Latest Colt Snubnose Project

[Rex B]

My wife has a Colt Agent like that, made in 1972.
It was allegedly the desk gun for a retired Dallas FBI agent.
Mint condition. It's her bedside gun.

[doc540]

doc,

Would a reduced mass hammer and a 'trigger job' be such a good idea?

Granted, Colt and S&W have different lockwork. If the mass of the Colt hammer is reduced,
what is left of my brain cells tell me that an extra power hammer spring would be called for.

The 'spring kits' that I have noticed use a lighter hammer and trigger return spring. With a lighter hammer,
it'd seem that a heavier whack at the primer would be needed to maintain reliable ignition.

A light trigger return spring would seem to be equally counterproductive.

I don't know, just asking.

salty

Good question.

I've had four of them (Colt D frames) done so far. Same guy bobbed all four hammers, same gunsmith did the trigger work.

Never had a single light strike problem with any of the four.

Hope this helps.

[JCole]

I don't know too much about it, but when you lighten the hammer, it also falls faster, so it ends up with more momentum. Kind of like a lighter bullet moving faster than a heavier one can have more energy. But I guess you're right, if you lower the spring weight at the same time, you would counteract that effect.

[Tregs]

This is a great thread doc, thanks for posting.
I've restored lots of cars, but never a gun. This looks like fun.

Were all of the imperfections in the original picture contained to the finish or did you have to do some metal work? I'm not sure how to do metalwork on a gun. I'll search the Youtube files.
What did you paint it with? I've seen several threads on different gun finishes, but I don't know which ones can be applied at home. The finish that you applied looks very nice.

[doc540]

I just sandblasted it, and it removed any imperfections.

Sandblasting actually works better on the Agents and Cobras because they have alloy frames.

It also creates a better surface for the DuraCoat to adhere to.

All in all, apart from disassembling and reassembling the gun (which you don't really have to do) it's pretty easy and a lot of fun.

I'll post a finished pic of it soon.

[saltydog]

Are any updates available yet?

Thanks,

salty

[doc540]

Are any updates available yet?

Thanks,

salty

Sorry about the delay



Finished it, carried it, sold it, and bought another D frame to carry, a Cobra. But I would've continued to shoot and carry the Agent just as well.

[karder]

[saltydog]

Thanks.

salty