COLT Python .357 MAGNUM Gun Lighter Restoration

COLT Python .357 MAGNUM Gun Lighter Restoration

ABOUT THE GUN LIGHTER
Note: THIS IS NOT a firearm it’s a very cheap Chinese cigarette lighter model of the famous Colt Python .357 Magnum who was introduced 1955 the same year that Smith & Wesson released the .44 Magnum revolver. I got the lighter from a metal dumpster station. I was very curious to see if I could make it work again. These cheap butane lighters have a bad reputation for not working very well.

THE RESTORATION PROCESS
I started brushing the dirt and rust off the lighter. After giving it a little squeeze of WD40 I disassemble it and sandblasted the revolver case. It was made of very cheap metal and had a lot of pitting therefore I grinded it with fine sandpaper grit 1000 and 1500 and then I did some serious polishing of the case just to make it look ok. I cleaned all the small parts in my mini tumbler.

The handle was like the rest of the lighter made of very cheap materials. I had to drill a hole in the handle to just get it off. I cleaned the handle of this revolver with warm soap water and I grinded it with fine sandpaper and polished it with car wax. The cylinder on this Colt Python was unfortunately made of cheap plastic, so I just cleaned it with some harsh chemicals to achieve the matt black plastic look.