19-3 gun show find, got some ???

[s&w-noob]

I picked up a 19-3 at a gun show yesterday. It's a 4 inch, nickel, circa 1974, i would say its about 93-95%. i have a few questions as this is only my second smith and my first nickel gun.

1. Is there any cleaners or solvents that i should avoid using on the nickel finish? my 29-2 is blued so i like to wipe off all my prints and put a light layer of oil on it before i store it so it doesn't rust or get speckling, do i need to worry about keeping the oils from my hands off the nickel finish or is it more resistant than bluing?

2. I cant tell if the grips are original. When i take them off there is some writing in the middle of the grip but it is unreadable. At the top of the grip, the part that is cut out for the receiver, there are the last 3 numbers of the serial number written as clear as day. Are these original grips or did somebody pencil in the last three numbers to make them appear original?

3. I know better than to shoot factory loads out of my 29-2, should i take the same precautions with my 19-3?

4. The only thing wrong with this gun, that i didnt notice till i got home, is that there is no spring tension on the firing pin. my questions are how easy is this to fix? and is it ok to shoot in its present condition?

5. Im not too up to date on pricing and didnt have much time to investigate on this specific model/configuration. At the show I sold an older springfield model 1911 loaded for $600, the 19-3 was listed for $675 and i talked him down to $625. Did i pay a fair price or did i overpay?

im located in the Cleveland,OH area and this show had a good amount of pre lock smiths. most of them seemed over priced for their condition except the LNIB examples, which were still ridiculously expensive (there were lots of 99%+ N frames,all going for well above a grand). this 19-3 was the best deal i can find for a smith in decent condition.

thanks for the help

 

[Targets Guy]

Never owned a nickle so no help there but there has to be threads on here about cleaning them and care.

Check you main spring and strain screw. It may just need adjusting.

I hope you did okay price wise. I just got a 19-2 at a gun show last week and paid $600. It is a 1967 blued revolver.

I have numerous smiths with original grips from '47 to '70 and the s/n are all impressed into the inside of the right stock. I don't know if this is standard but all of mine are like that.

I took the 19-2 to the range earlier this week and shot factory .357's, +P's and reloaded .38. It ate them all and performed well.

 

[murphydog]

1. Most solvents/cleaners available today are fine for nickel; look for "safe for nickel finishes" on the label if you are concerned. Use and remove in a timely manner even if it is labeled safe. Waxing the gun and stocks helps with finish preservation; with proper care nickel is pretty durable.

2. My video feed to your house isn't working, so you'll have to post a photo of the stocks for an answer about originality . By this time, however, stock numbers were stamped.

3. Many will recommend avoiding full 125 gr .357 loads. Keep the forcing cone area clean and shoot other loads as much as you like; most stick with .38 Specials.

4. I think this one is too early to have a spring in the hammer nose assembly, so this sounds normal.

5. Sound like a fair price. Did I mention anything about photos?

Hope this is helpful.

 

[s&w-noob]

Thanks here's some photos

 

[Targets Guy]

You did good. Enjoy it.

 

[shotgun693]

While it's great for plastic or blue guns, avoid Hoppe's on nickel. Nickel does not bond to steel so there is a thin layer of copper between the steel and nickel. Any little crack or flake, no matter how tiny, lets the Hoppe's get to the copper and eat away at it. This will result in the nickel flaking off.

 

[murphydog]

The Target stocks of this era were not numbered and easily changed, so no way to tell if they are original. If they have the "football" or extractor cutout on the left panel they are the correct style.

My understanding is S & W did not use the copper underlayer method for nickel plating, but metallurgy was not my college major...someone else here can confirm.

 

[s&w-noob]

they do have the football cutout and i just got done cleaning it with hoppes (damn it) i guess i will avoid hoppes from now on

 

[murphydog]

No harm done, just use and wipe off quickly. Enjoy!

 

[Tom_R]

they do have the football cutout and i just got done cleaning it with hoppes (damn it) i guess i will avoid hoppes from now on

Don't worry about using Hoppes, you are fine. If you have the football cutouts on your grips, then they are era correct.

Regarding cleaning:

Get a Lead away cloth. This will be good for removing the carbon scoring on the front of the cylinder face, and up in the forcing cone. DO NOT use the lead away cloth on a blued gun. Nickel or stainless is fine, blued, no good.

Ok also get yourself some Mothers Mag Wheel Polish some shammies and some Renaissance Wax.

Using a clean shammy, apply Mothers Polish in a circular motion in small areas. Rub it in good, and then let it sit. When the cloth gets black, switch to a clean spot on the shammy. After it dries to a haze, take a different shammy and remove the polish. Wipe on, wipe off. This will take time. You may even do it twice.

After it looks clean, take another clean shammy and apply a light coat of Renaissance wax on the gun and the grips. It will look amazing when you are done. It will shine like the sun.

Check out this nickel 27-2 that I did this treatment to.

 

[hoosier4guns]

Thanks here's some photos

I have a Model 19-3 that I got from a friend of the family that has a set of target grips with the last three numbers of the serial penciled in as yours are. Mine is from 1974. I bought mine from a good friend who is very ill and would only take $400. I'll post some pics..I can't believe the grips are numbered like yours..could it be that S&W numbered their target grips this way...kinda strange both of our 19-3's have the same type of numbered grips. Mine is a blue 6" barrel with original box with only a cylinder fired and was put away in 1981. Again the grips having the last three numbers is weird. I never thought much about it until I saw your post. I hope to find out more about the grip numbers. Rich.

 

[BUFF]

There is no reason not to shoot factory ammunition* out of your Model 29. Your gun was designed to shoot it.

*By "factory ammo," let me define it as ammo from the standard ammo makers, such as Winchester, Remington, Federal, Speer, with bullet weights of 240 grains and less. The 275-300 grain stuff is aimed at Rugers and such.

 

[scooter123]

I really like Buff's answer, there is no reason at all to avoid shooting factory 44 Magnums out of your model 29. About the only "harm" to shooting a lot of Magnums will be the damage done to your wrists and perhaps a moderate increase in the rate at which End Shake develops.

As for the Model 19, light use of 158 grain factory 357 Magnums aren't considered harmful, it's the 125 grain loads that pose the potential for damage. The reason for this is that the K frame 38 caliber revolvers feature a flat machined on the bottom of the barrel extenstion inside the frame that isn't present on other frame sizes. Because this flat slightly weakens the barrel extension the higher kinetic energy produced by the lighter bullet as it enters the forcing cone has caused cracking in this area. Note, this only applies to 357 Magnums at full power, reduced energy Magnum hand loads or 38 special +P featuring a 125 grain bullet don't generate as much exit velocity between the cylinder and forcing cone.

Finally, the spring loaded hammer nose on an S&W K frame revolver wasn't used until the late 80's from what I've read. My 1972 vintage 19-3 wasn't equipped from the factory with a sprung hammer nose and the only reason it has one now is that the hammer nose was replaced with a newer style replacement because Bangor Punta produced my 19-3 with a hammer nose short enough that it wouldn't work reliably with any ammunition in double action. On the plus side because of that issue when I purchased my 19-3 a couple of months ago it was nearly unfired because of that misfire problem.

As for the price you paid, I think you did just fine. Fact is that I paid 550 for my blued 2 1/2 inch 19-3 and felt that price was fair. Yeah, we are always reading about people scoring unused 3 1/2 inch model 27's at a yard sale for a couple of hundred dollars but as tempted as I might be by a deal of that magnitude I would have to tell the seller they were about 2000 dollars low on their price.

 

[muddocktor]

As to cleaning nickel Smiths with Hoppes #9, don't worry about it as long as you wipe it all off after cleaning. I have a nickel 27-2 I bought new in 1974 that has been cleaned with Hoppes #9 since I bought it. The only finish damage I have done was where some Hoppes got trapped under the Pachmayr Presentations I had on it the majority of the time and that is hidden with football grips or it's present Ahrends grips. I still use Hoppes #9 to clean it too, but I make sure I remove the grips before cleaning and wipe it down real good after. Here's a couple of pics of my old 27-2 with some football grips on it I took a few years ago for you to judge whether Hoppes #9 just totally ruins a nickel gun like some people think will happen:

Left side:


Right side:

 

[s&w-noob]

@Hoosier i think that is a good sign that they are factory grips seeing as yours seems to be all original.

@Buff and Scooter i hear where you're coming from but why do i always read that people shoot their 29s loose with factory ammo?

scooter the fact that you said the light use of 158 grain magnum isn't considered harmful tells me that the heavy use of 158 grain is considered harmful, or at least that is how i interpret it.

anyways ill probably start reloading .357 since i already reload .44 and its a lot cheaper.

thanks for the knowledge guys

one more question. what is considered more valuable, a model 19 with a blue finish or a model 19 with a nickel finish? i like the blue finish a whole lot more, especially once the finish starts getting worn, and i might consider trading my nickel for a blue. just wondering if one brings more money then the other considering the condition is equal.

 

[oddshooter]

+1 for Renaissance Wax.

amazing stuff !

 

[Model39]

1970 Model 19-3

Early Model 19-3 Special Order Gun With .500 Target Hammer And Trigger, And Smooth Rosewood Grips
.

 

[dinmi]

19-3 2 1/2"

I just picked up a 19-13 3" blued last night - if it was shot it wasn't shot much and may have never been shot. The shop where I picked it up knew the previous owner and didn't think he shot it at all. I would say it is at minimum 98%. I paid $500. If you can find the 2 1/2 in blued they are ridiculous (saw a couple for over $900 and one on a buy now for $1300) Based on what I have seen you didn't get hurt (I know I didn't). I plan on shooting it a little and then probably tucking it back. Of course I have to keep my husband from thinking it is a carry - that will get him the boot and fast There are enough Rugers in the stable for him to carry - he doesn't need to carry this one!