Good evening,
I see that this forum has a lot of questions, but that it also has a LOT of educated responses.
I just joined the S&W family today with a 19-3 6" Combat Magnum purchase. I've never owned a revolver before (but am not new to firearms at all), so I did a thorough bit of research on how to evaluate the condition of the piece. Everything is excellent, from overall condition, to timing, to trigger pull (in fact, it has a trigger job that makes DA feel just as slick as SA.

The question:

Only one thing bugs me about this revolver....the finish is scratched in a couple of places, with obvious holster wear. It is the original factory deep blued finish that looks freakin awesome, so I don't imagine "touching up" the bluing with a DYI brush will do the trick....

Is there a way to remove all of the bluing, and POLISH the firearm? Would you recommend sending it somewhere to be re-blued?

Since I live in California and have to wait 10 days to "cool down" before picking this bad boy up, and don't have any GREAT pictures here is a pic from the original owner. You can't tell that it has said wear, but it is there.



Question two;

The serial number is 2k 3XXX....how old would this be?

Thanks to all for the input, in advance.

BB

Welcome to the forum. You have purchased one of S&W's all time classic revolvers. You really are going to enjoy shooting it, and with those little scratches, you may not be apprehensive about carrying it in a nice leather holster on hikes etc.

I would leave the finish as is. Try to "get over" the blemishes (so it has some stories to tell, cool) and appreciate the extremely high quality polish and bluing that S&W is known for. To replicate this finish would be a very costly endeavor (and you run the risk of softening the roll marks and edges) and you may be better off searching for another 19 in higher condition.

Congrats on ownership of the great 19, I have one myself that I will never sell.

I totally agree with bigmoose on ownership. My 19-3 is the finest shooting handgun I own. Your pistol was manufactured in 1970 according to the information you provided.

I agree also. If you want it to look like new find one that is. Shoot this one and take care of it the way it is.

Thanks to all for the replies! I am absolutely stoked that this is my first revolver, and you're right....I'll keep it the way it is!

I live in CA so hiking with a gun is just as illegal as driving drunk. Gotta love that logic.
Oh, but our illegals are legal .

Cheers!

BB

Sorry for the double post, but I was wondering if there was a way to incorporate glow/fiber sights onto the model 19-3? I've been doing some research on the issue but haven't come up with anything feasible.

Would applying abrasion on the front sight post, masking off, and spraying with high visibility metal paint solve this?
I don't have any qualms with going stock irons, just wondering if there are alternatives.

ie. What is THAT glowing thing on the FSP?

Reflective tape?

Thanks in advance,

BB

That is what is known as a red ramp front sight.

Nice 19, I sure love my 19-3, holster wear and all. You might get some glow paint, as some do, to touch that front sight with. I got some at a gun show and don't recall the brand name, but it did glow pretty well.
Enjoy your new 19, Marine. Thanks for your service.

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Halfway and one more step

BB
I wouldn't do anything with the front sight. After a while you will decide you like the RR that came with your revolver. If the rear blade does not have a white outline, you can replace it easily enough without any harm to the revolver, and it will improve the sight picture quite a bit. I find that combination to be quite satisfactory.
As others have said in this thread, the Model 19-3 is a very fine revolver just as it comes from the factory. For shooting, it is one of my favorite guns. I have had several over the years and am likely to add more as time goes by. Here is a photo of two of my current 19-3 Combat Magnums. Both are among the best shooting handguns I own.
Jack

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Every time I read something like this, I give thanks to God that I left So. Cal. for good in 1969. I went to 'Nam, moved to Oregon after I came back and then, 10 years later, moved to Alaska. No amount of money could induce me to move back.

I'm sorry for your situation. California could be a wonderful place again if all the wackos would bug out.

Jack

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

You were smart. I have too many friends and family members in CA to leave, but I think that once all of the free goodies stop coming due to state bankruptcy, we'll notice a decrease in pandering as well. Cheers!

Excellent looking firearms you have there! Which white outline are you talking about? Product: .146 White Outline Rear Sight Blade Kit Something like that? If so, I think spending $11 on something from S&W is far better than trying to bubba my 'new' m-19-3. Thanks for the feedback!

Thank you for the tax-payer money . Just kidding, thanks for the recognition.
I'll consider that option for sure thanks for the feedback.

That's what I had in mind, yes.
Jack

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

I know this wasn't directed to me because I didn't say anything about your service, but I do thank you too. Appreciation from a fellow vet.

You show LA as your current residence. Does that mean you are out now? Or are you stationed at Camp Pendleton - which is an hour or so south of LA? When I was a kid, we used to surf Torrey Pines, not too far from the base. It was good winter surf.
Jack

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Live there now. Grew up in L.A. and will probably die here too haha! Camp Pen is a great place and I miss it AND the surf! Cheers and thank you for your service as well.

I was born in Burbank and spent my first 9 years in Alhambra. Then we moved to El Cajon (east of San Diego) and that is where I graduated from high school (and met my wife). Attended San Diego State for one year and then went into the service, ending up in SE Asia for 24 months. Finished college in Oregon on the GI Bill.
My folks left California in 1979, when Dad took early retirement. My brother lived there until about a dozen years ago. My wife's folks lived in El Cajon until they died. We have little reason to even visit now, so we don't. I still have a cousin in Escondido, but haven't seen him in years.
Jack

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Well I live in Glendale and am picking up an AR lower in Burbank on Monday! There is still a strong gun culture here, which I believe is actually growing. It is great news considering I don't have anywhere to run to, and despite the horrors of living in CA, it is either stand or die in my opinion.

Cheers,

BB

My grandfather built his first and only house on Burbank Blvd in 1921, the year before my father was born. Burbank Blvd was just a cow path at that time (actually a one-track wagon road). Grandfather was still living there when he passed away in 1970.

The house is just a block east of Lankershim Blvd and is still standing. It is now the House of Plants and has a white metal fence in front of it. It is just east of the Valley Martial Arts Center. The Martial Arts Center was originally a furniture store, called Abner's. A guy named Jeff owned the business, but the building belonged to my grandfather. I'm not sure when it was built, but it was a going concern as far back as I can remember. When I was about 5 or 6 years old, they built an extension on the back which added about 1/3 more space inside the store. I remember watching them tar the new roof.

There are two lots between Grandfather's house and Elmer St., and there is now a liquor store on the SE corner of Elmer and Burbank.

That house was directly under the approach to Burbank airport and I remember many times as a child seeing aircraft go over me while playing in the back yard. My dad, when he was a boy, was so entranced by planes flying over that he built himself a make-shift cockpit in the back yard and taught himself to "fly." He must have done a pretty good job, because after Pearl Harbor was hit, he left UCLA and enlisted in the Air Corps. He ended up as a fighter pilot and flew P-38s in combat in the ETO. Got shot down after D-Day and spent 9 months as a POW. He had nearly a thousand hours in fighters by the end of the war.

You've brought back a lot of memories with this conversation. Thanks.

Jack

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318