I have a 4-screw 15, in need of a refinish.

There's lots of options.

Cerakote
Tian
Tialn
PVD
Isobond
Tefferin/Melonite
Good ole' Rebluing
Infinicoat
Diamond-Like Carbon
Hard Chrome
Parkerizing
Ion Bond
Rust-O-Leum
Sherwin Williams and a 4" brush

...and on and on.

Nothing looks worse than seeing nickle plating flaking off a revolver or bare metal showing through a parkerized gun, so I don't want to pick something that will wear out.

What works best on a Smith and lasts longest on a Smith revolver?

Sorry, but a classic like that just cries out for an original
refinish. Blue or nickle.

I know the new coatings are tough stuff...but just wrong on that piece.

__________________
Take your time..quickly.

How about the: Leave IT Alone refinish?

I don't like guns in the white.

Ford's new Black Nickel finish would be a knock-out on your 15, and should hold ip very well

Personally if it were mine, it would be on its way "back home" for the refinishing job. Smith still does fairly nice work (even though the bluing process has changes a bit over the years), and while their bluing will not hold up quite as well as some of the more modern high tech jobs, the trade off is that it will look GREAT! Just MHO of course.

Chief38

The last time I sent a revolver back to the factory, they ruined it. The gun had a broken trigger stud (Model 30) so they had to re blue it after the repair. They polished half the rollmarks off the barrel, polished one side of the barrel flat, left uneven polishing marks on the sideplate and wore off most of the S&W logo. The gun was about 99% when I sent it for repair, almost NIB. When it was returned to me I was furious. It's the only revolver I have ever sold at a loss. This was just a few, maybe 3 or 4 years ago. I didn't realize at the time, that Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder were doing the refinishing at S&W. Maybe it was just my bad luck, but I recommend Ford's for a reblue, their work has been excellent in my experience. I vowed to never return a gun to S&W for repair or purchase any new S&W products. I would offer more disparaging remarks, but good taste prevents me from doing so.

Cheers;
Lefty

Having your gun reblued is the answer and if you take care of your gun it will hold up. Don

__________________
"Don't worry be happy"

Dang, Lefty! Seems like you feel strongly about it!

Well I vote hard chrome. Tough finish, very tough. Looks good. Collector value is already gone, so we are talking about a working gun. Nothing wrong with that. Have at it!

Unless you are planning on beating the tar out of it and never taking care of it then bluing is still a decent option. If you are needing the corrosion protection for daily wear then hard chrome finished guns still look just about as new as the day the finish was applied. A paint on or bake on finish would also work but just look plain odd on a Combat Masterpiece...

Arlo;

What made it much more disappointing, the gun was a 30th. Wedding Anniversary gift.

Cheers;
Lefty