The Arthritis Project

[Sharps40]

Nosing is about done on the front of the topstrap. Just a bit of finishing up work to do. I plan to leave the ears on back there where the sight goes. It feels more comfortable when palming the hammer and I think taking them off will make the sight feel larger and in the way.

 

[Sharps40]

Nosing up to about 90% now. The look I wanted. Barrel into a sleeve, top strap growing out of the sleeve. A light polish and then wire brushing indicates a little bit more refining of the shape is needed, but, we are just about all in on this part of the job. Good thing. I'm supposed to be taking it easy. This is about as much as I can do sittin around chewin anti inflamatories and alternating cold and hot soak for seriously torn muscles in the leg. Kinda puts strong limits on doing anything for the next week or so. Can't even depress the clutch in the truck or jeep and getting out of bed in the morning is the purest of pain.

 

[Sharps40]

The last modification or bit needed to help with weak hand operation of The Arthritis Project was more leverage to move the hammer back. Rather than spend $15 + $7 shipping and wait a week for a bit of aluminum that will strip and fall off......lets make a hammer extension from steel. Namely, Thompson Center Blackpowder rifle under lug steel. (Don't throw stuff away, never know whatcha be able to make!)

Some overlapping #28 holes using the center drilling jig to keep em straight and in the center....

A bit of filing the slot and making a dome in it and its a snug tap fit on to the shaft of the spur.....

Thread the off side 6x48, again using the sight/scope mounting scissors jig to center and keep the hole straight thru to the slot previously cut....then establish the rough shape and test fit with many dry fires to see if it stays. It does....though at the final assembly, it may well get glasbedded into place as well as using the screw.

A tour around the hammer to check clearances and see how it looks at the 75% level.

Old 57 is looking good and there is plenty of clearance. It can be thumbed back or in Moms case, its like a wider spur on the heal of the off hand to help with her press/press present function of this newest of her defensive weapons....if she likes this I'll have to make one up for her Taurus 66 and then she can get back to shooting both of them!

Very nice. All steel, as such, no weak threads to strip. I suspect I'll also point the screw and divot the hammer to help make it even more solid but some final shaping and removal of sharp edges and I think she'll be able to operate this handgun slick as a whistle.

 

[Sharps40]

Success! The hammer is much easier for Mom to activate. Press forward right, Press rearward left, Present!

Mom says, "The old fingers and the "Double Hammer" made it work! Can you do this to my Taurus?"

 

[GAgunLAWbooklet]

Good idea.

My mother lost her ability to quickly and confidently pull a double-action revolver's trigger in DA mode when she was elderly.
At first we got her a nicer gun with a smoother and lighter DA trigger, but that was still too difficult.
She kept wanting to thumb-cock it into SA mode.
That's what she did all the time for every practice session we did with her.

So eventually I embraced her preferences.
She also wanted a light weight gun with a grip that fit her hands, but I knew that a J-frame S&W would not be a good choice due to the short barrel and sharp recoil.

So we got her a 6" barreled .357 that was a small-frame (5-shot cylinder) and she planned on using it exclusively in single-action mode.
The ammo was generally .38 special +P hollowpoints (actually the first chamber to fire was loaded with a Glaser Safety Slug).

She was good with it, and she got to be pretty fast and smooth and thumb-cocking it for each shot.

 

[Sharps40]

Finishing up the fit and installation of the Hammer Extension prior to stripping the frame for rust bluing.

In order to make the assemblage more secure (and keep it from working loose like all the manufactured hammer extensions), a small notch is filed in the hammer spur to receive the end of the tension screw. More surface area for tension screw to bite. In addition, I shaped the hammer slot in the extension like the hammer, flat on bottom, humped on top....the extension is pulled over tight against the left side of the hammer and once snug, it comes up rock solid on the hammer.

Edges where the heel of the hand catch the extension are smoothed and slightly rounded. After final shaping, 220g finish for bluing....not to bright...just a nice satin.

From the underside, the home made extension abuts the vertical leg of the hammer, its as far forward as it can go and won't be subject to any movement or wiggling loose with the sudden stops of hammer fall.

View from above, I will shorten the tension screw last, after all the function testing and bluing is done. The tension screw will be set with Loctite as well.

 

[41mag]

Looking better and better.

 

[Wallace's]

Looking better and better.

Yes indeed. OP, eve think about using a button head socket head cap screw to give the set screw a smooth appearance?

 

[Sharps40]

Nah. $7 for shipping on one screw, I'll use the slotted head ones in my stock box.

I always buy the long 6x48 and 8x40 with the larger fillister head so they can be shortened, head contoured and shaped, etc. It'll look fine/smoother when shortened a bit, for now its in preproduction/experimentation stage.

 

[Sharps40]

All the modifications are done. Nicks and boogers and old #57 sanded or filed or polished out. A final finish with the coarse wire brush on this unpitted low mileage revolver leaves the surface ready for rust bluing.

A wipe down with alcohol saturated towels and the metal is clean and ready for the first wet coat of Pilkingtons and the first one hour rust to develop the color. Only doing the frame and modified small parts. The cylinder is super nice and the grip and ERH are aluminum and short of paint, aluminum is best left alone.

Lots of PMs on rust bluing. I try to answer the questions but basically its easy. Rust, slow and even boils into black. Build up the finish, thru grey to satiny grey black, oil and go in the knowledge that its one of the finest finishes for durability and beauty on a daily use firearm.

It doesn't take much effort to rust steel. In the first photo, rust is developing in seconds only at 25% humidity and 65 degrees. I'll speed it up a bit. Too cold in the summertime damp box, my southern garage. And, Grandkids moved in so I lost my back up wintertime rust damp box, the spare bathroom with a tub of hot water. So, under the bar cabinet, cleaned, an iron pot of boiling hot water for humidity and the temp and the moisture content is up in moments only. I suspect this cabinet come rusting damp box will work fine and it appears to be big enough for barreled rifle actions, no cost....just the way I like it.

The first of 5 to 10+ cycles of rust and boil to bring this ruger up to a lovely black for Sharps40's Mother.