Hello All: My 586 no dash has this mark on the butt frame. It looks like two N stamps, crossed. Does this mean that this could have been nickle? I bought it ANIB so its not been stripped. Thanks, ezb

Hi, several of my revolvers both blue and nickle have the same marks. I believe they are inspector marks. If you open the cylinder and look at the side you load, you will find a letter or number some where on the cylinder as well.

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M.J.Hanna

In ranching terms that would be referred to as a "vent brand". When an animal was sold, a second, inverted, brand would be placed on the animal to signify that the original brand no longer identified the owner.

The N S&W used was to signify to the finishing job that this frame was to be Nickeled. In this case it looks like the lead man who was designating finish had stamped one more that wanted as Nickel and so he overstamped the N with the crosswise N to "vent", or nullify, it.

If the gun had been factory re-finished from Nickel to blue it would have a refinish mark applied, not the vent stamp. If an after-market refinisher had done the work they wouldn't have worried about venting the mark, especially since it appears the same stamp was used. In other words, it was a woops.

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Gunsmithing since 1961

I like that "vent" explanation. Was there a difference in polishing on frames that would be blued? Does nickle hide more tool marks?