Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns A new, old, Smith & Wesson 45 ACP for the pile

Picked up this interesting revolver today, it's a S&W 45 Caliber Model of 1950, or a pre-22. Apparently, fewer than 5,000 were made. The barrel is 5.5", it has the smooth backstrap and a high-polish finish that, at first, made me think the gun was reblued.

After I cleaned off a decade or so of accumulated storage oil, the finish began to look just like the finish on my pre-29, right down to the thinning of the blue at the muzzle. The screw holes are not dished and the markings, albeit somewhat shallow (again, not too different from my pre-29), are still crisp. I'm interested in hearing other opinions, but my initial take is that this is a not a re-blue.

It came with a set of Pachmayr grips, which are now in my parts box as I begin my search for a pair of walnut diamond magnas in shooter condition to match the overall condition of the revolver.

The biggest bummer is the trigger, which at some point was replaced by a flash-chromed, wide, smooth trigger. I have a narrow, serrated, case-colored trigger on its way from Numrich. The hammer also has been bobbed about 1/8" and polished, but I am going to leave it for now because it is not too offensive.

The front sight has had its face painted with some hideous dayglo yellow paint. Any thoughts on how best to remove this? Hoppes #9 had no effect, and I'm reluctant to try anything stronger or to go to a brass or bronze brush, given that the rest of the barrel is in not-too-bad cosmetic condition.

The bore was filthy, but cleaned up nicely. The rifling is the typical 1917 style shallow rifling that is still strong, should be interesting to see how it shoots with hard cast bullets.

All in all I think I got a good deal for $400 out the door.

Good find. Should be a shooter. Will be interested to hear the range report. Heck of a deal too.

Very nice. It doesn't look to have been refinished. Honest old gun.

Hammer still has case colors.

The gun itself is not refinished; the trigger is a flash-chromed replacement, likely taken from a 1980s production stainless steel N-frame. The hammer retains its case colors with the exception of the tip of the spur, which has been bobbed about 1/8" and left smooth. Both alterations likely made the gun more comfortable for its former owner to shoot.

Nice find...would have been a good deal at close to twice the price...

Friend has a small collection of .45 ACP revolvers but don't think he has a commercial like this one...

Bob

Wouldn't you love to have the original trigger back!

Oozing cool.

I think you did great!

I've got a period-correct replacement coming from Numrich but, you're right, I would like to have the original back!

According to the guys at the S&W forum, between 4700 and 4900 of these 1950 Army's were built; mine is from the 1956-57 period, shortly before they began marking them as Model 22's.

What was someone thinking. One's got to wonder. It's a very cool revolver. Thankfully it found a proper custodian!

It's a very comfortable trigger and, if all you cared about was shooting, it's a great choice. The smooth, medium wide trigger makes for fast DA work. The correct, narrow, serrated trigger looks nice but can tear up your finger if you shoot long strings double-action. For a gun that will see occasional use, as this one will, those drawbacks aren't serious.

At that price, I think you stole it.

These are fun to shoot. Mine was a '37. Try acetone to remove the day glow, will not hurt the bluing. Nice snag at that price.

KROIL may get under the stuff on the front site.

I used a bit of Jasco paint remover on it this evening and it came right off.

Very nice. Those are tough to find. Mine has the dull "model 28" style bluing of the time, did the S&W guys say they were also made in high gloss blue? Mine was made in 1952 (serial # S936xx). Anyhow, I lucked out a few years ago and got this one:

Yes, they were made in the high-gloss blue in the late-50's, after about 1955 or so.

I put an older pair of Micarta grips on the 1950 and took it to the range today. I think it still works



200gr Oregon Trail LSWC over 4.7gr of Bullseye, 45 ACP in moon-clips. 15 yards. Holding elevation with the front sight is a bit of a challenge. I used some Jasco paint remover to remove the dayglo paint and the bluing underneath was in better condition than I expected.