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S&W Revolvers: 1980 to the Present All NON-PINNED Barrels, the L-Frames, and the New Era Revolvers


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Old 02-19-2016, 01:38 PM
Bluesmoke9 Bluesmoke9 is offline
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Default Need Help With Odd Damage on a 19-5

I bought a very nice looking 19-5 from someone recently. When I looked really close, however, It appears the left side of the trigger guard was filed flat and blued over. It's just odd because if you were trying to hide damage you could've easily done a much better job. Or, is it possible that it came from S&W like this? Any opinions?

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Old 02-19-2016, 01:45 PM
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It would be from the early 80's? If so I would go with the former theory. If so be careful using Flitz, etc.
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Old 02-19-2016, 10:34 PM
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It is likely the gun came with a sharp edge on the trigger guard and a prior owner filed it flat to remove the sharpness and then cold blued it. He should have at least polished it with some 400 grit or finer Aloxite paper to remove the file marks. Sharp edges on trigger guards are very common, most people don't worry about them!

All you will accomplish with metal polishes is removing the blue, as it is.
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Old 02-19-2016, 11:05 PM
Bluesmoke9 Bluesmoke9 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alk8944 View Post
It is likely the gun came with a sharp edge on the trigger guard and a prior owner filed it flat to remove the sharpness and then cold blued it. He should have at least polished it with some 400 grit or finer Aloxite paper to remove the file marks. Sharp edges on trigger guards are very common, most people don't worry about them!

All you will accomplish with metal polishes is removing the blue, as it is.
I suppose that's as likely as anything else. Still an odd area of the gun to be concerned about. And the tapered ridge of a Smith trigger guard isn't exactly sharp. I may try to find a good gunsmith who can make it less noticeable and see if he can do it without rebluing the entire gun.
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Old 02-19-2016, 11:13 PM
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The damage might have come from a vise or fixture when the gun was being manufactured. It could also have been in a vise at a repair shop or from a previous owner.

There is really nothing that can be done to smooth the metal out without removal of bluing so you will have to just learn to ignore it - unless you have the entire gun re-blued which would hardly be worth while IMHO.

I have seen a few Smiths that had similar defects right out of the box - just so you know it's not impossible.
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Old 02-19-2016, 11:36 PM
Bluesmoke9 Bluesmoke9 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chief38 View Post
The damage might have come from a vise or fixture when the gun was being manufactured. It could also have been in a vise at a repair shop or from a previous owner.

There is really nothing that can be done to smooth the metal out without removal of bluing so you will have to just learn to ignore it - unless you have the entire gun re-blued which would hardly be worth while IMHO.

I have seen a few Smiths that had similar defects right out of the box - just so you know it's not impossible.
You're probably right about the cost, but I'm borderline OCD when it comes to stuff like this on a gun I may keep forever.
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Old 02-19-2016, 11:45 PM
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That kind of damage can be caused as well by a certain type of holster with a retaining clip.
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Old 02-19-2016, 11:55 PM
GerSan69 GerSan69 is offline
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Or a previous owner dinged it and decided to clean up the damage....
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Old 02-20-2016, 12:52 AM
Sergntmac Sergntmac is offline
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I own a Mod 66-1 with identical markings, but on both left and right sides of the gun, around the front and sides of the trigger guard.

I am the only owner of this gun. I bought it new directly from S&W (1980 I think) and it has a wider target trigger, wider than the trigger guard. I am RH, and I carried this gun in only two holsters, a Bill Jordan Border Patrol, and a Safariland 229, neither of which come in contact with this area of the gun. I have both holsters today.

My memory isn't clear about one point, but I am trying to recall. I also used a Safariland key chain. One so long, I would stuff my keys into my right rear pocket to keep them quiet, but they often came out and banged against my gun. I cannot establish that my frame marks (as stated, "like a file would leave") came from the keys but I thought it was worth a mention.

The same marks you show in your photo are on my gun, but I'm not that handy with a camera, sorry. Seems to me, the previous owner(s) of your gun tried to do a little body work, but should have left things alone.

The marks were present on the gun when I got it, just figured all these years that this was the way it came. Was no deal to me, it was going to (and did) see a lot more abuse than just that.

Hope this helps, y'all be safe.
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Old 02-20-2016, 04:40 AM
CO_Kid CO_Kid is offline
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Is the trigger guard thinned out at all? Bill jordan used to file down the trigger guard some for easier access for his fingers to the trigger. Its another possibility that someone tried to do that.
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Old 02-20-2016, 04:42 AM
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Bluesmoke9,

Welcome to the forum.

Photos can fool one, but that doesn't look like cold blue to me. And I've seen plenty of trigger guard edges just like that, tool marks not polished out and flat, un-tapered edges when new. Especially the newer guns in the 19-5 era. It's factory IMO.

Best solution is to look for an upgrade gun, then sell this one. Unless you're going to put wear on it; in that case, taper the trigger guard edge to match the other side then touch up with Nu Blue and a hairdryer. Or Oxpho Blue cream.

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Last edited by Hondo44; 02-20-2016 at 04:44 AM.
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Old 02-20-2016, 09:57 AM
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When I looked at the pictures, I thought factory.
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Old 02-20-2016, 10:45 AM
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I have no theory about your 19-5. I have a 15-6 1990 or so vintage with some obvious factory issues. The left side edge of the trigger guard is much thicker than the right side and thicker than any of my other Smiths. The end of the trigger is blunt instead of tapered. The right side of the of the top of the trigger has deep machining marks that were polished out on the rest of my revolvers. So things like that can come from the factory when the QC guy is on break or hung over.
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Old 02-20-2016, 12:13 PM
Bluesmoke9 Bluesmoke9 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hondo44 View Post
Bluesmoke9,

Welcome to the forum.

Photos can fool one, but that doesn't look like cold blue to me. And I've seen plenty of trigger guard edges just like that, tool marks not polished out and flat, un-tapered edges when new. Especially the newer guns in the 19-5 era. It's factory IMO.

Best solution is to look for an upgrade gun, then sell this one. Unless you're going to put wear on it; in that case, taper the trigger guard edge to match the other side then touch up with Nu Blue and a hairdryer. Or Oxpho Blue cream.

NU BLUE:
See products test here: Evaluation of several cold bluing products (w/pics) | Gunsmithing | 24hourcampfire
Buy Nu Blue here: Welcome to the Stock Doc Store
If it did come from the factory like that, any guess as to what S&W would say if I sent it back and wanted it fixed at their expense? I'm guessing they'd say, after thirty years, no, we don't have an obligation. I like your option of upgrading and selling this one, but I like the idea of learning something in the process.
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Old 02-20-2016, 12:17 PM
shawn mccarver shawn mccarver is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jmace57 View Post
That kind of damage can be caused as well by a certain type of holster with a retaining clip.
I am interested in knowing to what holster you refer.
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Old 02-20-2016, 12:19 PM
shawn mccarver shawn mccarver is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CO_Kid View Post
Is the trigger guard thinned out at all? Bill jordan used to file down the trigger guard some for easier access for his fingers to the trigger. Its another possibility that someone tried to do that.
Wrong side of the trigger guard for that, unless the prior user was a lefty. That said, not near enough material missing to be that modification.
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Old 02-20-2016, 08:51 PM
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I got it... time for a Fitz conversion...
sorry can't help myself sometimes
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Old 02-20-2016, 09:16 PM
Hondo44 Hondo44 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluesmoke9 View Post
If it did come from the factory like that, any guess as to what S&W would say if I sent it back and wanted it fixed at their expense? I'm guessing they'd say, after thirty years, no, we don't have an obligation. I like your option of upgrading and selling this one, but I like the idea of learning something in the process.
That's a good question. We'll only know if you call and ask.

If they do accept it for repair, the repair may look better, the entire gun will be re-blued, and will the refinish look as good as the present bluing?
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Old 02-20-2016, 09:20 PM
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The lifetime warranty does not transfer correct? Only with the original owner?
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Old 02-20-2016, 09:55 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by robvious View Post
I got it... time for a Fitz conversion...
sorry can't help myself sometimes
No...no...no...
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Old 02-20-2016, 10:09 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by robvious View Post
I got it... time for a Fitz conversion...
sorry can't help myself sometimes
Dude! Are you NUTS?!?!

That'd be like getting a pimple and deciding to cut your nose off as the way to get rid of it.

Last edited by BC38; 02-20-2016 at 10:25 PM.
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Old 02-20-2016, 10:20 PM
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It doesn't look that bad to me at all. I could polish that out by hand and you'd never know without a magnifying glass. Those isolated thin edges are very easy to deal with.
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Old 02-21-2016, 01:29 AM
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Look the gun over before you buy it. Seems like a good plan to me.
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Old 02-21-2016, 04:27 PM
Bluesmoke9 Bluesmoke9 is offline
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Quote:
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Look the gun over before you buy it. Seems like a good plan to me.
Very helpful, I'd never thought of that.
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Old 02-21-2016, 04:47 PM
JAK1019 JAK1019 is offline
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I'm the original owner of a 19-5 and there are a few rough edges here and there. Never bothered me as it's not a show gun. It's a very well made and functional revolver.
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Old 02-21-2016, 05:02 PM
Bluesmoke9 Bluesmoke9 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JAK1019 View Post
I'm the original owner of a 19-5 and there are a few rough edges here and there. Never bothered me as it's not a show gun. It's a very well made and functional revolver.
I've got shooters, but I'm toying with the idea of having a very nice set of 19's, a 6" target model, a 4" and a 2 and 1/2" all to display if I wanted. That's what I was thinking with this one.
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Old 02-21-2016, 07:19 PM
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If it shot good I would forget about cosmetics in a heartbeat.
Jim
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