Smith & Wesson 78G restore project

had one or two these back when first took up pistol shooting many years ago because they were made as trainers for the real pistol of which i had for many years,weight and balance,handling exactly like the firearm,there were quite a few in pistol club shooters hands as trainers we could use at home,but as you say bit rare these days as they had issuses with a certain part that we couldnt get as replacements etc,made few these parts but cant remember now exactly what it was other than it was brass,i did make few these but was 30 years ago,they were all painted but that one not factory paint job thats for sure,used to repaint them with black stove paint then put them in oven at 100 degree f for bout hour to harden paint,they came out like factory finish,frames made of zinc alloy so wont anodise anyway,prob why factory painted them i would think,really neat pistols tho,Ron may still have or be able to source parts and seals.

you could possibly vee out the crack and fill it with jb weld then flush it off clean out lettering again with dremel tool etc,that would disappear when painted,wont really be any stress on that area when assembled and being used.

damage like that is a classic case of someone not knowing what they are doing and totally stuffing something up in the process.the old storey eh!! if something not broken,you keep fixing it til it is broken ha ha,now you really do have something that needs fixing eh!!pity they dont know how to fix what they have broken trying to fix it before it was broke,worlds full idiots who consider themselves experts coz they seen it on utube and became instant experts on the subject.

Had a few moments to strip the 78g down. A pretty simple pistol so that’s a good start.
I tested a little Citristrip on the top section which proved to remove the spray paint pretty easily.

You can see the top section was sanded by a previous owner before spray painting. Surprising as the spray paint job was so terrible. Luckily the writing and S&W logo haven’t been dulled - they look as sharp as the other origins finished pistols I have on hand.

This will still need some work on paint removal, a gentle surface buff and a clean with acetone before a couple of light coats of satin black.



Edited by J-S - 04 Jan 2021 at 9:03pm

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.