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I'm looking for some expertise and experience...maybe someone has encountered a similar situation. This is an interesting situation involving a family heirloom firearm. It's sort of a "What Is It I Need To Do" situation. First, some background... During WWII, my wife's grandfather was a U.S. Navy Dauntless pilot. I met him once before he passed away. He shot down a Japanese Zero, and had the original gun camera footage converted to VHS tape, which he showed me. He also took the photo of the Japanese prisoner of war camp used to identify where Pappy Boyington was imprisoned in Japan...Boyington and others had marked something on the roof to identify his location to U.S. aviators. He enjoyed talking about WWII, unlike my wife's other grandfather, who served in the Infantry during the Battle of the Bulge. He, on the other hand, kept his war experiences to himself, and was haunted by them. My wife's grandfather who was the pilot was issued a S&W Victory Model revolver. He also showed it to me, along with the shoulder holster he carried it in during WWII. Unfortunately, after he died, one of his daughters threw out the shoulder holster. My father-in-law inherited the Victory model. The S&W Victory was stolen from my father-in--law's house a couple of years ago. I was really bummed when I heard the news. Fortunately, the pistol was recovered by the local police, and my father-in-law got it back a few days ago. Unfortunately, it is not in its original condition. The thug who stole it painted it black, and removed the grips, which were not recovered. I'm also told he "glued the hammer in place," which doesn't make any sense to me, but I'm trying to find out more about what is meant by that statement. So, I have some pictures of the pistol that will help...My questions are as follows... Does anyone know of a way to remove paint from parkerizing without affecting the original parkerized finish? It looks like the thug just took a can of spray paint, and sprayed everything. The pistol will need to be disassembled, and the paint removed. If anyone has some tips, they will be appreciated. I'm going to see if I can do it myself, but it's in Texas, and I'm in Ohio, and we were just there for Thanksgiving, so it may be a while.. Also, does anyone have a spare pair of grips? I'll be looking for a replacement pair. Here are some photos: Any advice you can offer will be appreciated! David Albert dalbert@sturmgewehr.com