I have a Governor (blued) which I bought new about 1 year ago. Shortly after I got it, I began to notice what I describe as a flaking off of the "blued" finish on the cylinder. I'll pause at this point to say that I don't think the finish Is really blueing in the sense I understand that term. I see it more as a blacked finish of some sort.

Some of the odd things about the problem, which continued to to get worse over time, included the fact that the defect was only manifesting on one side of the cylinder, that the resulting bare spots were predomiñantly round in shape and appeared as more of a flecking away rather than a wearing away of the finish, and that the bare spots were predominantly on flat surfaces and in recesses on the cylinder rather than on sharp edges where I have seen wear-caused finish failure on other guns.

My gunsmith advised that S&W had run into some problems with their efforts to pun a blued finish on stainless steel parts, and that I should send it back to S&W. I did.

S&W acknowledged receipt of the gun, and advised that it would be about 6 weeks before they could get to it. Having heard nothing, about 8.5 weeks later, I called S&W to check on the status of my gun. The representative that I talked to said that the condition I observed was not a defect, and they would need another 3 weeks to give me an estimate for repair, and an additional 3 weeks to complete the repair. For reasons that I hope are evident, I asked that they send me back my gun, and they did.

My questions are have others among you had similar problems, is it typical for S&W to deny responsibility for defects, and is there anything I can or should try to do about it?

Thanks for your help.

you need to post some pictures of the gun to get any meaningful responses

__________________
Forum consigliere

In my recent experience, yes. Glad in this case it's only a finish issue, but still a shame.

Groo here
What are you cleaning the gun with????
Could be envirnmental.

What you're experiencing is not altogether uncommon and is no cause for concern.

The Governor's cylinder is Ferritic Nitrocarburized Stainless Steel with a flat black finish which is purely aesthetic. It's the FNC case-hardening surface treatment to the steel which gives it enhanced durability/corrosion-resistance. However, FNC treated steel isn't very aesthetically pleasing as it changes the color of the steel to a dull gray which can appear mottled/blotchy, so it is typically coated with some other finish in order to improve its aesthetic appeal. Said coatings aren't always durable, and in Smith & Wesson's case, whatever matte black finish they use seems to wear off rather easily.

If it bothers you, then you could always have the cylinder refinished with Cerakote for improved durability, or just do it yourself with a spray-on finish like Duracoat.
However, rest assured that your Governor's cylinder is just as durable and as corrosion-resistant as it ever was, because the finish exists merely for the sake of aesthetic appeal.

__________________
Shooting Comfort is bilateral.

I'm new to the board and don't know how to attach photos. Can you tell me how to do that?

Hopper's bore cleaner.

I bought a silver Governor and while I was wanting on my NICS hold I took a closer look at it and got my money back!
I was wanting Stainless Steel not paint!

S&W advertises the Governor as having a stainless barrel and cylinder, but a scandium frame. The scandium frame is actually an aluminum alloy that contains a certain level of scandium to improve the strength of the aluminum. Aluminum alloys do not have the surface hardness of steel or stainless steel and can oxidize, so they must be anodized or coated with something to improve the surface hardness and prevent oxidation. Also, with firearms with dissimilar metals, coatings are often used to give them a uniform finish. Just because it is silver does not mean it is all stainless and just because it is black does not mean it is all blued carbon steel.

__________________
VCDL, GOA, NRA