lockup.
I did replace the hand with a stainless hand that has the usual notch (Thanks to Ole Dog!) Although it was functioning fine with the un-notched hand. Probably because the star is well worn and thin or intentionally filed down to work with the hand.
The problem with the screw not reaching the mainspring guide turned out to be due to the mainspring seat being backed way out of the frame. When I (finally) noticed this fact, I removed the seat, cleaned the threads and reset it at the proper depth with some locktite. Now the screw works as usual.
It will be a continuing saga for sure.
Dans Club
December 5, 2008
The mystery of this gun's origins is now solved thanks to a very helpful Forum member who talked to Bob Serva. Bob confirmed that the revolver is a prototype that was created for Jim Cirillo and only about 5 were ever made.
I didn't know who Jim Cirillo was until I googled his name on the internet - Impressive Man! I am honored to own one of his guns!
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Dans Club
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February 4, 2017
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January 24, 2009
snake-eye said
The mystery of this gun's origins is now solved thanks to a very helpful Forum member who talked to Bob Serva. Bob confirmed that the revolver is a prototype that was created for Jim Cirillo and only about 5 were ever made.I didn't know who Jim Cirillo was until I googled his name on the internet - Impressive Man! I am honored to own one of his guns!
Wow, that's really cool! Congrats then, on going with your gut & scoring that one.
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