help me fix this POS

So about a year ago my papaw shows up with a little saturday night special Clerke 1st .32s&w revolver he'd found in a garbage bag in his ditch about 15 years ago. I took it to the smith at Great Southern in Pearl and he said it would cost a lot more for him to fix it than its worth but it just needed a mainspring(since there wasn't even one in the gun).



so last week I finally caught the parts off backorder at Numrich, and they came in today. I finally got the mainspring installed and the new grips put on(the old ones were held on with duct tape). Went outback with my oakleys, ears and some really thick leather gloves just to be safe. Light strike after light strike is all I got!



what could cause this? Could the firing pin just be worn?

or is it something to do with the spring tension?

I should point out that there is no emotional attachment to this piece, the only reason i'm pissing away the money on it is because my 85 year old papaw wants to see it work.

Does the hammer feel like it has enough spring tension? Were those primers hit once or multiple times? They look rough..............

Hey, nice Zinc plating................

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SubGunFan wrote:Does the hammer feel like it has enough spring tension? Were those primers hit once or multiple times? They look rough..............

Hey, nice Zinc plating................

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couple times each.
lol yes the finish is crap.
not sure about the hammer having enough spring tension because I don't know what the right amout should feel like? I've never really messed with a revolver like this, especially not a DAO one

Open the cylinder (and unload). Cock the hammer and while holding the hammer, pull the trigger. Let the hammer fall all the way while holding it. Notice how far the firingpin protrudes into the cylinder area (pass the bulkhead). Does it appear the pin protrudes enough?

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seems pretty stiff to me. I finally got it to fully cock, so apparently its not DAO(theres not a lot of info out there about these old saturday night specials). the hammer seems to fall a lot harder in SA, so I'll step back outside in the AM and try it. he may just have to use it as a fanning gun ha

All that pistol is good for is a paper weight or trout line sinker, as I've tried to work on those POS's. Made out of pot metal, they was a $50.00 pistol when they was new. The part's to fix it cost as much to get and repair it, YBRF Rambo

PS: No offense my friend as those type pistol are junk when they was new.

jakeg823 wrote:So about a year ago my papaw shows up with a little saturday night special Clerke 1st .32s&w revolver he'd found in a garbage bag in his ditch about 15 years ago.

Do you recall any gun crimes in that area about 15 years ago??? lol

miker84 wrote:

jakeg823 wrote:So about a year ago my papaw shows up with a little saturday night special Clerke 1st .32s&w revolver he'd found in a garbage bag in his ditch about 15 years ago.

Do you recall any gun crimes in that area about 15 years ago??? lol

Haha I was a little fella

Well I did notice that the hammer was not going all the way back in DA, but was in SA. So when I got home yesterday I geared up again and called my papaw over and we fired 10 rounds through it and called it a day when I got a nice blast of hot powder in my face when he shot the last time(I was standing about 5 feet behind him and to the left).

I took it to my fiance's BIL and let him look at it because he thought he might could fix it, but once he saw it he just chuckled and said to wipe the fingerprints off of it and keep it in my truck, or just hide it in the gun safe, because he didn't see how it was even safe to fire.

Think I'll take his advice and just put it up. Especially after we realized the cylinder will do about a half turn to the next bullet if you even touch it....which means potential big kaboom if it misaligns at just the right time

Rambo wrote:All that pistol is good for is a paper weight or trout line sinker, as I've tried to work on those POS's. Made out of pot metal, they was a $50.00 pistol when they was new. The part's to fix it cost as much to get and repair it, YBRF Rambo

PS: No offense my friend as those type pistol are junk when they was new.

None taken. Couldn't agree with you more! Found on one forum that the dealer cost of these guns was $17

jakeg823 wrote: I geared up again and called my papaw over and we fired 10 rounds through it and called it a day when I got a nice blast of hot powder in my face when he shot the last time(I was standing about 5 feet behind him and to the left).

I was waiting for that after I saw the pics of the primers in your first post! Glad no one got blinded by the little ......

It could be out of time. Looks like the hammer might have been hitting the side of the base instead of the primer. Hard to tell without looking closer. If you were getting sprayed off to the side it might be the timing. Shaving lead and spraying. These guns were cheaply made and wear easily on the cylinder stops and pawls.

Use it for a trot line sinker. The ammo is worth 10 times the value of the revolver.

Doug

miker84 wrote:

jakeg823 wrote:So about a year ago my papaw shows up with a little saturday night special Clerke 1st .32s&w revolver he'd found in a garbage bag in his ditch about 15 years ago.

Do you recall any gun crimes in that area about 15 years ago??? lol

Exactly what I was thinking after reading that!

same here. Sounds like you got a body count on that one.

I had a neighbor (single lady) bring one over to my house one evening. It was chambered in .22 and she wanted me to fix it up for her to use for home defense. I told her that the absolute best thing I could do with it involved a hammer and anvil. Ended up giving her an 870 youth 20 gauge and a few shooting lessons.
At full cock, the cylinder would spin like a pinwheel and didn't even come close to lining up with the barrel. I took it apart just to satisfy my curiosity. I've seen better quality springs in Chinese ball point pens.