So, I bought a lamp...

[oldpaul]

This thread is partially in reference to Aragorn's Bodeo posit. I saw this lamp on ebay last November with a price of $119.99 plus shipping. Either it was a repairable 1889 Bodeo revolver or I paid too much for a very kitschy or as my wife said, very ugly lamp. At nearly sixty-six years I have risked more for less so I pushed the buy it now button and in due time it arrived. The first two pictures are the ebay photos. With a bulb inserted, it even worked!! (9th pic).
It was quickly determined that it was indeed the "Real McCoy", made by Glisenti at Brescia sometime after 1889 (4th pic). The serial number is B2131 with no date stamp and if I've read the internet sources correctly, it was made before 1900, perhaps 1892 to 1894. Hopefully an Italophile on this forum can be more specific. I opted to try and restore this old beast and if unsuccessful, I still would have an unusual lamp for the gun room. I have since read that Interarms did these lamp 'conversions' sometime in the '60s but have been unable to confirm that information.
First the bad news. It was arc welded to a horseshoe at the end of the butt and painted with a thick coat of black paint. The cylinder was welded to the frame in two places on the left side (6th pic). A threaded lamp adapter was welded to the muzzle looking somewhat like a one time use only, silencer adapter(8th pic). The trigger and hammer were tack welded to the inside of the frame, the hammer had been cut just below the pivot pin and the hammer face (firing pin) had been ground flat. The lamp cord required access through the gun so a hole was drilled in the left hand grip and through the rear of the frame at the firing pin hole. Last and probably least the lanyard ring is missing. I will post more as my time allows. Tom

Information

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[WarPig1976]

That's neat, sad, but neat. Probably better to leave it a lamp, No?

[Patrick Chadwick]

An opportunity to learn some Italian?

Revolver di ordinanza italiano modello 1889 "Bodeo"

But WarPig is right, you now have an esoteric lamp.

[Vincent]

They are nice, well made pistols. I believe the hammer is disengaged when the loading gate is open. It’s a nice feature.

Looks like a very cool gunsmithing project to me. I will be following along with interest to see how the restoration goes.

[oldpaul]

Warpig, I agree that it is sad that some examples of such a storied firearm were reduced to such a demeaning end. These were used by the Italian military for about sixty years in all military campaigns small and large from the late 1800s to the end of WWII. Swords into plowshares I suppose but in this instance I prefer the sword.
Thank you Patrick for the link, when I get around to it I will order Pettinelli's book on the 1889 Bodeo, also only in Italian. I don't speak the language but with Bing or Google translator I can get close.
Vincent thanks for the encouragement, this is already a fait accompli and I will post the process (good or bad) as my time allows.

After removing the bulk of the lamp parts the horse shoe was removed with a Dremel tool and the paint stripped with Jasco paint remover which wouldn't effect any remaining bluing. The welds on the trigger, hammer and cylinder were also removed with the Dremel and then the revolver was completely disassembled. I chucked the barrel in my lathe and faced off about .010" and chamfered it to remove all the remaining weld spittle. Next in the lathe was the cylinder for the same process to remove the bits of weld left over. Interestingly, the cylinder has the serial number stamped on the front face. The remnants on the inside of the frame were dressed down wit the Dremel, needle files and various grits of silicon carbide paper. Tom

[Vincent]

You are making a nice job of it, Tom. Thanks for the pictures and Jasco paint remover tip. I haven’t tried that.

[RCS]

This is my Officer's Model 1889 made in Reggia Brescia with a three digit serial number

Came to the USA from a US Army veteran who was in Italy during WW2, he gave it to my father. Condition is very nice

[oldpaul]

RCS, very nice example. Most of the pictures on the net show a date stamp near the manufacturers name, mine doesn't and your officers model doesn't seem to. I cannot seem to find any definitive information why some have a date and some don't.

None of the usual parts houses had anything listed for these guns but I was able to source a mainspring from a member on another forum and a hammer, hand and some extra internal bits for a reasonable price from a gentleman in Florida. Sometimes luck works out. In that same lucky vein, the bore has deep sharp rifling and promised the possibility of decent accuracy if I could repair the bigger problems, most serious of which was the rather large hole drilled in the rear of the frame for lamp cord access. The hole measured about 11/32" (0.3438") and was slightly oblong in shape. A letter drill size T at 0.3580" cleared the hole and made it round. The hole was tapped to 10mmX1.00mm and I turned a plug to an interference fit with the same thread pitch. With the plug in the freezer for a couple hours and the frame warmed up to glove wearing temperatures the plug was screwed in quickly before the temperatures equalized and when cooled the protruding parts were faced down with hand tools. A moment of paranoia caused me to stake punch around the plug on its periphery(pic 5) but in retrospect was probably unnecessary. The picture of the plug repair on the inside of the frame(pic 6) appears to be wavy but is perfectly flat. The tapered firing pin hole was next and certainly the most tedious and time consuming task in this project. I will save that for my next post. Best. Tom

[RCS]

Tom,

You are doing an excellent job of restoration on your Bodeo revolver, part are very difficult to find and often you have to make them.

You can make 10.35mm from 44 maganum brass, cut to .890 inch length and use a 303 sizing die to provide a slight taper. I did make some cartridges from 45 auto rim years ago
too. I used some 44-40 lead bullets worked down to .422 inch. My revolver is very old and was advised to use black powder only, you might be able to use light loads of Unique
powder, Robert

[Peter Laidler]

During early 1970 the entrance hall or Foyer at the large imposing 1900's Officers Mess at Burtphore Barracks in Tidworth, the then home of the 10th and 11th Hussars, had two standard lamps, one each side of the main doorway. Made from two beautifully presented, cleaned and polished .50" Brownings mounted on heavy teak plinths. Wish I'd photographed them!