I'll add on a little to my own post...
I hoofed it down to the NY Public Library today over lunch and went through a 1st ed. copy of Smith and Wesson: 1857-1945 by Jinks. I satisfied myself that it does not address bluing beyond stating whether various models were finished in "blue" or "nickel" (or in same cases park).
I don't recall seeing anything about it in History of Smith and Wesson (Jinks) although I don't have a copy here and it's been a while since I read it.
Somewhere, someone has to have compiled this information at some point in time...
One thing that was interesting to note was the use of hardened steel cylinder stop shims in the early hand ejectors and in some of the break-actions. 1857-1945 explained that they stopped using the shims in 1908 because by then they were using a more modern steel that heat-treated better. What is significant is that while Smith was moving to higher carbon steels they were most likely changing their bluing methods -- and perhaps frequently because of issues with how the new steels took the finish.
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