Plum colored Md 53--What causes this?

[bravastar1]

I ran acorss this Md 53 today that a fellow is selling. He has not pulled the grips off to see if it is a factory refinish. Assuming this is a factory blue job what would cause the finish to turn plum color> Notice the cylinder latch and the ecector rod are nice and black-blue. He said the front and rear cylinder faces are blue and have not turned color. Any ideas what would cause this?

[ray45]

Just like fine aged wine. I love it. Not a problem. A thing of beauty.

[smithfan4152]

This is a 53 no dash, and since the extractor rod and other parts show the normal finish, I highly doubt this is all original finish. I have seen these plum colors on some of the older S&W model 52-2s that were manufactured in the late 70s I believe, and I would rather have a worn finish than this.
Not sure how the stampings look, but this is a shame.
I own 13 or so of these now, and have never seen this.
So I can't answer why this happens, but I don't believe it changed after it was done. Hopefully you will look for a nicer one than this, they are out there reasonably priced. A refinished gun, even with the box, and spare hammer still would not hold much of any value. The box , inserts and hammer would appreciate more than the gun ever would.

[Camster]

Plum colors may be associated with improper temperature of the blueing solution.

[JSR III]

Camster hit the nail on the head. There are many S&W's out there that have a plum cylinder or a plum barrel. I have never seen the whole gun look like this. Usually it is due to the parts being blued at separate times and the steel doesn't take the bluing the same. Other times it is due to the bluing solution being at different temperatures and one part taking on a different color. It looks funky but really doesn't affect the condition of the gun.

I remember in my youth, my sister and I cleaning my dad's Desoto with Comet or Ajax cleanser. The car started out blue and turned a lovely shade of purple.

[george minze]

For some reason H&K P7 M8, and P7 PSP's seem to in some occasions turn a purple . There certainly nothing cheap about those H&K's. I was told that the heat treating of the steel caused this problem. (Not dangerous just unsightly) I have no personal knowledge. I have been looking for a P7 in good shape for some time and the only problem I have ever found was some wear on the feed ramp at the edges. Seems that this causes no problem with feeding or ejection. However I have seen so many purple top ends on those pistols. To be truthful most of the purple ones are former Euro Police models (PSP) with the grip mag release and no heat shield on trigger guard. Beats me but P7's of all pistols are about as accurate and well made as any thing on the market purple or not and bring high prices at least around here.

[Cyrano]

On my Model 39 auto with steel frame, the slide is blue but the frame is slightly plum. And, no, it shows no signs of being refinished.

[woad_yurt]

I have a 14 with a plum barrel and cylinder with no evidence of a re-work. Some of 'em just did that all by themselves.

[rburg]

Almost by definition, a plum color is a manufacturing defect. It has no functional effect except that its unsightly. Kind of like your new truck with an off-color hood.

As others have stated, the most common cause seems to be bath temperature. The bluing salts must be at the correct temp to impart the correct coloring. But also, if the solution is worn out you may not get the desired color. Heat treating has also been blamed, where the barrel and cylinder receive different process than the frame, and they come out a different color. The composition of the steel can influence how well it takes the coloring. Had the operator been awake at the time, he should have caught the errors.

I've even had a SIG P210 with a plum color. Clearly it hadn't been refinished, it was just plum. And they didn't see any reason to fix it. It sure shot well.

We see it all the time on refinished guns. My take on it is refinishers don't have the skill or experience, mostly, to prevent it. You don't see the big name shops turning out things like this. Its mostly the little shops that don't get much action. And for good reasons.

[NFrameFred]

I have two factory guns that I know have not been refinished that have 'plummed' over time. One is a model 39-2 I purchased in 1977 that the slide has changed color on over the years. Less than 300 rounds fired through this gun, it has been stored correctly in proper humidity in the safes all this time.

The other is a model 30-1 that the cylinder has changed color on. Very lightly used and properly stored.

I've seen re-finish jobs that took on a plum colored hue from one part to the next, but since it is a chemical process I can only compare it to what I know of photo developing, in that as the chemicals age and lose saturation through repeated use it can affect the overall efficiency and color and fades over time. No doubt subtle differences in the hardness of one part to the next affects this, as well. Variances of just a few degrees in solution/metal temperature, time of submersion, eventual contamination from rinses/baths . . . numerous things can affect the final and lasting results.

There are some guns that are obviously re-finished that exhibit this, but it is by no means a sure thing that a gun or some portion of it that has 'plummed' has been re-finished. I've seen too many examples of those that have not.

[Engine49guy]

This topic came up a while back where I posted this Model 29-3.
It has not been refinished and exhibits 3 different shades of blueing.

It is actually not too noticeable under most lighting.
But with direct flash its real obviouse.



Same gun next to a 29-3 LH special.

[Andy Griffith]

Older Ruger single actions seem to be the worst to be plum colored- they never seemed to get the temperature right with the kind of steel that they used.

Anyway, that's the way I heard the explanation for it.

[donaldw870]

I have a 586-6 that has a plum cylinder. It's only noticable in very strong light. I've owned it since the day it was born, and I know it has not been refinished.

[TennTony]

I have a Beretta Puma that was "accidentally" soaked in a pan of dishwater overnight by a deceased friend's ex-wife. He said the steel parts changed color when the accident occurred. I think the plum color adds character to the gun. Friend's daughter was nice enough to give me the gun after he died.

[Sgt 127]

That gun looks "soft" to me. Kind of like a river rock. I don't like the way it looks at all. Then again, I have never seen a Smith turn quite that color...

[Thunderball]

Here is a BHP that my father bought new. These pictures were taken the same day.

[NFrameFred]

To be fair, I'm sure a lot would agree the "plum" color that shows up in photographs (especially flash photography) most times looks more pronounced in the images than it does to one's naked eyes in person.

Most camera lenses are coated to reduce glare and enhance certain spectrum of light and for whatever reason minor differences in hues of certain colors ( especially on metals) seem to be exaggerated.

Now I have seen some extreme examples of 'plumming' on re-finished guns where the bath temperatures or the exhaustion of the bluing salts or a combination of both gave a totally unsatisfactory and freaky looking result to the piece. These were usually found on a table at a gun show where some huckster was trying to get major bucks from some "hard-to-find" "highly collectible" specimen in "great condition" . . . and could not/would not entertain the idea their "prize" was reduced in value because of a ****** re-bluing job.

[redlevel]

My 15-3 has a plum cylinder and barrel. I don't know for sure, but I don't believe it has been refinished. It shows no signs. I got a heckuva deal on it, partially because of the finish, I think.