I'm almost afraid to wade into this! This gun, as several have said, is so typical of refinished cop guns that were nearly a dime a dozen in the late-70s and early-80s that it seems the chances of it being even a mismarked specimen are small. But there is another possibility that I have not seen mentioned. The gun very easily could be a combination of both stainless and carbon steel parts. For example, could not the frame indeed be a 19-3 that has been hard chromed, and have a later stainless cylinder, or any combination of parts? (We see it appears to have flash chromed hammer and trigger.)

If it was serviced by a department armorer who was either working with what he had, or responding to the requests of the individual officer, this is another possibility. I seem to recall seeing several 19s that had had 66 cylinders installed by local armorers, but I am to the place where I do not trust my "memory" like I used to.

It is going to be hard to get to the bottom of this without someone knowledgeable having the revolver in-hand, who can inspect it. Maybe Mr. Jinks was thinking of this when he said a letter might not be much help, and he may have been too much of a gentleman to say it.

To me, the fact that the parts appear to have been marked, as would be typical for an after-market plating job, indicate there is little doubt the gun has been refinished. All a letter will state is what the records show the gun once was, when it left the factory. Again, as others have said, in spite of that, STILL a nice and useful revolver.