Already have it, and it's considerably cheaper for the Kindle. Now I should get a color Kindle so I can enjoy the all-color 3rd edition.
There was yet one more Smith & Wesson revolver that followed me home. This one is both an absolute delight, and a deepening set of mysteries. The more I learn about it, the more questions I have. It even comes with some alleged provenance that is proving very difficult to crack.
Basically, it's a S&W US Army Model 1917 in .45ACP, made between 1917 and 1920. With an unknown number of years of a light coat of dried oil on the exterior, along with dust and crud. It was the personal sidearm of COL Walter M Johnson, originally from the 117th INF, 30th DIV. He made BG in the 11th AIRBORNE in 1953, and apparently retired about 1955.
With the exterior degunked, it looks about 95% mint, but with dozens of pinpricks of bare metal showing through the blue, and a couple of tiny rust spots. Certainly something that could still be eminently shootable. I also learned that these revolvers, called Second Model Hand Ejectors, were S&W's top of the line at the time, and the military model was made to the exact cosmetic standards as their commercial models, which came in a dizzying number of variations, on the same production line. This frame size eventually became known as the "N-frame" of today.
Opening it up for a peek inside was even more eye-opening. I have never seen the degree of perfection in machining a S&W. Of course, this is by far the oldest Smith I ever disassembled, and it showed me all sorts of production techniques that just can't be reproduced today.
The interior where the most components were located was given a jewel-like finish with what must have been an extremely sharp mill cutting at a slow speed and feed. They were working with a perfectly flat piece of steel, and only drilled and tapped for the "permanent" pivot posts later, screwing them in with special spanners. They look like rounded pins barely sticking out of the left side of the frame. In later years, the pivots would be press-fit into the frame, and any excess ground off from the left side for an invisible seam. Today, the posts are coined using machinery beyond comprehension in 1917.
The brown stuff is dried-up oil, which I eventually cleaned off. Then I tried to work all the parts in with nanolube, but the original fit was so perfect, there were no tight spots for the nanolube diamonds to work on. The bare steel beneath the hammer pivot, and the trigger opening, probably came from when the side plate was attached in final assembly, and a little bit of flex and "give" might have happened. But even the raw scratches show just bright steel, indicating it must have been a perfectly airtight fit. You can also see the tiny scratches, dings, and bumps on sharp edges of the exterior, which must have received a bit of rough handling over 30+ years. But I have never before seen that diagonal "jeweling" in the most critical internal area of the frame. I was able to accomplish a bit of polishing of the pivot posts, and the hole of the part that went on it, but flat-to-flat fitting was virtually perfect.
I wish I could open up more "ancient-mint" weapons and study them for clues as to how things were done. I also wish I had a time machine to bring some of the old-time craftsmen into our era, to see how much we've gained and lost in making the same revolver as they made in their days.
Sorry about rambling, but for me, this is the equivalent of opening King Tut's tomb. It's a love of design, craftsmanship, materials, and tools that all have to come together before even the first round is fired. Aside from newer steels, there is no way to improve on this design.
And for a final mystery, a look at the original walnut grips, which have the serial number written in pencil on the inside.
They show normal handling wear, but those two prominent notches, which look almost like they were made with a triangular file, seem very deliberate. Where do I remember a culture that commemorated significant events buy putting a notch in a wooden component of a weapon?
That ends today's quick overview of a couple hours of my study. I have a feeling this revolver can tell me still more, but I may have to toil away in research for quite a while. But the first discoveries already have left me stuned. :)