& why would anyone do this? or does the gun come that way?

it looks butt ugly to me...what am i missing?

thanx,
trailblazer

Don't look





The horror!




Careful now.

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Sure you did

Case colored finish comes with surface hardening, traditional back in the early days. It was left exposed to show the contact surfaces were hardened & thus would stand up to use. Modern metalurgy kind of makes this unnecessary but tradition is comforting to some of us.
Some whole recievers are/were case hardened.

Google "case hardening".

In the old days when blacksmiths hand forged knives, if they were made from an old file, as they often were, a hint of the teeth was left to prove the metal it was made of. My favorite re-eacting knife (fondly refered to as BFK) was blacksmith made from a large farriers rasp. (BFK = Big Friggin Knife)
Russ

True case hardening invloves heating and quenching the object to add carbon to the surface of the metal. The mixture of bone, charcoal, leather, etc that is used in the heating process can determine the extent of the colors. Some recipes produce colors that are beautiful as well as functional.

Some parts aren't actually casehardened. They just have dyes applied to a clear finish.

There is 'nothing' more sexy (in the gun world) than a Colt saa. b/c with ivory. That .45 is gorgous. I have the same set up in .44 spec.

They're pretty!

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"I also cook."

There's case hardening. Then, there is color case hardening. And lastly there is "Color case finishing".

The first two are the same in that both produce a hard surface on a softer steel part. This is useful in that it can greatly increase the wear-resistance of the part's surface, while stilll preserving the strength of the softer core. S&W hammers and triggers (the old style) are a prime example of this -- the surface is hard for wear-resistance, the core soft for strength. Hardening all the way through would make it brittle. Color casehardening technique leaves a surface showing swirling color patterns that are beautiful to many, me included. Plain ol' casehardening usually leaves a plain gray finish harder than the hinges of Hades.

"Color case finishing" doesn't harden the part. Several different techniques can be used to create it, but all are strictly cosmetic, designed to give a gun that "old-timey" look without the fuss, bother, and cost of the real deal.

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Pisgah

The case coloring was done for Smith&Wesson by Turnbull Restoration, Bloomfield, New York. If you check your grip frame under the grips, you will find a small DT stamped on it. That is (Doug)Turnbulls mark. Doug's shop is about a 25 minute drive from where I live. I sure you all have heard and read about the work preformed there. I have had some custom work done there and they do outstanding work.

My understanding is that Smith case hardens some of its Classic models. Ruger, by contrast, case colors some of its New Vaquero models. The case hardening looks better and it has more than a cosmetic function. I've seen a few of the case hardened classics in person and they're sexy guns. I wouldn't mind owning one.

Fairport? i'm originally from rochester & will be returning there over x-mas.

where is his shop & is it just a shop or is there something to see?..displays, guns for sale etc?

i did a google search & see it's on 5&20...is it worth a trip to visit?

trailblazer

I just bought an S&W classic case hardened. Anything special I need to think about as far as cleaning or will the standard Hoppes and oil do the trick?

It is a US Firearms, not a Colt, but that is real ivory and it is .44 Special. I may be biased, but I think it is a darn pretty gun.

Very nice combo with the ivory and color case. I've never seen real ivory next to the bonded polymer stuff - is it pretty noticeably different? In other words, is it worth the money?

Yes.
&
Yes.

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

Hah, that was a quick response.