I have a blued 6" M29-2. I took it in trade when I sold one of the 1911s I have. Inside the store the bluing on the frame and barrel looked the same. Outside or under a stronger light source you call tell the barrel has a rose color tint unlike the frame.
I contacted S&W and was told this is not common, but it does happen since the two pieces are blued separately. They blamed varying steels used in the barrels and differences in the temperature of the bluing media during the bluing process.

Except for this issue the gun is darn near perfect. The gun is a P/R model and it has the three T's. It also came with a presentation case.
What negative effect, if any will this two toned bluing have on the resale value of the M29?

P.S. - to be honest with you, the rose colored bluing on the barrel is pretty. Too bad the whole gun wasn't rose colored.
JD

I have seen purple loading gates on early Blackhawks, they can be nice looking.
Have never seen rose color on a Smith. but I would like to!
We need pictures!

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

I have seen a few 29s with rose or pinkish colored barrels and or cylinders. Many collectors shy away from them, but it is a natural variation of the bluing process. I have seen an explanation of why this occurs, but don't remember the details.

Bill

My best friend had a gun shop in the early 1970's.
We saw some blued S&W's right out of the box with plum colored cylinders. It seems to stick in my mind that a lot of them were Model 28's.

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John

I have a 4" Model 28 with a purple barrel and a Colt Series 70 Government Model with a purple thumb safety. It's no big deal as it's the way they came from the factory.

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AL
Pax Per Potens

Just a bit of levity, ask Hondo, we both grow roses and they are beautiful.
Guys, do not jump on this and smack me. Its a little humor. We all need a little giggle with the state of affairs. It comes down to the steel that was used and the way it reacted with the bluing process. I and Im sure we all have a few that are out of color. Look in the safe. Best to all, Mike 2796

I've seen it several times. Often the barrel looks more plum colored then the rest of the gun and on a few occasions the cylinder. I have seen 1911 slides that were very plum colored.

I have tried to get photos of the gun. I can't seem to get any that clearly show the change in color. The color differential is only an irritation to the eye. The gun is very accurate and fun to shoot.
I have $700 invested in the gun. I assume the price of this gun will only increase over time even with the rose colored barrel.

The other side of this coin is a blued 4" M29 I recently bought from an old fellow who was going into an assisted living village. This M29-2 may have only been shot during factory testing. Two local gun smiths have scoped the barrel and the cylinder and have found none of the typical signs of usage. The gun was in the original box with the original paperwork and tools. The plastic tool pouch is still sealed.
There are no scratches on this gun. Not even a turn line from people cycling the hammer/cylinder with the gun unloaded.
This one I will be choosy about when it comes time for it to move on to another home. I paid $895 for this M29. This is a "collector's gun", so I expect it will bring quite a sum on Gunbroker.

If the salts are too hot, the metal will turn red. Variations in the metal can also show a bit different color.

I called Les Baer when one of my guns from him had a slide that turned "Plum". He told me that it was simply a variation in the steel (between the slide and frame) that caused one or the other to become plum colored.

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Terry
SWCA, SWHS, IWLA, NRA

Here is my Springfied 1911............

It happens and I don't know that anything can be done about it.

It's usually the result of the bluing bath being the wrong temperature. It could possibly also relate to some contamination of the bath. Anyway, it is some defect in the bluing process. While I don't believe it has anything to do with the steel alloy in this situation, back in the mid-1960s, Winchester used some different alloy for receivers in their Model 94 carbines. Most of those M94 receivers had a plummy color completely unlike the blue of the barrels, and the bluing deteriorated rapidly. It didn't do much for the reputation of the M94, which was already tarnished by the prostitution of the entire Winchester product line around that time.

I had always thought if they were plum colored it was because they were a cast part and not turned/milled from steel bar stock but were injected molded. Jeff

Some Dan Wesson revolvers turn purple or rose over time. It is called "Barney" by DW collectors. Some people like it- others hate it. No accounting for taste. I have only one DW (1986 or so build), and it is all blue. None of my S&Ws have any issues with bluing turning to purple. The oldest of these was '57 production but a 1975 factory refinish. My oldest production S&W was made in 1972.

I have a 1975 vintage colt trooper III in 357 magnum. And definitely has a plum colored cylinder. The spare cylinder and barrel I have for it both the barrel and the cylinder are the same color. Frank

Colt Revolver cylinder latches are pretty notorious for turning a plum color.

I had a Caspian come out plum. It aged to a bronze shade. The bluer offered to do it over and got it nice and blue-black but I now wish I had left it bronze.

I was discussing this with a guy at a LGS. He claims this can happen if the gun gets shot so frequently that the barrel overheats and "burns" the bluing.
In my younger days, I have shot firearms until they got so hot you couldn't touch the barrel. I never saw this happen. None were S&W products though.
There is a well know fellow not far from Dallas who does specialty bluing on various types of firearms. He says he never has the plum color problem because he blues all of the gun pieces at the same time. He believes the problem arises from varying sources and temperatures.
Has anyone ever experienced a barrel changing color from being shot until it gets too hot. I know it is damaging to the barrel.

The answer is no. I have shot 44 Magnums until you cannot touch the barrel and there was no change in color. Also, when your revolver was made, S&W blued barrels in batches, cylinders in batches, etc. This can account for minor variations in color.

Cast pieces with silicon content tend to be far more prone to "purple" then forged parts.

I have a WWII German P-38 (Mauser, 1944) which has a plummy frame, but the slide and barrel bluing is fine. I have always attributed it to wartime lack of quality control. I rather like it that way.

FXNTIME, it looks like your 1911 may be a little optimistic.
I think we need to go back into that region with a vengeance and move considerably more sand this time. But that is just an old Vietnam Era vet thinking out loud.

That's not mine, I tend more to these old fella's back in the day when "I surrender" meant something.

[IMG][/IMG]

Lots of good info above and also a few "stories & tales" the factory told you correctly in the beginning, seems like ONLY Ruger collectors value and love the "plum" (rose?) color...everyone else it is a matter of the steel material, its hardness ( why it is seen more often in small parts) and in the case of Rugers, its the casting "mix" of the 'batch'...in most others, especially in the case of any reblued guns, the process was wrong, mainly in time & temperature.yes, we have seen a few of the -2 guns of S&W and the change from 6 1/2 in barrels to the 6 inch ones, maybe they were in a hurry?? or did something wrong, we'll NEVER know, but the gun coming "new" as you note, is just fine and still collectible and I can guarantee some future buyer, will make comments as to the whys & wherefores of the different color, nature of the beast of "buy/sell", but you gun is RIGHT, so keep it for what it is or sell it, if YOU are not happy with it, its YOUR call...to me, the "package" makes it worthwhile. Just my .02 cents....

PS, for a decent picture of the color difference try natural sunlight ( daylight) out of the direct glare.

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dan
NRA Benefactor,PMA

fxntime you last photo brings back old memories. I was my company's armorer while I was in the Army. I had about 10 of those old Colts to tend to. I spent many an hour taking them apart and putting them back together. My arms room was in the basement of our headquarters building. We had a Command Sargent Major who was from Waco, Texas. I am from Texas. We became good friends. Once or twice a month he would come down to the arms room and tell me to load up a few 1911s and we would head to the range for a afternoon of shooting. I quickly learned that rank does have its privileges.