Hey, the sight picture is better than my CZ52!
(really not saying much)
Apparently these guns can "plink" well enough even with round ball (
) so that may be a cheap option I could play with (did I say play? Guns are
always serious business. Harumpf!). At this point I'm certain the hand spring is played out; pushing the hand into the frame when cocked, it only
slooowly slides back to engage the ratchet star. It also looks like the SA sear may be a bit worn, and is causing the hammer to fall too early (either that, or it's designed to fall early and be "thrown" into position just in time by a firm trigger pull). I'll try to find some info before I even think of screwing with it, but it looks like increasing clearance between the hammer and sear disengagement surfaces may be the remedy (these cause the sear to actually disengage--filing them would retard disengagement
I think without affecting sear engagement strength)
At any rate, I got a pair of new grips thrown together from a block I had; not terrible for something freehanded with no originals and no planning. These will be my dedicated "range/beater" grips if I ever get this thing firing. I did learn what I need to do different next time (with some fancier wood) to make some truly impressive grips, though. Here they are, rough from rasp-shaping and unfinished (for now).
That first shot really shows off the pitting on the sides--It's actually not that noticeable with the patina. I think this gun was improperly stored in a case at some point, since the pitting is
only present on the exposed sides of the frame and cylinder. After tearing apart everything on this gun but the innards, I've come to the conclusion that the S/N is stamped on everything but the frame itself
I must say, walnut is the funnest wood I've worked with so far. Aside from a split in the left grip at the mainspring channel (which I stupidly carved along the grain) that glued up perfectly, it was about as easy as carving basswood and just as forgiving. I've leaned towards fancy tropicals in the past, but now I see the allure of "boring old" walnut
TCB