50+ year old .38 revolver

[The_Outlaw]

Greetings fellow enthusiasts! I am helping a friend who, shall we say, lacks knowledge of firearms. He recently inherited a .38 revolver (no idea of mfg) that has not been cleaned in, oh, 50+ years... The trigger pull is estimated at about 110 lbs... I have offered to clean the dang thing & am wondering about stripping the grips off & soaking the entire pistol in some CLR.
Good idea or bad? As old as it is I know there are no polymers in it & it does have a hefty feel for a 3½ or 4" bbl length revolver. Anything I should be on the look out for?
Thanks in advance for your advice. I really enjoy the feedback I get from you folks! You are the best!!
Papa

If it's not a rare piece, then your friend would probably be better off with just buying something newer that is actually 'safe to use'.

[-06]

One of my first shooters was a gub style 32 Colt. It took a lot of buffing to get it back to decent fireable condition. It is one of my "room guns" now but was my carry for several years. A story behind it: I flew into Atlanta headed back to Charlotte and noticed a no firearms sign (hijacking to Cuba was prevelant then). Gave it to a ticket clerk and the pilot handed it back to me in Charlotte. Try that today--lol.

[Patriotpapa]

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah all! I appreciate all the responses and suggestions given regarding this old .38 special. You folks are awesome! I deep cleaned the pistol twice - you would not believe the gunk that came out! Trigger pull is improved by over 50% by my guess. I returned the pistol to my friend when they came through town a couple of weeks ago, but I have forwarded recent suggestions made here to him by email. I am going to suggest to him he take the pistol to a gunsmith for a safety check as was recently suggested. Very appropriate suggestion by the way!! Thank you - didn't even cross my mind!!
See you folks again after the first of the year!! Be safe, shoot straight!
Papa

[Phillip Gain]

Pics - or it didn't happen!! LOL

Seriously, glad to see the old gun is coming back to life. Would love to see some photos of her when she's cleaned up and shooting again!