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Smith & Wesson 78G restore project
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    Posted: 18 Mar 2021 at 12:45pm
Had a few minutes spare and got the pistol back together.
Its not perfect, has a couple of marks already, but its much tidier than it was.

Its shooting around 380fps with H&N FTT, which sounds about right, so the hammer and the trigger replacement are functioning. The safety isnt working properly, must be something to do with the hammer / trigger upgrade, but one shouldnt rely on a mechanical safety over proper discipline..

I had a mate cut a vinyl graphic for a hard case; the same logo / branding / "Co2 Air Pistol" that appeared on their original box, in S&W Blue.

 
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Posts: 519 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dvlnme Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 Jan 2021 at 8:33am
Clap thats looking great mate,factory finish was never that good on these,you are rebuilding a shooter not trying to restore it to origional anyway just guna be a real nice shooter now and one you can enjoy and be proud of and that in the end is what matters.
 cheers mike
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Originally posted by dvlnme dvlnme wrote:

just shows you how versitile a barby is eh.
 cheers mike


Needs a good scrub though - looks like i used it as a spray booth for the black.... LOL
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Posts: 519 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dvlnme Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Jan 2021 at 3:19pm
just shows you how versitile a barby is eh.
 cheers mike
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Had a spare couple of hours and got the Matt black spray on. It went on ok, with a couple of smudges that would be mostly hidden under the grips. Sprayed and hung until just touch dry, then hung outside in the sun for an hour before barbecuing... heated at around 100-120 degrees for about 40 minutes then cooled under the hood.



The finish feels good - it doesn’t have that plastic feel spray paints can have and no tacky feeling. Slightly more sheen than original finish but pretty close and if nothing else will have a little more character than the original.

The top section had a nice even finish.. until it dropped from hanging! I caught it so no damage, but the finish needed to be stripped AGAIN, and is now ready to painted again when I have a spare minute.

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Posts: 519 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dvlnme Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jan 2021 at 9:19am
know what you mean about the wife and the oven been there done that and still got the scars because got caught by she who must be obeyed when comes to the stove.had excellent results from stove and exhaust paints they all come out with nice flat finish after heating,wont take long for the paint smell to go away on the barbi steaks eh!!.
 cheers mike
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This matt paint is a primer / paint apparently suitable for directly coating... (according to their marketing claims...) but I will try curing it in the hooded BBQ at around 100C. The wife may not be too please with spray paint fumed in the oven.. 

The good thing about these is that there are not many parts that move against other parts so there shouldn't be a lot of friction wear on the paint.  I did consider the high temp engine paints / stove paints, but i wasnt sure about the finish; this one was  priced in between the standard sprays and those specialist ones and I think it should do fine.. if not I can always strip it a third time!
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Posts: 519 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dvlnme Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jan 2021 at 10:21am
best wearing paints are those you can bake on they dont chip etc like normal spray paint and wear better,i have used wood stove paint before,that bakes on at low temps so have preheated gun parts painted them and put in home oven at pout 100d /c for good results,these are usually flat finishs so do work well and look good/worth a try cheers mike
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Cheers, yes it certainly won’t be original.
There is something charming about the original flawed finish though, so I went and got a Matt spray to test..
it may be closer to the original finish based on the small test piece. Not so much sheen.

So back to stripping! The spray comes off easier than the factory finish so it won’t take much to strip back to metal and try again!


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Posts: 519 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dvlnme Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Jan 2021 at 7:13am
i agree with Ron the origional finish on these guns was never that good in the several examples i have owned over the years,rebuilding and refinishing guns is bit like restoring cars,there is a big difference btween restoring something to factory standard or a concours build,the facts are a gun or car can only be origional once,so any rebuild changes that origionality personally i would go with the finish you like best and leave it at that,its no longer a collector piece,because its no longer in origional condition,its now a very nice shooter so enjoy it for what it now is,and its value is that it is a fully rebuilt and nice shooter.awsume job by the way.
 cheers mike
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