I stumbled upon a Model 19-2 on the cheap this evening. Based upon the serial number (K7781xx) and the date printed on the inside of one grip panel (Aug ?? 1967), I think it is safe to say that this one was made in 1967. The bore is excellent, as are the chambers in the cylinder. The finish, however, is in pretty sad shape. I'd say that this one was carried by an LEO or Security Guard based upon the wear pattern and the apparent low round count. There are a couple of areas of very light pitting on the finish. The lock up is tight and there is no significant end shake. The front sight red ramp insert is missing and the rear sight could probably use at least new screws and possibly a new blade. The thumb latch and screw has been replaced at some point by nickled ones. I expect that this revolver wore Pach's most of its life, because the wooden grips are near mint.

I'm thinking that I'll try to refinish this and use it as a woods/camping gun. I'm thinking about CCR Refinishing's Parkerized Plus finish - as it is economical, and will provide the protection for field use. I'll probably put Hogues on it when it is finished.

Is there any reason NOT to refinish this revolver? Is there another finish/process that would serve better in covering up the very light pitting without a tremendous amount of prep work? Are the grip panels something that would be marketable to others? If so, what is a fair asking price for them?

Thanks.

[QUOTE=flyandscuba;135710981]...Is there any reason NOT to refinish this revolver? Is there another finish/process that would serve better in covering up the very light pitting without a tremendous amount of prep work?

Since you asked...

(1) Unless you do all the work yourself, the money you spend money refinishing it may well _decrease_the value.

(2) Disregard #1 if you have more money than sense.

(3) Refinishing it ain't going to add one lick of practical utility to the piece--pitting has no effect on function--and robs it of character. A weapon with honest work marks has more character than any reblued piece.

(4) Disregard #3 if you have no appreciation for character.

(5) You want another finish/process? Other correspondents on this forum have reported good results stripping weapons with worn finish to the bare metal, then polishing them. All this will cost you is a few dollars for blue remover and/or Flitz and muy hours watching junk TV. An optional expense might be several sixpacks of beer to endure the junk TV. Unless you live in a swamp, the resulting shiny gun will only need an occasional wipedown with an oily rag.

I concur that the handles should be marketed separately. While they look spiffy, S&W target grips werent designed for human hands--they make the gun slip lower in the hand with each successive shot. On this forum it is considered correct to eschew rubber grips, but I see this piece as a utility weapon which would be much better served by Pachmayer handles.

I think your assessment is spot on. I'm guessing you don't have a lot invested in it anyway so whatever you do to it really isn't going to effect the value either way. If it were me, I'd send it back to Smith for a nickel job, but thats just me! :evilgrin:

As far as humidity goes, Pensacola might just qualify as a swamp. I think your piece is a good candidate for a Parked finish. If I had it, I would probably sell the targets or relegate them to another gun, and go with a set of k-frame magnas and a Tyler t-grip. I just don't like the rubber grips, and I think they tend to hold moisture under them in humid climates like you and I live in.

You might check the Accurate Plating and Weaponry site for a look at their finishes. They are just right up the road from you.

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You might not be able to recoup all your investment, but what the heck? It is a good project in my opinion. I have wasted money on stuff not nearly that fun.

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Georgia On My Mind

Yeah, I'd say NW FL qualifies as "swamp-like" with 100 degree temps combined with near 100 percent humidity in the peak of the summer months.

CCR offers the Parkerized Plus finish for $98 -- I think that is a small investment for a well protected and better looking firearm.

The Magna/T-grip combo is a good idea. Maybe someone would be willing to trade me Magnas for Targets?

The speedloader cutout and lack of washers indicate those are later target stocks not original to your gun. The date marked on them is likely 1987, not 1967.

I had a beater like that ,found the front sight was pinned so replaced it with a short patridge and a slightly taller rear ,that gave it a great sight picture,then a buddy used some kind of air sprayed bake on finish that came out dark gray, looked great and wears like iron,also covered up almost all but the bigger gouges,slapped a small set of uncle mike grips ,not sure of the model,thin and stopped right at the bottom of the frame nice grips,It was a great carry ,hunt ,fish, car gun until I took it to my Dads,Im sure lot of you have the same story,went home without the gun,may get it back one day but it was worth it.

The cost of refinishing & the shipping, and whatever else you do can add up. You have a sad model 19 it's your money but I would clean it up and keep the finish as is. If you want to spend money on a project gun get one that is worth real money at a low price this way whatever you spend will not be wasted money. You can find 19's in 98% or better condition for less than $400. It's possible with what you paid and with the added cost of having someone make it look nice for you it'll exceed the price of a new gun.

if it were mine I'd repair the sights and use it as a woods gun just as it is, saving both the time and the money.


Unless of course you're up for a refinish project, if you are then I say your plan is foolproof, you should hurry up and get started with it and be sure to take lots of pictures to post here for us all to enjoy

Those stocks are from a much later gun. Still nice, but not original.

I am not slavish about avoiding refinishing because I do it for my pleasure, not with any idea of benefiting from it in a future sale, and I don't worry about destroying collector-value. Any modern revolver that needs refinishing probably has no particular collector-value anyway. If you ARE going to refinish it, send it to S&W.

Having said that, I agree with the above thinking. Clean that gun up, buy yourself a Brownell's sight insert kit and repair the sights front and rear, and use that gun as-is. The stocks are '87 production and don't belong on a -2 gun.

If you really want a rough-duty gun of that type, take the 19 after you are done fixing it up and trade it on a similar Model 66-3. The trade should cost less than the refinishing and shipping. Just my $0.02.

Try parking it Yourself, I've had pretty good luck with the various do-it yourself kits. Stuff is very toxic, but the process is simple.

I'd rather pay someone else to do the Parkerizing. My bride would kill me if I cooked up some chemicals on her stove! Plus, a shop like CCR should be able to remove most of the very light pitting and blemishes before the refinish.

I've got appropriate Magnas on the way for my Targets, courtesy of a forum member. Now, I just need to find someone to trade me a Number 3 Tyler T-grip for the Number 4 that I have in my parts bin...

+1 one on this. Or you could simply cold blue it with a kit. I am doing a beater M36 no dash. I have called S&W on refinishing but the cost on shipping plus refinishing is not worth it.

Good luck, and post some pictures.
Howard

I'll trade you a #3 tyler for your #4

PM coming to discuss it

Reply PM sent -- yes, I will swap, thanks!

My thanks to Ken L and Ga Johnny for the grip and Tyler swaps!

Upon removing the sideplate from this revolver, it appears that it began its life as a nickel finished gun. So, I don't feel so bad sending it off to have it parkerized by CCR.

There are a few markings on the grip frame -- a "W" in a couple of places, an "R" with a "4" at angle next to it, and a deeply embossed "3" on the left side & an "0" or "O" on the right side. A "W" is on the cylinder crane as well as an "0" & some other mark that I can't distinguish - but it isn't a letter or number that I recognize.

Here's a Model 19-2 serial number K630XXX that was shipped in April 1966..
This one has Walnut Diamond Targets.. I also will guess that the grips shown on yours are 1980's era.

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Why not hard chrome it, that way you can peddle it as a pre 66 stainless steel! :-). Seriously, that stuff looks great, wears like forever, easy to clean and apparently is pretty thin so it does not mess up the operating parts. I have an old pre 27 that is pretty worn, almost like yours, that I am considering having hard chromed.

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Richard Gillespie
FBINA 102

Well, the project is well underway. CCR rec'd the M19-2 today for the Parkerized Plus treatment. The mint appropriate age Magnas showed up from Ken L - as did the black #3 Tyler T-grip from GAJohnny.

Hopefully, the turn-around time for CCR won't be extremely long - but with the pending holiday season, I'd expect to get it back after the 1st of the year.

I have a broken rear sight in my parts bin, so I'm going to scavenge the white outline blade from it to use in the original sight. I plan to media blast and cold blue the rear sight to refresh it. The only thing left to consider is ordering a new screw to secure the rear sight.

I've got a similar ugly M-19 and am in the same dilemma. I paid $325 for it.
-if I "park" it it looks better but I'm out $125 and the gun would be worth about $300
-If I send it to S&W it will look like new and be worth about $450 or maybe $500...but it will cost me more than $200 for the work and the shipping.
-Perhaps I could look into one of the modern high-tech super finsihes? It's a thought.
-Maybe I'll just sell it for $350 and be done with it.

I hear ya. I wasn't really concerned about value. I bought mine cheap, and simply wanted to get it to a point where it would be a servicable field sidearm. The Parkerized Plus (on special for $89 as a Sigforum member) was an economical way to do that. It may turn out nicer than we expect -- thus why I'll be posting pictures of the finished project. If it creates a durable servicable revolver worth $300-350, I'll actually be quite pleased.

i think it's gonna be cool!

I'm looking forward to the pictures when you get it done! A parked 19 sounds cool to me and a practical answer to your situation. The world is full of S&W19s, make yours the way you want it. $89 sounds like money well spent for a gun you will use and like. Personally, I would buy a used 19 that was nicely parked over a 19 that was in very rough shape but still blued. pics, pics, pics!

I'm sure this will raise yells of indignation but painting a revolver with Alumahyde II is cheap and effective. It protects the revolver and it easy to touch up if scraped up.
Should the time come for a full refinish, the Alumahyde is not hard to remove.

If it makes you happy, go for it. I probably would opt. for the refinish if it was mine.

WJat he said.

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Cuad

That should read "What he said".

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Cuad

The 19-2 returned from CCR today. The refinish is about as I expected. Given that it had lived its life in a tool or tackle box and suffered from years of surface rust and neglect, I think the pistol looks much better now -- and at least has some protection for the metal.

Before I take it over to my local 'smith for re-application of the front sight insert and installation of the original rear sight with a new blade -- I thought I'd post a couple of update photos with the Magnas and T-grip installed.





I never knew that the front sights on these 19-2s were pinned to the barrel. I always thought it was machined into the barrel. However, in the first photo the parkerizing allows the pins to be visible where they were hidden by the original blueing... Interesting.

Looks good!

That is an eminently practical package for a utility/truck/woods gun in the hot, humid Southeastern US. As I'm sure you are aware, in S. Georgia or anywhere in Florida, you can take a nicely finished blued gun outside on July 4th, glance at it, and watch the flecks of rust pop up on the side-plate. Looking good. I have a finish-challenged, $300 Model 19-3 for which I might consider that treatment.

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Georgia On My Mind

Fix what needs to be fixed and enjoy it. Looks like it has some charter to it. I love old guns that have a look of use to them.

redlevel,

For roughly $100, I think that the CCR Parkerize Plus treatment was an excellent choice for my "beater". At least I know that it will be protected from the humidity and associated surface rust.

I'll try to get some better photos once I get it back from the 'smith who is doing the front sight insert and rear sight blade replacement. The correct Magnas with the T-grip really gave it a nice feel in the hand. I'm looking forward to trying it out at the range.

Love it! Big improvement.

I want to pass along a trick I learned about on the 1911 forum for parked guns. Warm it up in the oven (or southern windowsill) and wipe it down with cosmoline, then polish off all the excess. I did this to a parkerized Springfield GI and absolutely love the results. It gives the parkerizing a dark, smooth finish that is even more rust resistant. Try it in an unobtrusive place to see if you like the effect. The cosmoline would be fairly easily removed with any solvent if you don't. I have given a couple of bayonets, an M3 knife and am thinking about giving a parked 03 Springfield this treatment.

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