Hello,
I recently acquired a 6" 686-3 in Black Stainless; since standard bluing would not work well on stainless steel, I am curious about exactly what type of finish was applied to create these "Midnight Black Stainless" guns.

Thanks,

Jim (kean57)

Hello,
I recently acquired a 6" 686-3 in Black Stainless; since standard bluing would not work well on stainless steel, I am curious about exactly what type of finish was applied to create these "Midnight Black Stainless" guns.

Thanks,

Jim (kean57)

I'm not sure of the type of bluing Smith used on those. I remember when they came out.

There is a guy in FLA that does hot bluing on stainless steel. I believe he uses different salts to accomplish it, than he would for carbon steel.

Here is a link directly to that page of his websight.
http://gunblue.homestead.com/Stainless.html

Tagged

Good question. SIG also makes black stainless guns. Either they tweak the formula for the SS to make it chemically reactive or they may have some way to electroplate or anodize it on?

I owned a Mid-night black 686 a few years ago (parted with it in a trade for a M-27) .... I don't know what finish S&W used on them, but it was not very durable and was easily scratched and marred. That is why S&W discontinued them. I think they were offered in the late 80's.

Don

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I had a S&W 745 (auto) with a black ss slide and natural stainless frame. The slide finish marred very easily. Gun was mid-late 80's production.

I have one also. Quite a nice piece. Bought mine in the box with papers for $300 several years ago.

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I'll be picking up one of those this week. It's a 6" version, NIB and it's price at around $500. I was looking for 6" 586 but found this instead. Can't wait to pick it up.

Tks,
Jnariv

I believe the finish was called Melonite (or something like that). I remember when they came out. I'll take regular SS any day of the week. Nothing compares to nicely polished UBSS--at least as far as my eyes are concerned.

Melonite is the process currently being used by S&W to treat the slides of the M&P line and other stainless steel products in its line.

It is a hardening process for treating metal (stainless steel in this case) and results in a rich black, very hard and durable finish.

I believe the 'black stainless steel' of the earlier guns used a different process. The surfaces were easily marred, as has been mentioned, and the process wasn't a commercial success, explaining why the only black stainless in guns of recent years is the new Melonite process stainless.

The midnight black stainless 686 guns were definitely NOT melonite.

It is a gun to collect and not to shoot. If they get skinned up the only thing to do with them is a bead blast. I looked for one once and gave up. Enjoy -

I'll settle for a 586 any day! Have a no dash from 1983. A wonderful Smith to own. Bob

Anyone besides me hopeful that a few 686s come out in Melonite? Make mine a 3", please.

Brownells says their Oxynate No 84 will blue stainless guns. They claim it works on various stainless finishes.

The more I hear about black nitride treatment, the more I'd like to see a S&W revolver with that finish all the way around. Though I've read it's a simpler process on carbon steel vs. stainless.

Sometime back (10-15 years?) a S&W employee I was talking to described the Midnight Black finish as a black oxide finish. As noted, this was well before they started using Melonite, which is a very durable finish. The black oxide finish on the Midnight M686 units was easily scratched and not very durable overall.

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