I purchased this gun from a fellow forum member a few years back. Most of the wear was already on the gun but I did carry it and add a little. I am considering refinishing it. Looking at either Black T or a Moly resin coating in black. Moly resin is cheaper but the Black T has a better rep.

Do you think that I should leave it or refinish it?

Since it's a shooter and the existing wear on the finish is pretty extensive, I would refinish.

Also, these blued/carbon steel slides and parts are very susceptible to oxidation, particularly when the finish is compromised.

Robar does great work, if you can afford them.

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Ret. LE, FA Instr, S&W Armorer

This is a carry piece, is that right? A shooter. I don't see really "extensive" wear for a carry gun. And finish wear is a non-issue as far as function is concerned. Unless the wear just totally offends your aesthetic sensibilities, save your money.

Just my opinion, okay?

What I see is character wear. Aging like fine wine!!

Do what you like--it's your gun. And if you can't make up your mind, don't refinish--you'll save money.

I'm going thru a similar decision process with my TSW - so this is an easy question for me! As soon as I save up the shekels, it's going back to S&W for refinishing. I asked them last month and they still refinish TSW's - although I wonder how the whole riveted-on light rail will work out.

So - long roundabout to my opinion - I would get it refinished. I have - and I'm sure most people on SWF have - a scratch-able Tupperware pistol to shoot and carry. The metal Smith's are barbeque guns to me ...

Agree, this one looks fine as is. Just use it.
I had a 65-5 Ladysmith factory refinished, but that one is becoming a $$$ collectible.

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-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

WVSig,

Save your money and buy ammo. Carry firearms all have wear. You should see my j frame.

THE ROLLING STONES

Looks a lot better than the 3914 I carry, and mines been refinished once already.

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SWCA #2817

Leave it, shoot it, love it.

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NRA LIFE
Reserve Officer 9yrs

Looks like good, honest wear to me. I like honest wear. That's why I accumulate milsurps. Unless you plan on it making the transition from carry gun to safe queen, I'd leave it.

Is it going to be a carry gun? If so, refinishing will make you apprehensive about carrying it for fear of marking up the finish on your shiny, newly finished gun. You will cringe every time you see a new mark. And don't kid yourself. There WILL be new marks.
If you start to see real oxidation, you can always decide to send it in for refinishing.

Why on earth would you want to refinish that beautiful gun? It's not new, and it looks like it does because of many years of doing it's gun thing. And proudly.
Leave it be.

Richard

Keep as is. It's original and a refinish is, well, refinished. Like a man with scars or a mother with stretch marks it just adds to character and has it's own beauty.

I think it looks awesome! It's got character.

I vote to leave it as is, looks like the perfect amount of wear for a carry piece that you won't have to worry about dinging up! Most of the finish loss seems to be on the aluminum frame, while the slide bluing actually looks pretty good to me.

One more on the "that's really a beautiful gun as-is" camp! 😆

These are great little carry pistols. The 3913/14 NL and LS are not collectable in their own right. But if it really bothers you, buy a safe queen and keep carrying this one. It has character. it's what a gun should look like.

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John 1:17
NRA Life Benefactor

I am just going to leave it.

One other option is to refinish it yourself. Twenty bucks worth of chemicals and an hour of your time and you can't tell it from the factory finish.

thats a workn gun......it's bee-you-tee-full as it is

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witty signature goes here

Yours looks good compared to my 3914NL EDC. I'd leave it as is. Regards 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

Well, it's no surprise that I would have said get the gun professionally refinished... provided you can afford it and won't then be into the gun for more money than it would be worth after refinishing (unless, of course, the gun holds some extra special meaning for you).

But then again, I am the glaring exception within "Team 3rd Gen" to what appears to be a majority preference for the "used & abused" look. It adds "character" after all.

I'd also have the "LadySmith" logo removed during the refinishing prep work. Lord knows that I am many things... ... but I am no lady.

Would you like your hide to be refinished for a few wear marks? We reflect what we carry - however that can be defined.

I'd Black Chrome it...the protection level is outstanding

If a particular firearm I own is a beater, but shoots well...
& is worth less than a Grand, it usually receives some manner of refinish...
Cerakote is a favorite, but have been leaning towards the Hard Chromes lately...
The simplicity of Black Chrome is a thing of beauty

Or, in the case of one particular pistol,
using a bunch of old gold rings to have it smothered in gold...
Gaudy? Yes. Intentionally Gaudy?? Definitely
Why not be "The Man with the Golden Gun"??

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Marlin & Calico Specialist

Good call. If you re-finished it, you wouldn't shoot it anymore, and probably pick one up that looks just like that one. That's how my warped mind works, anyway.

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Because of the metric system?

I think you made the right decision by leaving it the way it is. She has character and like all of us, has aged with grace.

Great looking piece!

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Vietnam Veteran, 68-69

Being hideously old, I've got a lot more than just wear marks to deal with. I could use a restoration & refinishing job badly! Only problem? It would cost way more money than I could ever afford. But if I ever win the lottery...

I'll never be a painted gun kind of guy. My old man (R.I.P.) would be rolling over in his grave if I ever sought to have a fine old gun painted instead of properly refinished.

Who does this "Black Chrome" work and what about it makes it "simple"? I'd like to know more about it.

No worries...there's probably some type of regulation in your state that limits the amount of work you can have done on yourself anyway, so I don't think cost will be an issue!

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Because of the metric system?

Wise guy!

Note: black chrome doesn't work on Aluminium...
works great on steel

This guy is hilarious, but gets the process across in an
easy to learn manner
And it leads to more vids on the same subject...

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Marlin & Calico Specialist

You only have to please yourself.

If it were mine ... I'd keep using it as is. Shooting/carry guns accumulate wear. I've carried guns that looked worse, and it didn't bother me a bit.

Having a carbon steel slide, I'd wipe it down and make sure moisture didn't remain to create oxidation, but it's not like that's a horrendous burden. I carried many blued/carbon steel handguns over my life, and I never let any of them rust.

I remember when guys used to keep an extra towel in a work locker, so they could remove their blued revolvers from wet leather holsters after a shift, wipe them down and leave them on a shelf while the gun belts were left hanging inside lockers to dry out before the next shift (buckle hooks hanging from locker door vents). Unsurprisingly, it seemed it was the neglected blued wheelguns that rusted.

Ditto the same sort of preventive care when a concealed gun might get a bit wet from being carried in a sweat-soaked leather holster for long hours in hot weather.

Considering the cost of anodizing and plating, and having it done by people familiar with doing such work on guns (without creating problems during disassembly/reassembly, damaging or losing small parts, etc), I lost my taste for refinishing carry/working guns many years ago.

Some folks like having their guns refinished, though. Pride of ownership, enjoyment of carrying a pristine gun, etc. Their choice, their reasons, their money.

I let a relative bead blast a couple of my .44 wheelguns many years ago, because he was so happy doing it. He was very proud of the results. Yes, it broke through the factory passivated surfaces of the stainless steel. It didn't affect the functioning, though, so I didn't mind, although I felt a bit weird running them hard for occasional range use (using holsters, leaving carbon rings & scorch marks on cylinders, marring the smooth satin finishes, etc ). I felt better about them as they acquired signs of normal wear, rubs, scratches & other marks, etc.

Your gun, your money, your choice. The reasons don't have to make sense to anyone else.

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer