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Old 06-22-2012, 10:00 PM
rburg rburg is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Kentucky, USA
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Model 19s seem to be different guns based on barrel length. The hottest commodity seems to be the 3" guns, followed closely by the 2 1/2", and then the 6". The poor 4" seems to be the one nobody loves. I don't understand it, but people seem to prefer the stablemate 4" M66 a lot more. The prices on all of them have moved up above the $500 mark. The general rule seems to be if you find one in really good shape for less, its a steel

As for your rust issue, who knows. There are people who have corrosive skin or sweat. If they even touch a gun, it seems to rust, peal, or change color. The minor surface corrosion back where it does no functional harm isn't a big issue, except to collectors. The folks with sweaty hands that know of their problem usually don't forget to wipe down their guns. The area under the grips seems to be just too much trouble. So they ignore it and it eats away the plating and you get rust.

I'd suggest you buy some Mothers or Simichrome or similar metal polish and really scrub at the rust spots. At least if you confine your work to the area under the grips, you've got a real good chance of removing it. Then either use a good wax product or oil to cover the area where you've worked. With nickel plating, wax seems to work better than any oil because the oil just beads up and rolls off. Regardless, from now on I'd treat the gun as if its made of egg shells. Use is fine, but in the future it really does need proper care. That means cleaning with a good powder solvent and then re-waxing. It really doesn't take much time or effort. Your reward will be owning a really nice looking gun that will serve you well for as long as you live. Even if you're only 21 now.
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