Hi eveyone !

A friend of mine sent me this picture. He's about to buy this strange 629 : copper blue finish, no red insert, the angles of the front of the cylinder are cut, tapered barrel...

Did anyone ever hear about such a model ? I dont know yet the version or serial number...

I'm wondering if it is no a joke from my friend...

I think you can throw out that "copper blue" finish, White Balance in the image he set you is WAY off. As for the particulars, my first thought was "Mountain Gun". Looking at my SCS&W it appears that the model 29 was released in a "Mountain Gun" in this configuration, so my first impression seems correct. However, there was also a model 29 in this configuration released to members of the S&W Collectors Association as a 25th anniversary special. To determine which your friend has, the 25th anniversary guns had an engraved sideplate, so a look at the right side is essential and so is the serial number. What is odd is that the Mountain guns should have the new style cylinder release and be equipped with the Lock. That leaves either the S&WCA special or a distributors special feature model. However, I can't tolerate the recoil of a 44 Magnum so only have a passing interest in the model 29, so I am no expert. Looking through my chapter on the 29, tapered barrels are quite rare until the recent mountain gun. IMO, having it lettered may be in order.

I find the increased inertia of the heavy barrels now so popular to be an impediment in rapid fire and back when revolvers were the primary choice for a defensive weapon, tapered barrels were the norm, not an exception. If my wrists could take the hit of the 44 Magnum, that particular model 29 would be my first choice. So, if your friend is looking to sell, and you can take the recoil, it may be a good idea to think about buying it. IMO, what you are looking at is probably the ideal 44 Magnum, light enough to carry all day and distinctly "nimble" in the hand with a sight radius long enough for practical accuracy out to 25 yards. Loaded with 44 spl. it'll also be a great choice for bowling pin matches.

As for price, condition looks to be great in that rather poor pic. However, I don't know enough about the model 29 to even make a guess.

Thanks for the quick replay ! But the white balance is not way off, he assures me that the gun is really "black-red". It seems to be a 629-2, he told me, and the serial number is BDY9XXX (1989 in my SWSC).

Look at this picture :

I would suspect a re-finish that resulted in something similar to the "plum" coloration seen in some factory frames from the 70s-80s era (that this gun looks to be from). Especially since the hammer and trigger appear to be ?flash chromed? or something other than color case hardened. If it is indeed a 629, rather than a 29, then maybe this the result of trying to 'blue' stainless steel? or some other dark finish applied to SS.

As scooter mentions, the Mtn. Gun is about all that would fit with the tapered barrel (unless someone tried to make their own Mtn gun by re-barreling; thus the refinish). I seem to recall a late 80s or early 90s Mtn Gun that came in blue???, but it's not the newer Mtn Gun, and I don't think it's SWCA either.

Agree with scooter123, the SCSW lists a 629-2 Mountain Revolver, 4" lightweight barrel, chamfered cylinder (I think this means rounded front edges), RB. 5000 made in 1989, which fits the SN.

How it got blue-copper colored is anyone's guess - maybe too much time in a tanning bed .

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

IMO, now that you've posted a much better image, what you have is a 629 Mountain Gun that someone really butchered with a very ugly refinish. BAsed on the crispness of the roll marks on the barrel and frame, I would suspect it was some type of vapor deposition process. Most likely one of the low temperature processes was used in order to preserve any heat treating. What particular process will produce this color I can't say, the only ones that I have direct familiarity with are Titanium Nitride, which produces a gold color normally and Titanium Carbide which is a sort of slate gray color. However, I do know that when Titanium Nitride is contaminated by certain chemicals it will produce a distinct color shift with an accompanying degradation in it's wear resistance. So, it's possible that this color is due to a variant of Titanium Nitride.

Good news is that it's probably possible to restore the gun to it's original finish in most areas. It will require hand sanding the gun with a proper grade of Wet or Dry (600 grit to start and 1000 to finish) and care will have to be taken to not round off the roll stamps or screw recesses. However, the roll stamps and recesses for the screws will probably have to be left as it is right now. Might make for an interesting look with the contrasting color scheme. The biggest challenge will be to preserve the S%W logo, they aren't stamped as deep as the roll stamps and it will take a lot of careful handwork under magnification to keep it looking somewhat factory.

As for value, I personally wouldn't give a plugged nickle for a gun this ugly. However, if you find someone who likes this look it might be a 600 dollar gun.

Thanks for the details, Scooter. Actually, my friend is going to buy this gun. He's living in Switzerland and was wondering if it was original. I told him it was not, but he doesn't seem to care much about it. He likes it the way it is, so I assume he's gonna keep it as it is ... It's a bit expensive here (~$1000) but as we say here, when you love, you never count

Anyway, thanks for your advice !

Looks like the Mtn. Gun could use some TLC. Bead blasting may fix the finish issue.

Well tastes do vary, so if he likes that look he should pick it up. One plus if it is a vapor deposited finish is that it will be very wear resistant. Both Titanium Nitride and Titainium Carbide produce a very thin layer of an extremely wear resistant ceramic. I've used these processes for years on swaging tools for fabricating steel tubing and they only fail when the softer substate breaks down and the coating then fractures.

This is my friends 10-7 he refinished it with blue wonder stuff and now it has that copper tone to it.

If it is a 629-2 then it is a "Mountain Revolver" not a "Mountain Gun". This is the first iteration of the style that would become the Mountain Gun in several calibers about 5 years later.


Why the odd color? I would suspect that for whatever reason a prior owner attempted to put a Nitrate blue on it, which doesn't work real well on stainless steel. While the "blue" should be able to be removed with any of several bluing removers there would still be a finish issue. The Mountain Revolver was finished in a fine glass bead matte which is different than most more recent glass bead finishes. It looks more like what is known as a "Vapor Hone".

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Gunsmithing since 1961

Whatever the finish is.........it looks bad!

Ugh

Way to necro an 8 year old thread.

Mods please lock