Monthly Archives: March 2020

Refinishing a Peacemaker Parts 4 & 5

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Refinishing a Peacemaker Parts 4 & 5

The pursuit of imperfection

By Dennis Adler

What exactly are you looking at? An old Colt SAA in a copy of Matt Dillon’s holster from Gunsmoke? No, this is the former NRA commemorative in a new suit, well, let’s make that, old suit of clothes! (Holster by Chisholm’s Trail)

The hard part, polishing off the factory finish, is done and that is the most labor intensive part. Now we shift to the cleaning of internal areas such as the cylinder chambers, and as much of the operating mechanisms as can be accessed without disassembly of the gun. This is to remove any debris that got past the taped parts of the gun in the various steps thus far. The fine grit created by polishing off the original finish is going to get into places no matter how much you try to prevent it. It is like dust, it goes everywhere. read more

Refinishing a Peacemaker Part 3

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Refinishing a Peacemaker Part 3

The pursuit of imperfection

By Dennis Adler

Why save the fame for last? It has more curves and small areas to work around than the rest of the gun and it has the most open surface areas where debris from polishing the surface can get into exposed mechanisms. It’s the blue tape prep job.

This is where we are starting today with the frame still bearing its Umarex weathered finish. You should note that the pitting in the left recoil shield was part of the weathered finish and there is nothing that can be done about that, but, the color case finish I will be applying in Part 4 will help blend that in. Some areas of the frame will still have some dark weathered finish remaining but that again will blend in with the application of bluing and oil mix used to create the faux case colored appearance. You can also see the amount of space behind and in front of the cylinder and frame and this must be sealed off.

Covering all openings

If you hold the gun up and look at the side you can see all the open spaces that are in front of and behind the cylinder. These open areas need to be sealed off as much as possible, starting with the cylinder, which gets wrapped. You need to tear a strip of blue tape and then tear off the extra width and save it. Put the first piece at the top of the cylinder with an edge protruding past the front, and then with the hammer on half cock rotate the cylinder and press the tape onto the cylinder. Then turn in the front edges. Use the narrow strip of tape you tore off to do the back of the cylinder. read more

Refinishing a Peacemaker Part 2

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Refinishing a Peacemaker Part 2

The pursuit of imperfection

By Dennis Adler

This is where we left off on Tuesday with the barrel, triggerguard, trigger, and frontstrap polished out. Up to this point I had left the grips on the gun.

Removing the finish from the gun is a delicate process, not only because you do not want to distress the white metal (rub a flat spot or depression in the surface), but also not scratch it beyond the capability of polishing out with the 0000 steel wool and Gesswein polishing cloth. It is also delicate because you want to take every precaution to keep debris from the finish, 3M pad and steel wood, from getting into the internal systems of the CO2 and action. With that in mind, it is time to add another tool to the process; either masking tape or 3M blue painter’s tape. read more

Refinishing a Peacemaker Part 1

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Refinishing a Peacemaker Part 1

The pursuit of imperfection

By Dennis Adler

While I have seen alloy guns with brilliant finishes and even something approximating color casehardened receivers, I have not seen this with CO2 air pistols or air rifles. Most finishes, except for nickel or Cerakote-like (such as the Sig Sauer M17 and Umarex Glock 19X FDE) are flat black, and that is rarely authentic to the handgun except for some black Cerakote and Parkerized military finishes. As for Umarex Colt Peacemakers, which now are offered in nickel or weathered finishes, weathered is nice, but not what an actual weathered Colt would look like. read more

Dan Wesson Valor

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Dan Wesson Valor

A 1911-style pellet slinger Part 2

By Dennis Adler

For the price, the Dan Wesson Valor comes in a decent box for storage (no blister pack here) and with a well-illustrated instruction book (with very graphic safety instructions showing not to point the muzzle at your head or look down the barrel), as well as a CO2 seating screw wrench and a cleaning rod, the latter something you rarely see with a air pistol.

There are currently only three ways to fire pellets from a semi-auto style air pistol. The first was using an 8-shot rotary magazine, as originated by Walther and Umarex over 20 years ago with the first CP-88, a non-blowback action semi-auto introduced in 1996. It was, and remains, one of the most authentic looking CO2 air pistols on the market. It was followed by the equally authentic looking Beretta 92 FS pellet-firing model in 2000. Both are still manufactured today along with a Colt Model 1911 version, and they have yet to be surpassed. They are however, non-blowback action by virtue of the firing mechanism. read more

Dan Wesson Valor

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Dan Wesson Valor

A 1911-style pellet slinger Part 1

By Dennis Adler

The Dan Wesson Valor 1911 is a mixed bag; it looks like it is going to be another fairly accurate-looking M1911 CO2 pistol, but doesn’t quite deliver what you’re expecting. The front and rear sights are early 1911-A1 style, as is the hammer, but the trigger is the DAO design used on other 1911 copies like the Crosman 1911 GI Model, and Crosman 1911 Black (or Silver) tactical models, the latter two using the same style self-contained CO2 pellet magazine. You can consider this a review of those models as well.

One expects several things from a CO2 powered 1911, first is a self contained CO2 BB magazine, the other is fully operational controls, and last, but not least, blowback action. That’s just the basic requirements. This does not apply to the Dan Wesson Valor, because it is not a BB pistol, it is a pellet pistol. This is a non-blowback action air pistol, and unfortunately, has an inert grip safety and a dead hammer. By that I mean it does not cock because the Valor is a DAO, yes, a double action only design with a long-pull trigger blade. Don’t throw up your hands just yet…there’s more. read more

Reality Check

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Reality Check

Answering an obvious question

By Dennis Adler

It’s time for a reality check because we seem to be living in a surreal moment right now, one that appears to be unraveling daily, sometimes hourly, as our nation and the world faces a global health crisis. The reality check here, however, is not political or medical, it is airgun related. Why in a time of national crisis do we need a reality check on airguns? Because in times like these, when we become unsettled by events around us, events that can spiral out of control, people can do the wrong thing, seemingly for the right reason. read more