When did S&W start putting an N on nickel guns?
I have a 1902 and a1905 that are nickel plated but no N anywhere or the guns.
Just wondering if these have factory finish.
Thanks.

Look at the serial number stamped under the barrel. If there is a "B" prefix to the SN, the revolver shipped with a blued finish. If no "B", it shipped with a nickel finish.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

In other words, Nickel was the default, until WW2. At that point, they realized that they were going to be making only blue guns, so they changed the default to blue, and N was then required for a nickel finish.

Mike Priwer

I have a pre-war Terrier that shipped March 20, 1939. The serial number is matching throughout. It has "B" markings and "N" markings. B appears on the barrel, cylinder (under the ejector star), yoke, and grip frame on the right side. N appears on the right side of the grip frame. The finish is nickel, and does not present as a refinish. It letters as shipping from the factory as nickel finish. It is an interesting piece in light of the conventional wisdom, as it seems to not fit the mold. I would be interested to learn more.....

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NRA Endowment Member

We can only guess, but mine is that the gun was manufactured as a blued gun, but before selling it was pulled and refinished in nickel to fill an order. The star means it went back to the factory for some reason. Maybe re-nickeled at that point. Remember that Roy says a factory refinish should be almost undetectable.

Second option is that the gun started as blued, as the stampings note, but was sent back to the factory and received a nickel finish at some point. Are there any other stampings on the gun like a diamond surrunding a B or N? Some gun records do not show finish, barrel length, etc. and perhaps that was the case with your revolver, but Roy assumed the nickel finish was original given the excellent finish work???.

Almost certainly that the gun changed finishes at some point and I would contact Bill Cross to see if there are any service records on file at the SWHF.

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Gary
SWCA 2515

I have two. First is a 1912-13 build HE38 in factory nickel, with no marks on the grip or barrel for finish, blued or nickel. Second is a 1923 44HE with a tiny "N" next to the grip pin, and no other markings of an "N" anywhere else. It was built on a leftover .45 frame made for WWI, and shipped as factory nickel. So they could be marked "N" before WWII.

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Heavily armed old man.

As noted earlier, blued revolvers received a "B" prefix to the serial number stamped under the barrel. The lack of a prefix indicated a nickel finish,

The tiny "N" on your 2nd Model .44 is most likely an inspector's mark, not a nickel stamp. Nickel stamps tend to be on the large size.

__________________
John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!