19-4 With Rust Issues And Refinish?

[iWander]

My father-in-law was not a rich man but he always wanted a Smith revolver. About 15 years ago I gifted him this 19 - 4 that was a trade in and former duty weapon from one of our local Police departments. The bluing was thin at the edge of the barrel and many high points when I gave it to him as you can see, but there was no rust on the gun.

He died suddenly over the weekend and I have the revolver back in my possession. The rust and pitting are pretty significant in several spots and I would like to restore it or at least prevent any further damage.

Is spot bluing something worth pursuing? Am I better off just getting the entire gun refinished? I wouldn't even know who to use anymore. My son would like the revolver as a momento of his grandpa. I want to give it to him for Christmas in great condition as a way to honor both of them.

 

[swagmeister]

My sympathy to you and your wife for your loss. You will get several opinions as to what to do with the revolver, so here is my personal preference. I would certainly NOT spot blue or touch up with blue anywhere on the gun. If it were mine, I would get some 0000 steel wool and some quality gun oil and rub the surface rust off. There will probably be some pitting underneath and nothing really can be done about that. From the pictures, the rest of the gun that I can see looks to be in pretty good shape. Anywhere else there is rust, do the same as on the barrel. It would be a shooter for me and I would not spend the money to have it refinished. I would keep it clean and wipe it down periodically with quality gun oil. Some might suggest a hard chrome finish, parkerizing, or rebluing, and that is some of your options. Good luck.

 

[scooter123]

Look up Mark Novak on youtube and watch his videos on Conserving and Rust Bluing. What you will find is that, after removing all of the small parts, simply dropping barrel and frame together with the loose sideplate into a pot of boiling water for an hour or two will convert all that red rust into Black Oxide. It's actually the final stage of Rust Bluing which is actually more effective and durable than Hot Bluing so common in the 20th century. Manufacturers stopped doing Rust Bluing simply because it's a rather slow process and even in 1900 time was money. End result is all the rust will be gone and much of the current finish will be refreshed a bit.

 

[Pantherclass2004]

Clean it up a bit, carry with pride and fond memories

 

[Bekeart]

FIRST - DO NO HARM!

AVOID STEEL WOOL

It can/will scratch the existing blue.

100 Per Cent COPPER kitchen scouring pads from grocery store.

Lightly scrub the rust with the copper pads and any handy motor oil.
Fine gun oil not needed at this time.

If my inheritance, I would remove rust / Apply Cold Blue / Paste wax.
Fine oil for internal parts.

Bekeart

 

[Inland7-45]

I would go with preserving the remaining originality. Whatever the best method is for neutralizing the rust without removing any further finish. A nice set of smooth walnut stocks with an oil finish would look nice.

 

[DGNY]

To the OP, sincere condolences on the loss of your father-in-law. And commendation to you for having given him this revolver because he desired one. True family spirit. Also, wonderful that you wish to give this to your son at an appropriate time.

I will go against the grain here, and suggest that you call some gunsmiths about having the gun reblued. Possibly even at Smith & Wesson, although, apparently their work today, if taken on, results in a near black less durable finish. (Of course, with that rust and pitting, the job may not be perfect and you may decide instead to pursue a simple cleanup.)

A quick duckduckgo.com search for “gunsmith reblueing Ohio” turned up a number of hits. Sorry that I personally can’t recommend anyone.

Wishing you all the best.

 

[Hair Trigger]

Looks like a transitional dash 4. No barrel pin but the close fit at the rear of the cylinder looks like a recessed cylinder. It's far enough worn it really has little collector value, but there is a great deal of sentimental value. I'd have the entire gun refinished by a reputable gunsmith that knows how to properly blue a gun and make it look new again, and then give it to your son. He'll know it was Grandpa's and that matters more than having it in its present condition with some repair work.

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

My father-in-law was not a rich man but he always wanted a Smith revolver. About 15 years ago I gifted him this 19 - 4 that was a trade in ...

My son would like the revolver as a momento of his grandpa. I want to give it to him for Christmas in great condition as a way to honor both of them.

My condolences at your lost.

I was in a similar situation when my F-I-L passed in 1996. I sold the revolver I gave him. If you keep the 19-4 I would professionally refinish it. Maybe consider a Hard Chrome finish that is easy to maintain.

 

[Marshal Tom]

Condolences for your loss. I am glad to see that you would like to conserve the firearm and pass it down to your son. Because of that wish, I would certainly look to have it professionally refinished to make it like new or as close to that as possible. I do not think that a cleaned up gun with pitting etc is what it sounds like you are looking for. Investigate the best shop to do the work.

 

[6string]

My condolences for your loss.
And, it is because of the loss of a special person that I would preserve the revolver as is. Every mark on it, the good and the bad, is a real connection to the man and his memory.
What's more important, that it's a S&W 19, or that it is an important and personal memento between grandfather and grandson?
There is some great posted advice to neutralize the existing rust (I second using bronze wool and not steel wool) and keeping it oiled.

One more thought: current preservation ethics amongst the museum community is to do no modifications, refinishing, or even repairs to artifacts.
The only exception is to intervene if there is a case of continued deterioration that can be halted to preserve the integrity of the artifact.

I had a grandfather I barely knew who served as a merchant marine during WWI through WWII. If it were even possible that I had some memento of the life he lived, I would want it just as it was when it was in his possession.

Best wishes to you and your family!

 

[richrd]

My model 10 was well worn but did not have the rust yours does. I used it to test different fixes and ended up with it looking more than good enough for what it is.

it can be found here
face lifting a model 10 pt 2

 

[Laketime]

I would refinish the gun . For every bad one you see there are several that came out right.Send it to the factory.

 

[RCL-09]

Sorry for your loss.

As to the revolver I agree with those that say keep it as is. You can clean it up significantly with 0000 steal wool and a good gun oil, I have used that on many firearms and not experienced any scratching of the existing blue.

In my mind the gun is as your FIL had it and used it, that to me is worth conserving (after a good cleaning and rust removal). If that is not an option for you then I would suggest a complete refinish to make the firearm look as new as possible. For me it would be either keep as is, or full quality refinish no in-between.

I hope you will post pictures once you have made a decision and had it done.

 

[Chrisj357]

We have a local shop that does creacoating (sp). They sandblast then coat the gun. It really looks great. That gun looks like a good candidate for that process

 

[stansdds]

Very sorry that your father-in-law has passed away. As for spot re-blue, that's a definite no. You can send it to S&W and they will "re-blue" it, but it will not come back blue, it will be a black finish. S&W is reasonable with their price, but it's not the black oxide finish of the 1980-2000 era and definitely not the same as the Carbonia blue of the pre-1980 revolvers.

There are some other options. Find a gunsmith who is really good at polishing and bluing firearms to get it back to as close to original as is economically feasible. Have it bead blasted and matte blued, that would be economical. Have it hard chromed, which is not cheap, but it will be the most corrosion resistant finish you will find. I guess it really comes down to what you want to do with it?

 

[kamloops67]

Kind of looks like a perfect camping/woods gun just the way it is
Fill it full of 158 gr hard cast and your done

 

[Rpg]

I dislike cold blue products. They don’t look like a blued finish: they look temporary and a little like the stuff has been finger painted on the gun. In my experience, it’s pretty miserable stuff. I wouldn’t use the stuff on a gun of mine.

A complete refinish and Re blue by a good shop will run between $400-500. If you’re trying to finish the work by this Christmas, you may have reached the point where it can’t be finished by Christmas this year by a good shop.

Good refinish jobs are time consuming. Since the good shops are relatively small and in great demand, there is often a substantial wait to get the job done.

Smith can’t reproduce the original finish. They’ve changed their ‘blue’ finish to something that looks painted on and is relatively fragil.

Don’t use steel wool on the gun. Use pure bronze or copper wool.

Bits of the steel wool break off the pad and remain in finish irregularities and set up a new source of rust. Using steel wool creates a situation where you remove existing rust but seed the finish with a brand new coat of rust.

 

[NCBeagle]

I would probably just knock off the surface rust with copper scrub, oil and stay on top of it from this point forward. It may not re-rust if kept in climate controlled room. Could do a Kroil soak before attacking the rust.

 

[kbm6893]

I'd refinish it. It's one thing to not refinish a duty gun with duty wear put on by a family member, but the gun was given to him with no rust and now it has it. A refinish would be a nice thing if its gonna stay in the family.

But before I did that, I'd disassemble it and give it a bath in Automatic Transmission Fluid for a few days. Take it out every now and then and rub at the rust with copper or 0000 steel wool. I know some guys say don't use steel wool but it worked for me, and the bath in the ATF probably knocks out any loose pieces of the steel. I did this to a beater Model 10 I bought for $150 from a local guy and when I brought it back to show him he couldn't believe it.