The things people do to quality machinery

While out doing a little gun hunting last week I ran across a S&W 29 .44 Magnum in a pawn shop located deep in the hood. Someone drilled holes in the frame of this poor thing in a place I have never seen holes drilled. I asked the owner who is a real good guy, but he had no information on the guns history. I asked if I could snap a few shots of it to post on a few forums to find answers as to "Why someone would drill holes in those spots".
So far nobody at THR or the S&W Forum has recognized the hole hole placement and come up with the definitive answer.



http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y26...IMG_3968-1.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y26...IMG_3964-1.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y26...IMG_3965-1.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y26...IMG_3966-1.jpg

Cause hes an idiot?

Is that hole countersunk too? WTF?

Were they trying to put some kind of safety on it or something?

The one hole has been countersunk and blued.

Some of the guesses so far have been;
it's a rare prototype for the internal lock
they are oil holes
someone tried to convert it to full auto
it's for a magazine release

Quote:

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Originally Posted by smith357

someone tried to convert it to full auto
it's for a magazine release

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lol

I don't know much about guns but the first thing I thought was a place to put a homemade lock or something.

I registered to check out the illustrations, and the hole is a little further back, but this patent looks similar. http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4972618.html
Perhaps these holes were for some sort of safety device.

Also, looking at patents that reference this one gives me the idea that maybe this was for a gun lock. http://www.freepatentsonline.com/XEF4972618.html

Yep, my guess would be for a ghetto trigger safety. Drill a hole straight through and countersink it, and a screw/bolt would fit perfect.

I dont think the one side is countersunk. Looks more like they tried to drill it out with a bigger drill but gave up. Was it chemical blue or I wonder if it was blue from heat, trying to drill with a big bit and to much speed.

I bet it had a lock on it and they lost the key or never had one (stolen) and drilled the tumbler out. the corrosion there suggests that there was something there that would hold moisture, like a lock.

Smith can correct me on this if I'm wrong, but I don't believe that the hole is anywhere near the location of the lock on a lock-equipped S&W. I think S&W locks are near the "base" of the hammer, right by the cylinder release.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Syme

Smith can correct me on this if I'm wrong, but I don't believe that the hole is anywhere near the location of the lock on a lock-equipped S&W. I think S&W locks are near the "base" of the hammer, right by the cylinder release.

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You are correct, the S&W factory lock is just above the cylinder release. Taurus puts theirs in the hammer. The hole on this N frame is drilled right between the trigger and the rebound slide, you can see both parts moving through the hole. Jamming something in there would prevent the trigger from being pulled.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ck_failure.jpg


In this picture part #75 is the Rebound Slide #77 is the spring you replace to adjust trigger pull. This diagram is of an L frame but it's pretty much the same function as the N frame, there are just few proportional differences between the S&W frame sizes.
http://www.brownells.com/Images/Sche.../sw-lframe.gif

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Syme

Smith can correct me on this if I'm wrong, but I don't believe that the hole is anywhere near the location of the lock on a lock-equipped S&W. I think S&W locks are near the "base" of the hammer, right by the cylinder release.

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I was referring to just a plain trigger lock that would clamp on the trigger guard, not the inter-lock.

But why would drilling the tumbler out of a trigger lock make a hole in the side of the frame there?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Syme

But why would drilling the tumbler out of a trigger lock make a hole in the side of the frame there?

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I don't know, shape of the lock, makes more sense than trying to convert it to full auto or for a mag release.