Doing the regular retired thing on Saturday, making the rounds at the various gun shops in hopes of them helping me get rid of my excess money, we started talking about nickel guns. Most of the guys didn't care for nickel guns, and lately I haven't seen that many nickel guns for sale anywhere. I personally only own 4 nickel guns, always having prefered blue finish guns, and now have been collecting some stainless guns. What's your opinion? If you had a choice of finish between the same model, what would it be? All my nickel guns are from the early 1970's. I paid very little at the time for the Model 58, Model 40 and Model 39, and 3 years ago found this factory Class "A" engraved Model 59 on GB for $800 (aftermarket grips from Greece/eBay). I know some guns are very rare in nickel, and sought after in two-tone (pintos) but generally are nickel guns more desirable given the choice? (Sorry for the poor pictures, nickel guns are hard to photograph especially for me with my poor photo skills)

I really enjoy seeing pictures of Nickel guns when they belong to someone else. I strongly prefer the high polished blue finish. But as you said to each his own.

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Always Stay Strong!

I am down to one nickel hand gun... but I love it!

Here it is with my other (Teflon) nickel firearm:

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Bill - SWCA #2327

While I prefer a nice blue gun, I've got a couple of Nickles and they tend to grow on a feller.

Although a nice nickle finish looks good I have always preferred the high polish blue guns.

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Regards
Lynn

This is one of those "redheads vesus burnettes" or "Ford vs Chevy" sort of things. Nothing wrong with liking one over the other.

I am not and never have been a nickle guy. Several years back I found a stash of early 1970's snubbies and other assorted Smiths from a long out of business shop. More than half were nickle...they were the first to go. I kept most of the blued guns, but sold off the nickle guns.

I do like stainless Smiths though.

FN in MT

Many don't like nickel, I do.

I've gone to stainless only in the last several years however as they tend to hold up MUCH better down here in the constant humidity and salt air. But I polish them to look like nickel unless they are true matte finish.

So...shine on Brother!!

I used to view nickeled guns as a trade of good looks for better rust resistance that became unnecessary after stainless guns became available in most any size or caliber you wanted. Before stainless, most buyers could keep their S&Ws in warm dry houses so they didn't buy nickel. Additionally, you need to use more care selecting cleaning solvents for nickeled guns. I had a nickeled 586, 34 and 10 in the past but I only bought them because they were screaming deals and I didn't keep them very long. When you showed a nickeled S&W revolver for sale the potential buyer would unzip your gun rug just far enough to get a peek at nickel then zip it back up as fast as they could and hand it back saying "wrong color". Now that stainless revolvers have made silver the right color and nickeled guns are a bit of a novelity I wish I'd kept all three. After a long time without any nickeled revolvers I recently bought a nickeded 6" 57 at Cabela's but again primarily because they had it marked unusually low. Presumably Cabela's priced it low because it combined two hard to sell features, .41 mag. and nickel. The shinny 57 is sort of growing on me so I wish I'd at least hung on to the 34. It came and went at about $200 so it wasn't much to have kept invested.

Your engraved 59 is a very impressive gun but would be too flashy for me even if it were blued. However, I'd love to have the 57. In the early to mid 90s police dept. surplus nickeled 57s passed through the Shotgun News. I wish I'd bought one.

Best Regards,
Gil

I don't have any nickel smiths. I cannot find one for a price I want to pay. I love the way they look compared to blued. Most of my smiths are stainless steel at this point.

I inherited my Dad's Model 36 with nickel finish. I don't like it because the reflection of overhead light on the rear sight groove makes it even more difficult for me to see the sights. The tiny groove is bad enough; with the nickel finish, it is even worse. I darken the rear sight area with a felt tip pen and it makes all the difference in the world. The felt tip pen blacking will come right off if needed.

It may not be an issue for others, but as I get older (56), my eyes are sometimes less accommodating than they used to be ...

I like nickel...
They are easier to keep clean, they dont get every rub or mark on the finish. They just look nice to me all cleaned and waxed up. I also think that there are less nickel than there are blue, blue being more popular.

Not saying I dislike blue and I really like stainless. However nickel dressed for sundays is hard to beat

I like a nickeled six gun although they are a pain to clean!

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Stay safe people!

I really like nickel guns that have blue front sights. Why would a company put nickel front sights on a gun? Even with the red insert, they glare on a sunny day. Even with a nickel ramp base, they need to have a blue blade - IMHO.

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Dick

I didn't have nay nickel revolvers until 18 months ago and now I have many. I don't think there is any revolver as pretty and a mint niclel revolver.

A few of mine

Nickel is a favorite for me -- I love blued guns but if I have a choice these days I'll opt for nickel -- Of course if I have the option I just get both -- Can one have too many nice guns????

I like nickle. There is just something attractive about a the shiny finish. I have blue, nickle and hard chrome guns. Wish the nickle held up as well as hard chrome.

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The American dream is alive

I've only got one nickel gun, a Model 19-4. I like it, but it's not something I'd want a lot of.



Although, if I ran into another factory nickel gun at the right time, I wouldn't turn my nose up at it.

(Yea...Yea...I know. I've got the original S&W target grips that came on it. I just like the black/silver look on this particular gun)

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John 3:16 .

What's not to like.......

I always shied away from nickeled guns because it always seemed once the nickel started going you couldn't stop it and while a blued gun can age gracefully a gun with flaking nickel just looks bad.

Later I learned many nickeled guns that had bad nickel had been exposed to cleaners like Hoppes that are bad for nickel. Right now I am trying to get a cherry nickel Model 19 snub gun from my favorite pawnshop but the folks keep paying the interest on it.

The nickel on it is perfect and I think I could keep it that way and would like to give it a try.

Worn or damaged nickel looks worse than blued in the same condition. But when in good shape...










PS: I hate stainless. Practical, but looks cheap and ugly to my eye. I have two stainless guns. Both are working guns and both have been polished shiny.

Prefer blued to nickel, primarily because a worn blued finish looks a lot better to me than a nickel finish with even the slightest bit of wear on it.

Most of my S&W revolvers are blue but I do find nickled N-frames to be attractive !

Jerry

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.38/44 Outdoorsman Accumulator

I've long been a fan of blued Smith & Wessons and prefer it over all other finishes. The few nickel revolvers I've traded into always seemed to go away in favor of more blued models. I remember a particular Model 19 4-inch nickel gun I wish I'd kept along with an admittedly cruddy looking but original nickel Model of 1926 .44 Special 4-inch.

Worn blue guns look better than worn nickel guns.





Last year I did particularly seek out a nickel Model 57 and was rewarded in October with finding this nice example.


The stainless steel guns or those with alloy frames leave me cold and a single Model 642 is the only example around here.

Count me as one who likes the nickel finish.
Nothing is prettier than the shiney revolver...

29-2


586


29-2


29-2


twenty nine dash two's


...well you get the picture, I like nickel 44 magnums.

GF

Until 3 weeks ago I'd never owned a nickeled handgun. Then, I stumbled across a nickeled 19-3 snub at a gun show and brought her home. It is destined to be my primary carry piece. The guys at my range met my purchase with hoots of derision. That is, until they saw what it is capable of doing. Admittedly, the thing does look a tad gaudy, but who cares if it shoots as well as mine does (although I'm now thinking of also getting a 19 snub in blue)?

Btw, is it "nickel" or "nickle"? I see the term used both ways on this forum.

Mom always said "if you can't say anything nice...".

So I have no opinion on nickel guns.

I have few nickle S&Ws. The ones I have I do like but don't shoot. Seems to be a reason for that to me; something an experienced nickle friend could help fix with a little time. I don't have experience in cleaning them properly.

These are as nice as any blue guns in my collection. Low maintenance too!
Chuck

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SWCA1517 SWHF256
Rangers LTW!

have several, it just worked out that way for me. I think they look great. Here are a couple I have posted previously, a 13-2 and a 1905 4th change.

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It's "nickel", straight from the periodic table, but I make my share of typos and miss-spellings so anyone who typed "nickle" is forgiven.

Gil

In the beginning all I would buy was nickel. I wish all my Smiths were nickel.

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S&W Accumulator

I like nickel, but the blues have a rich finish which looks more classy, at least to me.

I like 'em in pairs..
29-2, 4" ported and 29-2, 4" non-ported

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SWCA #2306
DAV in honor of POP

I started out with semi-auto guns and then got hooked on revolvers, first stainless 686, then a blued 586, now I am mainly watching for nickle plated revolvers. I really like the finish and the way they shine. Latest one is a M19-3. Steve AKA kingcobra07

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I really like nickel and all of my Smiths except for my 25-5 are nickel. I keep thinking about sending it back to be changed, but it sure looks good and business like in blue.

I bought a nickel 29 way back when stainless was just a rumor.
It was my first and last nickel gun.
I have to admit that I have a certain fondness for it still because after shooting 3 out of 5 rams on the first rack at 200 yds, I then shot 5 out of 5 on the second rack.
Not too bad for a box stock Model 29 w/8-3/8" barrel and factory open sights (well, I did my part, too. )

I like blue as much as the next guy, but for guns I want to shoot a LOT, or carry, stainless makes so much more sense because there is no finish to worry about.

Nickel is tough, but it's still a "finish", so it can be scratched, and worse, it can start to rust from edges of wear areas.

Nowadays, if I want to buy a pistol that is manufactured in stainless, blue and nickel, then stainless is choice #1, not for the looks necessarily (but they ARE pretty), but for the easy upkeep. If stainless isn't available, then blue is my 2nd choice.
Nickel was a good way to improve the durability of a pistol's finish "way back when", but nowadays, to me, it's just gaudy bling. (And I say that as "my" opinion and in no way wish to detract from those who like the finish. It's just not a finish that "I" like that much.)

I don't own any nickel S&W's, all are blue or stainless. I would buy one if one of them fell in my lap but I don't seek them out.

Basically I can take or leave them. The only nickel S&W's I would go for are the older ones when nickel was actually a functional finish, say 1960's and prior. After stainless came out, nickel became obsolete IMO.

Forty years ago I used to reload for a friend who had a nickel plated revolver in .357 and he shot lead bullets over Unique all the time. That combination left a brownish haze on the cylinder and crane. He never did find anything that would remove it completely. He spent a lot of time trying to clean up that nickel finish. I have one stainless Smith (a 4-inch 686) but I have avoided nickel guns because I never wanted to deal with the staining issues that he struggled with. If my 686 gets a little hazy a few minutes with flitz metal polish brightens it right up.

Maybe there are better cleaning solvents available now for nickel guns but I would rather have a stainless gun if I want a bright look.

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Andy

I have always been a fan of a nickel finished gun. I did have a 4" model 29-2, however, as I got more and more wrapped up in different types of competitive shooting (steel plates, USPSA, IDPA, ICORE) I found that more and more of the guns I was buying were stainless. Continual drawing from a holster really beats up a nickel finished gun. When I stop competition shooting I fully expect to replace that nickel 29-2.

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I think a pristine nickel finish is the most attractive finish on a revolver, followed closely by a rich, polished blue finish. Having said that, most of my revolvers are stainless simply for the utility of it.

I had a pristine nickel 29-3 that I absolutely adored. Problem was, I adored it so much that I hardly ever shot it, never holstered it and would never consider taking it in the woods. Sold it and bought a 629 that I shoot, holster and hunt with all the time. I know the day will come that I really regret letting that 29 go.

My first .357 Mag was an 8 3/8" nickel Model 27. I wish I had never sold it. I thought those model 27/29s back in the 70's and 80's were the best looking revolvers I've ever seen, and that nickel seemed to clean up after shooting so well. However, I like stainless as a finish for a working gun, and blue as a close second. I always felt like that M27 was more of a showpiece, although I loved shooting it. Not sure I'd get the use out of it like my 619, but I still wish I'd kept it.

The closest thing I have is a polished 624.....I wish it was nickel.

I don't mind bright revolvers one bit.......

Well this simple topic certainly brought forth a lot of comments. Reading through it I notice a couple of things were not mentioned. First, a bright silver finish must be the worst choice for deer hunters because it is the opposite of camouflage and hand gun hunters need to get close to their game. Second, no one mentioned that nickeling was more common in black powder days when its rust protection was needed more.

Gil

I confess that I do tease a friend of mine, who has carried a Model 19 snubbie for more years than she will admit, about her "chrome-plated pimp killer." Except for an M&P in .32 WCF that was a Louisville PD gun in the Thirties, all my nickel revolvers are from the black powder era. It certainly shows its utility there. Iver Johnson, for one, nickel finish was standard while blue was a rare option. I wonder if the same rationale held for the New Departures and Centennials?

Nickel does not seem to age gracefully. Dull and solid is fine, but once they start flaking they might still be eminently shootable they look about as attractive as a mudpuppy with psoriasis!

Shiny or not, if the aforementioned lady friend should undertake to shoot at you in earnest, the best advice I have is be certain your affairs are in order.

Man, there's some nice hardware here. I prefer nickel since I was a New Orleans pimp in a prior life (Sorry General Patton). Here's a few.

I prefer blue'd the most, then nickel (polished, not brushed) and stainless last. I've got lot's of blue'd, no nickel and a couple stainless in the collection. My collection doesn't really exemplify my finish likes lol.

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~ S&WCA No.2159 ~

have (2) 38 nickle round butt, #J518899 and mod 37 nickle round butt # J273923. neevveerr see nickle airweights (alu frame) at shows or shops around here. comments &/or DOBs please.

I nickel guns are purdy.

I prefer mine stainless, then I don't have to worry about the finish wearing off. I don't own a nickel gun, but if I did, it would remain in the safe with my only blue gun, a 15-2 snubby. I bought these to shoot, not hide away in a darkened room.

my humble opinion is that minty nickel guns are things of beauty, BUT they pretty well have to be in 98%+ condition. they really start to look bad when they show some wear/peeling, and scratches, and crustaceousness. a blue gun with a bunch of wear sometimes has "character", but a nickel one can just look real ugly, real fast.

that being said, i think i would pay extra for a minty nickel gun over the same gun in blue. almost all nickel s&ws are more rare than their blue counterparts (some WAY more rare!), and there seems to be even less of them that have survived in pristine condition.