RE-BLUEING S&W VS COLT

[chief38]

I have to say that when it comes to double action revolvers I am a dyed in the wool Smith & Wesson fan. I think their actions are far superior to Colts (double action), and they are easier to tune to perfection and work on. All the frame sizes are identical (except for size) so they are a pleasure to work on. Nothing beats a S&W double action as far as revolvers are concerned; smooth, precise, and reliable.

BUT............

One of my shooting buddies just sent in three old Colt (and I mean old) revolvers that are from the 1920's to the Colt Factory for re-bluing. They asked him if he wanted their standard blue or their Royal blue, and so he chose the standard blue to keep them as close as possible to original. They had them for about two months and when they came back I could not believe my eyes. They were better than original. Gorgeous deep blue. They also replaced the springs and screws at no additional cost. I only wish Colt would re-blue Smith & Wessons!!! Not that S&W does a bad job, but I must say that Colts re-blueing is just OUTSTANDING. This Smith fan takes his hat off to Colt!

[Grayfox]

I recently had Colt refinish a 1959 vintage Commander for me. The gun was in terrible shape. Almost all the original finish was gone, some light pitting on the slide and the bottom front of the slide showed rub marks against the dust cover.
I couldn't believe my eyes when I got it back. Absolutely beautiful! And they went through the entire gun adjusting and tweaking as need to return it to original specs at no extra charge.
I'm very happy with the work.

[kennyb]

hard to beat the colt finish...take a peek at say the python...beautiful...

[GregG]

Anyone know info on the blueing salts Colt uses? Du-Lite? Brownells? Something proprietary?

Just curious.

[Boxhead]

If you want a Smith with a beautiful pre-war type finish send it to Jim Stroh. He did this 5" 45 Colt conversion (as an early beater M29-2) for me.