A micro-flash image of the notorious “squirt gun” firing proved that the bulbous nose of the fired bullets was not caused by the lab’s bullet catch box.

Not everyone is as careful with their firearms as the typical Shooting Times reader. Never was this fact more clear than during my time in the crime lab. My dad trained me to take care of any tool, especially those that can affect your safety or ability to put food on the table. Therefore, I got a real eye-opener when I saw the state of firearms that were submitted for analysis. Surprisingly, some of the abused guns belonged to police officers.

Wrong Ammo
We saw a couple of .32-caliber Spanish knockoffs of S&W designs that were marked, "Use the American Cartridges that Fit Best the CH Revolver." Apparently, a number of miscreants took this at face value for other firearms.

Probably the most outrageous example was an ancient five-shot Hopkins & Allen revolver chambered for the original .38 Short Colt cartridge. The cylinders were bored straight through, appropriate to outside-lubricated bullets. When it arrived at our door, it was loaded with three .38 S&W cartridges, a .38 Special wadcutter, and a .38 Special Super Vel 110-grain JSP cartridge with the lead tip shaved back to keep it from sticking out the front of the cylinder. Remember, prior to 1974 there were relatively loose pressure standards for high-speed .38 Spl. loads. Had the criminal fired that cartridge in the old H&A, things could have gotten very crowded, as the revolver's frame was cast iron, not forged steel.

Then there was the late-1890s .41 Colt DA revolver that had been reblued so many times the cylinder walls were not much thicker than a business card. Someone had dented one cylinder so that it no longer accepted a .41 Colt cartridge. The owner simply loaded that chamber with a .38 Spl. Hey, it fit! Along the same lines, another had wrapped duct tape around .32 Long cartridges so they would not fall through the cylinder of his .38 revolver.

Gunsmithing On the Edge
Over the edge might be a better phrase. Too many of the "over-smithed" guns belonged to police officers. Refinishing errors made up the majority of the problems. Before stainless-steel revolvers appeared, officers who found their sweat overly corrosive to gun metal often had a blue-steel revolver plated in nickel or chrome.

A few of these plate jobs were quite well done, but the majority fell into the abuse category. Too much buffing before the job and too-thick plating threw off critical dimensions. The worst part came when the platers practiced their art on finely fitted internal parts. Most of these guns suffered problems with single-action mode. The critical single-action notch on the hammer filled with plating material, and the revolver wouldn't stay cocked. Plating on the cylinder ratchet threw off the timing, and the timing surface on the cylinder stop was trashed; therefore, the cylinder could fail to lock. The result was too often a train wreck that would fit in a holster. I always recommended that people return the firearm to the original manufacturer for refinishing. The factory would not ship the refurbished gun until it met new-gun specs. Sure, it was more expensive, but what's the cost if the gun failed to work in the time of need?