I picked this Heavy Duty up a while back. It is beautiful, looks new and the action is tighter than Dick's hat band. All numbers match except the grips it came with. I am curious about the S&W stamp. I guess it was reblued and restamped because it is on the wrong side isn't it? I kind of like the plum colored cylinder. Is it plum because of the reblue?

I have the exact same HD of about the same period (late 53-early 54), and it has the S&W logo on the sideplate. I'd say yours has been re-blued and re-stamped, although I can't speculate about how the logo was removed from the sideplate on yours. The bluing salts bath, when not held at the correct temperature, can result a plummy cast to the bluing.

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Yes, that's the general rule. But the gun sure looks crisp and clear to me, so I'm not sure. Some premium grade refinishers (about 1 in a thousand) either recut the roll markings or spend a lot of time trying to keep them nice. I'll advance the theory that there exists some exlamples that no one can really tell. When we look at a gun, all we're really doing is expressing opinions. Those are fairly worthless unless we have the gun in our hand.

Plum color is generally thought to be a function of the bluing chemicals. Either their strength or temperature, how long they stay in the bath, and then the metal. Different alloys react in different ways, and how its heat treated. In the past we could pretty much rely on the entire gun going into the same "refinishing" chemicals and remaining for the same time and at the same temperatures. It was that way because it was just cheaper to do it like that. There are also artists in the field who knew how to change the things he had control over to alter the results. Most of us just assume a plumb color on one part was the result of the different heat treating that part received.

We really don't know if or why it might have been worked on. Or when the color turned red. Most of us would guess a picky owner wasn't happy about it looking bad so he sent it somewhere for work. Could have even been the factory. And the mistake, if that's what it was, may not have shown up for years. It might have just started after years of neglect and drying out.

So I'm going to say I don't know. It sure looks like original metal works on the lettering I can see. The gun was produced in the early 1950s when we can assume top notch workmanship out of the factory. Might as been as simple as a drop of blood landing on the cylinder and when it was wiped off the factory finish came too. So the owner sent it back and you see the result. Maybe it was dumped in a bath that had neared exhaustion, was at the end of the work day, or was just a bad mix. The color sure doesn't impact its utility as a service weapon. Unless you want to join the historical foundation and research the gun that way (and probably fail because we don't seem to have refinish marks). What we do know is its worth significantly less than one showing even and original colors. The owner faces some decisions. To keep it with other pristine guns kind of tarnishes them. Its too old and in too good condition to turn into a shooter.

I'd sure like to paw all over it with my hands after eating salty popcorn (just kidding). Its a gun that needs to appear at a well attended gun show and be inspected by a bunch of people.

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Dick Burg

Personally, I like little anomalies like the plum colored cylinder your handgun has. But then I don't regard handguns as 'jewelry' but rather tools to be used and enjoyed. It sticks in the far dark reaches of my memory (what little of it is left) that for a while in the era that your handgun was produced S&W used a slightly different steel alloy for cylinders from what was used in frames in order to meet strength specifications necessary for various cartridges. That said, it seems that the two slightly different steel alloys 'colored' differently in the blueing process that they were using. I don't know for sure. I do know that I have also seen that plum color on other later produced S&W revolvers.

To me the plum color issue is funny. If your old S&W has a little plum coloring, you feel like an outcast. If your old Ruger has a little (or a lot) plum coloring, you feel like you hit the jackpot !!

So how do collectors react to seeing an example like this one for sale? I, for one, would say it was refinished due to the fact that all other examples of a factory finish for this revolver show standard and matching bluing on the frames and cylinders. I would have hoped the factory had this process pretty much down after a century of manufacturing guns. I also see many guns of all makes and models with plum hardened steel parts, due to the fact they did not know how to properly blue a gun. Also, it is suspicious that the stocks don't match the gun. If they are the same era, one reason would be that the original stocks were worn and so an "upgraded" pair were used to match the new finish of the gun??

The tough part is that all the stampings appear to be fresh and that takes a high quality shop to accomplish that degree of restoration. If so, they should know how to blue guns??

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Gary
SWCA 2515

It has been refinished by the factory at a much later date. The logo on the left side is a newer style logo. I'd guess from the 1980's or newer.

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Kris
OGCA, NRA LM

Although the purists may have better examples in their safes, to me that is a fine piece of functional art. Fix the buggered top sideplate screw and all will be well with it in my opinion.

But, I also would wear a Rolex as a daily watch. Others wouldn't dream of it. Your mileage might vary.

What little I have managed to learn in the process of becoming more involved with black powder muzzleloading leads me to believe that anything goes when it comes to bluing. There are a number of different ways to go about bluing a firearm and one of the things I learned was that if you brown metal long enough you can get a deep blue, almost black. It often creates problems with different alloys of steel, often times when a barrel and breech plug are dipped in the same bluing solution the breech can come out a very deep plum while the barrel a rich blue. I just had my old Brazilian 1917 shortened to 4" along with a raised front ramp and Baughman style front sight, the gunsmith did a beautiful job and apologized for the very slight difference in color. I understand the reasons and knew going in that getting a perfect match of solutions is very difficult.
I recently saw an early Smith revolver that had been stored in oil, the entire piece had turned a very dark plum, except the case hardened trigger and hammer which went a dark rust brown, the only thing that turned me off...I thought the plum was a very interesting color, its very hard to duplicate with browning salts. People that build muzzleloaders are always messing around with browning solutions and some will only apply the solutions on a rainy day, others use a steam kettle to get the humidity real high. I'm still learning while I go and appreciate how difficult it is to get a finish that will hold up to use.

I bought an old model 36 recently that was new in the box, no turn line even. Bluing is great but cylinder is plumb colored. Doesn't bother me at all, it is original.

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Rather be outdoors

Please post some pictures.

Ive got an ANIB P/C Shorty 9 MK3 or whatever , and it has the most beautiful plum colored slide, I have several 2 tones, its the only S/A Ive seen turn plum.I think its pretty but, One day when I go to get rid of it ,I will either love it or hate it, . My EDC is a PC 6906 from a way earlier run and it isnt plum at all ??? Just happens I guess. Bob

I have a 28-3 that I bought new in 88 (proving the ship date and sell date can be way different...) This year, I have noticed that in certain light, both the barrel and cylinder are starting to take a slightly plum cast...Some light it is not noticeable at all. Since I know for certain that this gun has never been worked on at all, I put it down to ageing of the finish. Maybe my grandkids will worry about it some day...