29-3 in stainless?

W.E.G. · May 7, 2025

I just acquired a 29-3 in what genuinely appears to be stainless.

Anyone else ever encounter a stainless 29-3?

It has some light pitting on one side of the frame where I guess something caustic found its way under the squishy HOGUE grip. Pic shows some residual rubber-schmootz on the pitting. This was from the sellers ad. The schmootz cleaned off, but there is still a crescent of pitting which is harmless to the function of the gun.

Doesn’t look like any sort of plating or paint. Just normal unmolested (but for the pitting crescent) Smith and Wesson stainless.

Tom S. · May 7, 2025

95% sure that has been plated.

LittleAugieMo · May 7, 2025

Guessing "Hard chrome"

gnappi · May 7, 2025

LittleAugieMo said:
Guessing "Hard chrome"

+1

ken158 · May 7, 2025

Easy to tell from the pics that is a hard chrome finish and kinda looks like Armoloy.

65Whelen · May 7, 2025

LittleAugieMo said:
Guessing "Hard chrome"

My first thought also, hard Chrome.

BoulderTroll · May 7, 2025

From the discoloration up near the front sight, my guess was going to be that it's just a carbon steel gun in the white, that someone removed all the bluing from.

WR Moore · May 7, 2025

I've got a 29-2 that I had Armoloyed. While it's hard to tell from a picture, the color isn't quite right. A quick touch of a good cold blue under the grips would show if it's plated or stripped. Also, the Armoloy wouldn't pit-unless whatever got in there was really strong.

swagmeister · May 7, 2025

Armoloy, Metalife, or Nitex. Never heard of a 29 in stainless.

Bald1 · May 7, 2025

Maybe they just forgot the 6

22hipower · May 7, 2025

I'll go along with the hard chrome assessment. If so, that is a very good finish, one I wonder why S&W didn't use as a factory option. It is often mistaken for stainless or "brushed nickel." Here's a 25-5 with it.

Jeff
SWCA #1457

ken158 · May 7, 2025

BoulderTroll said:
From the discoloration up near the front sight, my guess was going to be that it's just a carbon steel gun in the white, that someone removed all the bluing from.

I had a 57 blue that was a sent to SS Metalife and it came back with the black outline around the front sight insert exactly like the OP picture.

stansdds · May 7, 2025

It's not stainless, but hard chrome and several other plating materials do look a lot like stainless.

W.E.G. · May 7, 2025

W.E.G. · May 7, 2025

Baxter6551 · May 7, 2025

Here is my 29-3 Hard Chrome which I was told was done by Metalife. But it could have also been done by MagnaPort when it was getting ported.

Firearm Plating -Mahovsky's Metalife

Mahovsky's Metalife offers firearm plating, with four different plating options. We can create a one of a kind personalized piece for you! Visit our website for more information.

www.mahovskysmetalife.com

hkcavalier · May 7, 2025

Chromed over the damage maybe? I have a couple of hard chromed S&Ws and they have the same look.

MAUSER888 · May 8, 2025

BoulderTroll said:
From the discoloration up near the front sight, my guess was going to be that it's just a carbon steel gun in the white, that someone removed all the bluing from.

That was my first thought too.

unspellable · May 8, 2025

I have a model 19 that every body thought was stainless. In the end it proved to be chrome plated.

Barbarosa99 · May 8, 2025

Back in the day when 629’s were scarce some guys had 29’s hard chromed and passed them off as 629’s and sold them for close to $1,000 in the early 80’s

29-3 in stainless?

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