27-2…reblued or am I just being too picky??

Shodem · Jul 1, 2023

Hello all,

I have recently added a S&W 27-2 to my collection. I had been flirting with the idea of buying one of these for some time, but hadn’t been able to strike a deal favorable to myself. Well, now I did and After inspection I have a few questions. A couple of things that I saw made me think reblue, but maybe I am over analyzing?

-the top strap checkering seems to have a few spots on either side that are not as sharp as I’d expect. After looking through tons of photos of these revolvers it looks like it is too polished, but I still can’t say with complete certainty.

-the cylinder, at the front end of the flutes, has a slight chamfer to it where I would expect a nice defined ‘corner’ to be. Is this typical? I have seen one that is a little older than mine that looks similar and one that is a little younger that has a perfect cylinder.

There is the slightest spot of rust on the barrel about an inch from where it connects to the frame, which makes me think it hasn’t been reblued. Could the barrel have been left out when it was reblued? Who could reblue part of a gun to match original other than smith and Wesson themselves? Perhaps a good candidate for a historical letter to satisfy my curiosity? If smith did the reblue(if there was one) wouldn’t it be on that latter?

Also, this is an N prefix with lazy ampersand. How rare would that be exactly?

I’ve attached some pictures and will add more for curious readers; help me solve this mystery(or at least try).

D Brown · Jul 1, 2023

Mine looks exactly like yours. Based on the photos you provided, I see no signs of a re-blue.

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s&wchad · Jul 1, 2023

I see no indication of a refinish. Yours has a standard trigger, so it was made before 1975. That's the year the TT/TH/TS and presentation case became standard.

It probably came with Magnas and the target stocks were added later. Nice gun!

My 8-3/8" 27-2 was made after 1975.

swagmeister · Jul 1, 2023

Another vote for original finish. Beautiful weapon!! Take that thing out and shoot the snot out of it, clean it up, wipe it down, and repeat the process over and over again!!!! That is what it is made for. Your grandchildren's children will still be shooting it after you are long gone. Makes me wish I had one. Thanks for showing.

JohnRippert · Jul 1, 2023

I agree with the others and also see no signs of a refinish.

Inland7-45 · Jul 1, 2023

Model 27

Shodem said:
Hello all,

I have recently added a S&W 27-2 to my collection. I had been flirting with the idea of buying one of these for some time, but hadn’t been able to strike a deal favorable to myself. Well, now I did and After inspection I have a few questions. A couple of things that I saw made me think reblue, but maybe I am over analyzing?

-the top strap checkering seems to have a few spots on either side that are not as sharp as I’d expect. After looking through tons of photos of these revolvers it looks like it is too polished, but I still can’t say with complete certainty.

-the cylinder, at the front end of the flutes, has a slight chamfer to it where I would expect a nice defined ‘corner’ to be. Is this typical? I have seen one that is a little older than mine that looks similar and one that is a little younger that has a perfect cylinder.

There is the slightest spot of rust on the barrel about an inch from where it connects to the frame, which makes me think it hasn’t been reblued. Could the barrel have been left out when it was reblued? Who could reblue part of a gun to match original other than smith and Wesson themselves? Perhaps a good candidate for a historical letter to satisfy my curiosity? If smith did the reblue(if there was one) wouldn’t it be on that latter?

Also, this is an N prefix with lazy ampersand. How rare would that be exactly?

I’ve attached some pictures and will add more for curious readers; help me solve this mystery(or at least try).

This is a very nice 27. I have a 6” nickel made in 1973. It came with walnut magnas and standard hammer and trigger and silver and blue box.

From the photos the finish on your 27 looks like factory bright blue. Really nice. I also vote original.

I have been shooting mine a lot more lately. I use the same reloads that I use for my 38/44 HD. The bullet is a 170 gr Lyman Semi Wadcutter cast from #2 alloy with a full charge of Accurate #5. Data is from Lyman Cast manual.

Shoots great in both guns.

Good luck and havve fun with yours.

sophie · Jul 1, 2023

I vote for the original finish. From what I see in the pictures the gun looks original to me. Very nice gun. Thanks for sharing.

Here’s a couple of pictures of one of my Model 27-2’s with 8 3/8” barrel and it looks like yours to my way of thinking.
See post #12 on closeup pictures and I see the difference that the OP is seeing on his gun. I don’t quite know what to make of it or the difference it makes, but it could be a reblue. Side plate pictures might help also.

toddimusnimski · Jul 1, 2023

A pic of the RH side showing the sideplate would help but it would probably reinforce what the others have said. Glad that itch got scratched!

Todd

austintexas · Jul 1, 2023

Reblue?

It looks right to me, One thing I look at is the tip of the ejector rod. Usually they are in the white. Most re-blues I've seen the tips are blued also. I don't remember where I learned this, I think one of the last adjustments after blue is the length of the ejector rod that is why It is in the white. Not to say a re finisher doesn't know this and polishes it after a re-blue.
SWCA 892

2152hq · Jul 1, 2023

What makes me think there is a repolish/reblue involved is the second pic from the left.
..and you can see it also in the third.

The front edges of the frame appear to be severely rounded.
I realize they are not going to be glass edge sharp as in a pre-war polish job, but if the photo(s) aren't lying, the front edges of the frame are very rounded over.

If it's just the pic playing tricks with the light, then I can only point to the fault that the OP mentions of the top-strap checkering being very light on the RH side.
That also looks to me like it was swiped over a buff wheel.

Rust spot on the bbl can occurre any time. On top of Factory blue or aftermarket blue. It's matter of maintenance not who did the bluing or what particular process was used.
..and yes absolutely part(s) of the revolver can be polished and reblued while other parts are disassembled, set aside and nothing done to them.

Sometimes the whole gun can be re-blued but some parts do not need any hard polishing. There may be no scatches or dents/pitting on them. So they are just stripped chemicaly of the bluing, then w/o any hard polishing such as needed to remove scratches/pits, the original luster is quickly and easily brought back up again with very fine abrasive polishes that don't round edges or draw out holes or lettering. Then the part(s) reblued.
Sometimes the color can match or be very close to factory look especially when trying to match bluing done in the 70's and forward.

Not saying that was done here, just trying to answer some questions

ken158 · Jul 1, 2023

That is not a re-blue and the rounded areas on the frame are normal.

sophie · Jul 1, 2023

2152hq said:
What makes me think there is a repolish/reblue involved is the second pic from the left.
..and you can see it also in the third.

The front edges of the frame appear to be severely rounded.
I realize they are not going to be glass edge sharp as in a pre-war polish job, but if the photo(s) aren't lying, the front edges of the frame are very rounded over.

If it's just the pic playing tricks with the light, then I can only point to the fault that the OP mentions of the top-strap checkering being very light on the RH side.
That also looks to me like it was swiped over a buff wheel.

Rust spot on the bbl can occurre any time. On top of Factory blue or aftermarket blue. It's matter of maintenance not who did the bluing or what particular process was used.
..and yes absolutely part(s) of the revolver can be polished and reblued while other parts are disassembled, set aside and nothing done to them.

Sometimes the whole gun can be re-blued but some parts do not need any hard polishing. There may be no scatches or dents/pitting on them. So they are just stripped chemicaly of the bluing, then w/o any hard polishing such as needed to remove scratches/pits, the original luster is quickly and easily brought back up again with very fine abrasive polishes that don't round edges or draw out holes or lettering. Then the part(s) reblued.
Sometimes the color can match or be very close to factory look especially when trying to match bluing done in the 70's and forward.

Not saying that was done here, just trying to answer some questions

After reading this post I decided to look at my 2 Model 27-2’s more closely and I believe the OP’s concern about the front edges of the frame being rounded as well as the stippling or checkering on top of the frame being smoothed out and not as sharp are spot on. I don’t really know what to make of it but will include some pictures for comparison from 2 different Model 27-2’s up closer. There is a distinct difference in the sharpness in the edges of the frames and also the top strap stippling or checkering.

JohnRippert · Jul 1, 2023

sophie said:
After reading this post I decided to look at my 2 Model 27-2’s more closely and I believe the OP’s concern about the front edges of the frame being rounded as well as the stippling or checkering on top of the frame being smoothed out and not as sharp are spot on. I don’t really know what to make of it but will include some pictures for comparison from 2 different Model 27-2’s up closer. There is a distinct difference in the sharpness in the edges of the frames and also the top strap stippling or checkering.

Interesting. I did not catch that on the first go round. Hmmmm.

22hipower · Jul 1, 2023

sophie said:
After reading this post I decided to look at my 2 Model 27-2’s more closely and I believe the OP’s concern about the front edges of the frame being rounded as well as the stippling or checkering on top of the frame being smoothed out and not as sharp are spot on. I don’t really know what to make of it but will include some pictures for comparison from 2 different Model 27-2’s up closer. There is a distinct difference in the sharpness in the edges of the frames and also the top strap stippling or checkering.

I see nothing that would concern me as to a reblue. If it was refinished and the job was done so well that we can't tell from the pictures you've posted, I sure wouldn't worry about it. Looks like a very nice 27-2 in excellent condition. Unless you paid a premium price for it and want to be certain you got your moneys worth, enjoy it as it is. Maybe holding it in hand we'd see something of concern but I doubt it.

Jeff
SWCA #1457

MSD2343 · Jul 1, 2023

Definitely a refinish and a poorly executed one at that. PM me so we can discuss terms for relieving you of this wreck.

2152hq · Jul 1, 2023

ken158 said:
That is not a re-blue and the rounded areas on the frame are normal.

You can look at this pic and at the front edges of the frame from the bbl ring all the way down to the bottom and say you don't see a severely rounded off edge?

If that's a factory polishing job, then shame on S&W for letting it get out of the door like that.

22hipower · Jul 2, 2023

2152hq said:
You can look at this pic and at the front edges of the frame from the bbl ring all the way down to the bottom and say you don't see a severely rounded off edge?

If that's a factory polishing job, then shame on S&W for letting it get out of the door like that.

Agree that the frame does look rounded in that picture but that is not where we would usually expect to see obvious signs of a refinish. If that is from a refinish have to wonder why we're not seeing signs of aggressive polishing in the usual places; dished screws for example and the logo doesn't appear to be heavily polished. Doesn't the end of the ejector rod appear to be in the white?

Jeff
SWCA #1457

Shodem · Jul 2, 2023

I appreciate all the feedback and photos of these other fine S&W revolvers. I am going to attach an overall photo of right and left side of the revolver and one of the end of the ejector rod. Hoping that the majority is correct here and it hasn’t been reblued. Heading to the range this morning to see how she shoots.

2152hq · Jul 2, 2023

I have an idea that the frame alone may have been reblued and only some areas that were damaged/pitted/scared and needed polishing got that polishing.
That would be the rounded areas and in an effort to bring those back up to the high gloss to match the rest of the frame & parts, it went under the soft buffer wheels.

Other areas of the frame if undamaged would not need to be aggressively repolished. Chemical strip of bluing and then the surfaces can be brought right back up to the same high gloss with a couple of techniques that do not damage corners, screw holes or lettering. The orig grit lines are undisturbed by this as well.

The trick then is to make your repolish of the damaged area match the orig polish and gloss of the untouched areas of the part,,the frame in this case.

Those areas on the front of the frame should be flat as they follow the contours of the bbl ring and then down the frame. No round over to the front of the frame.
There is (on a factory polish) a slight chamfer from that flat surface to the front face of the frame to break the 90* edge.

I'll grant you that some Factory polishing jobs are better than others. But that amt being rounded off just points to mishandling and soft buffer wheels to get a high shine.
That's a difficult area to polish correctly and why the factory has a car load of specially shaped hard wheels for the job to keep flat areas flat.
All in separate grits so there is no need to heavy hand soft wheel anything.

27-2…reblued or am I just being too picky??

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