Who built this Colt .38 wadcutter?

I'm just curious if anyone can tell who did this work. The frontstrap seems very distinctive and the welding in the slide to support the barrel.... Maybe that was common then.

Does top of barrel lugs have shims soldered in lug to lower barrel?
Jon

Show pic of cocked hammer. Looks slightly bobbed. Does it have radius on front of hammer to ease cocking force?
Jon

Is that a steel trigger? Does it have shim soldered on back of bow?
Jon

I also wonder if rear sight is a replacement to original sight used for build. Looks like a modern Bo-mar. Most pistols I've seen built around time that this pistol was probably built had old style Bo-mar.
Jon

Jon, yes the face of the hammer is radiused. Why is that? I don't see any solder tp lower the barrel or on the back of the trigger bow that looks like steel to me. The sights say "Bo-Mar

Someone is using pictures of this gun with the Marvel conversion on Arms list trying to scam. I have seen a few scams on Arms list. They don't seem to qualify all their listings.

Not me! I bought it from a forum member. Very smooth transaction.

Well from the photo's it looks like a quality early .38 wadcutter build. I think you told me initials MBM are on the pistol (where)? For the life of me I can't think of who that could be. What magazines came with it? 
Whomever built it knew how to do quality stipple job and add the cocking radius to the hammer. Very possible it was a military armorer.
Jon

Jon. That was me with the MBM built pistol.

The military sends through a fair number of soldiers thru their match armorer courses. A few of these graduates try to establish themselves as smiths but most fail. They end up just doing a few guns locally. Perhaps this pistol was one of these.

Thanks Jon, how did they do that stipling, I like. Does anybody still do it that way? It has 2 well used Colt magazines.

I've stippled one or two front traps that way.  I used a medium center punch with the tip ground to a pyramid shape.  It's done by constantly moving the punch while you tap it.  Spacing is random and depth is controlled by the hammer taps.  It is tedious work, but turns out fairly well.  Some try to get around the tedium by using an air hammer with the tip mounted on it, but that is harder to control.  To be honest, I prefer checkering or the Clark style tiger-tooth stippling.

Skateboard grip tape works well

orpheoet wrote:Thanks Jon, how did they do that stipling, I like. Does anybody still do it that way? It has 2 well used Colt magazines.

It can be done with a small air impact tool with a ground tip.

Don Nygord???

Christopher Miceli wrote:Skateboard grip tape works well

I like stair tape from Home Depot!

Olde Pilot wrote:Don Nygord???

Nygord always put his name on his pistols he built.
Jon

If you don't shoot it well at 50 but do at 25 I'd highly recommend cutting barrel down to 5". 6" seperates the men from the boys. I've shot longslides majority of my time shooting BE and I can attest to the fact it's much more forgiving to shoot 5" barrel.
Jon

Jon Eulette wrote:If you don't shoot it well at 50 but do at 25 I'd highly recommend cutting barrel down to 5". 6" seperates the men from the boys. I've shot longslides majority of my time shooting BE and I can attest to the fact it's much more forgiving to shoot 5" barrel.
Jon

Why is that? Sight Radius?

Jon Eulette wrote:If you don't shoot it well at 50 but do at 25 I'd highly recommend cutting barrel down to 5". 6" seperates the men from the boys. I've shot longslides majority of my time shooting BE and I can attest to the fact it's much more forgiving to shoot 5" barrel.
Jon

Jon, I'd say there's a good chance another barrel will be going in it. The rifling looks ok, but not great. Happen to have an extra?!

Extended sight radius helps you shoot better for iron sights. On paper when you look at the math there's not a whole lot of difference in time for bullet in barrel for a 5 inch or 6 inch barrel. But to your hand it's a whole different story. I attribute it to radial movement: from shoulder to pistol. During recoil with my .45 longslide when I make a mistake with gripping consistently, the way it recoils I can immediately tell that even though it looked like a 10 it will be a 8 at 1:00. With the 5" it would be a 9 at 1:00. I base this on many years of shooting and experiencing and knowing what each fundamental failure will result in. If I relax my stance just becore the shot breaks with longslide I'll get shots at 12:00 in 9, 8, or 7 ring depending on how badly I relaxed. With 5" it will be 9 or 8. So the longslide really lets you know if your performing fundamentals correctly or not. I was shooting with Zurek and he just picked up a longslide. He was shooting 50 yds after sighting in at 25. He turned to me after a couple shots and said "boy you sure have to work a little harder with a longslide". 
I love how they recoil but find as I age that the 5" likes me more.
Jon

I don't. I have a Kart due in next week but it is spoken for. Clark's are 2 weeks out. I spoke to Kart and they might have more because they are making mine now.
Jon

both Arm Swenson and Jim Hoag used to weld or silver solder that little tab in the slide to "position" the barrel.. one of the many old ways to get better upper lug lockup.. I'd bet many other smiths of the day would do that also

so no initials stamped anywhere on the frame of slide?

No, no markings. I'm trying it out this weekend.