ASM Walker Presentation Case

[kh54]

Greetings All. This is my first post in The Craftsman forum. I thought y'all might be interested in a project I took on recently.

I acquired an Armi San Marco Colt Walker, made in 1968, with a presentation case, flask, bullet mold and nipple wrench. I didn't need another Walker (I have an Uberti and now two ASMs), but I wanted a case for my Uberti, which is a very fine piece. I figured I could use this case and resell the ASM revolver. The gun is nice, at least it is after a lot of cleaning, and the accessories are just old (see the tarnished flask, for example). Unfortunately, the case is in much worse condition than was pictured by the seller. (Caveat emptor!!) The wood finish is scratched and worn, the felt is very faded, the case is broken in a spot or two and coming unglued; overall, it's just in shabby condition. Still, I don't mind a small restoration project so that's what I decided to do. BTW, for comparison see this original: Cased Colt Model Colt Civilian Walker Revolver | Rock Island Auction, sold for $1,840,000, but of course that included the gun.

The pics I've attached are "before" and I've already removed the felt and re-glued the case. I had thought about stripping the wood and refinishing, but it looks like the front, sides and back are artificially grained and I don't want to lose that work. So, I'm going to wet sand with some Danish oil mixed with a little dark walnut stain to see how that turns out.

You can see that the cutout inside the box fits around the gun nicely, but when I took it apart I found it was just cheap cardboard. In fact, except for the two small compartments/drawers, all the interior parts are cardboard. I don't have a jigsaw to cut plywood so I decided to use acid-free foam board. I've made a lot of building models with it (I'm an architect) and I figured for such a use it would hold up just fine. Plus, it's easy to cut with an xacto knife without the need for special tools. I also picked up a deep red velvet to reline the interior. I'm not trying to make it look like the original and I like red.

So, what do y'all think? I welcome any suggestions, criticisms, questions, etc. And if y'all are interested I'll post more later this week, including progress pics.

 

[user 48679]

I think you made a silk purse from a sow's ear - Congrats !

FWIW, I make my own cases, including the partitions, from the correct-sized (except for length) strips of wood from a hobby shop, upholstering the partitions before gluing them in place.

 

[kh54]

Pietro, what you see in the first pics is the sow's ear. The silk purse is coming - I hope. Last night I wet-sanded everything and the exterior is looking great. Now I have to cut the partitions, a bit different than your case (and my others) because they aren't partitions per se but cutouts in a solid raised platform.

That's a beautiful case you made! For now I'm content to try and save this one - I'm just not motivated enough to build one from scratch, at least not yet.

 

[user 48679]

Your case appears to have what's known IIRC as "French Fitting" (formed to closely hold whatever).

 

[kh54]

Ah-ha. I have heard that term before but I didn't know what it meant. Thanks for the tip. Did you happen to look at the original in the link I shared? That case looks to be oak, but I think mine is walnut. Of course I'm not trying to replicate anything.

 

[user 48679]

Thanks for the tip.

Did you happen to look at the original in the link I shared?

That case looks to be oak, but I think mine is walnut.

Correct on both counts of wood type, and you're welcome.

 

[kh54]

Greetings, All. I finally finished the case I first posted about, way back in April. I've had a lot going on this summer and spending time indoors to work on the case wasn't as attractive as being outdoors to go shooting, hiking, biking...

As I described above, I wet sanded the wood after regluing everything and the finish turned out just fine, like a piece of expensive furniture, if I may say so myself. I first tried to use the beautiful maroon-colored velvet that I bought but gluing caused a lot of problems with bleed-through and fibers shedding. I couldn't find a good color felt, so I decided to use a tan felt that approximates the color of the original cased colt. (I've attached another pic of the historic original, all $1,800,000.00 worth.)

The original plywood cutout did not fit my Uberti. (the Armi San Marco that came in the case and my Uberti aren't exactly alike.) So, I cut a new base using acid-free foamcore. I cut it to fit a little tighter than the original Italian case. You can see that the original historic case and my case differ a bit in size and proportions, but I never was trying to recreate a replica, just to salvage the Italian reproduction, an approximation of the original.

The historic original case looks to be finished in suede leather, but if you zoom in there appears to be a hint of the weave of a felt, velour, or velvet fabric. I'm just not sure. And of course it is constructed of oak. I think a project to accurately replicate the historic case (I only know if this one photo) would be very cool, but I don't think I'm the one to do it.

I apologize for the quality of my photos, using my cell phone and poor lighting. If anyone is interested, I can post better pics later. I welcome comments, criticism, etc.

 

[necchi]

Nicely done, it's beautiful.
Critique? For an absolute presentation,, straighten all the screw heads,,(detail)