A Chrome Highway Patrolman

[Seamus O'Caiside]

I am posting 2 pictures – hope they show up because this is my first time with pics.

You S&W purists will not like this, but I do, and it is my gun!

I bought this S&W Model 28-2 "Highway Patrolman" new somewhere around 1969-70 (serial no. N395XX – yes, that is 5 digits). I always loved that gun, but I never shot it very much, because not long after I got it, I became addicted to sporting clays, and the handgun laid in the bedside table for decades. Now I am old and blind in my dominant (right) eye, so I gave up sporting clays and went back to handguns (I am left-handed and can shoot a handgun with my left eye).

One thing I learned during my years with shotguns is that I have "rusty fingers", something in my skin oils that causes metals to corrode. As long as I keep a blued gun clean, it will not show rust or pitting, but the blueing will quickly wear off the areas that I touch. Even nickel will tarnish, and the tarnish is almost impossible to remove. I got a couple of shotguns chromed by APW Cogan, with good results.

The HP was still almost perfect after about 50 years when I started shooting it more, and decided that I needed to protect it better. In the meantime, I have bought a couple of stainless S&W's and a couple of nickel ones, and I like shiny guns. So, off it went to APW Cogan for their hard chrome finish. I'm going to give you a lot of detail because several people have asked me to share my experience.

I specified brushed chrome, but no chrome on the trigger, hammer, and rear sight. APW says on their web site that they use matte chrome on the top rib unless specified otherwise, and I did not specify. I shipped it UPS insured for $1000 at a cost of $48.76 on 2/27/21 and they received it 3/2/21. They shipped it back on 3/25/21 and I received it 3/29 or 3/30/21. The cost was $250 for the plating plus $65 for disassembly and reassembly (I chose to leave that to them to do) and $61 for shipping and insurance. Again, I specified I wanted $1000 worth of insurance.

As far as I can tell, the plating is perfect. In the picture, there appears to be a spot just above the front of the cylinder release button, but after I noticed that in the picture I wiped it off the gun with my fingertip. The gun shoots perfectly, trigger pull was not affected, and it is obviously more accurate than I am.

There is one problem – after a few rounds, the chambers foul up and make extraction very difficult. 20 passes of a bore brush through each chamber helped a little. I will try a bigger brush and more passes. Anybody got better suggestions?

OK, I am going to post this now - I hope it works!!!!

 

[GypsmJim]

I'm not a purist, but I like some of my guns to be shiny as well. My preference is a High polish SS, followed by nickle. Yours looks nice so I wouldn't apologize for it.

 

[3 Olives]

It's your gun - enjoy it!
Sorry, but I don't have any suggestions.

 

[Peak53]

Looks good, except I wonder if you would be happier with a black front sight?

 

[shamuscull]

Had work done by apw cogan. He does good work and I would use him again. He pushes the hard chrome and says it is a very durable finish maybe I will send him something again and try it out.

 

[Protocall_Design]

I would try honing the chambers with a Flex Hone. I think Brownell's has them. Usually, hard extraction is caused by surface roughness. Can't say for sure in this case, not being able to examine it first hand.

 

[Pisgah]

Sort of like making a silk purse out of -- well, another silk purse! But, hey, it's your gun and they did a very nice job -- good-looking and durable, for sure.

 

[M29since14]

I would nix the flexhone idea. The tool will tend to "follow" surface irregularities to some degree and may not be the best idea. And you run the risk of "blending" the transition between chamber and exit bore. You might be better off to turn a brass mandrel and lap with a light and/or medium grit of Clover compound. If you can identify an offending chamber, you can save yourself some work.

You might call Cogan and see what they suggest. I'm assuming the revolver extracted-ejected normally before plating?

 

[Seamus O'Caiside]

You might call Cogan and see what they suggest. I'm assuming the revolver extracted-ejected normally before plating?

Thanks. I will take that suggestion and talk to Cogan before I do anything else. Yes, extraction was normal before.

 

[Seamus O'Caiside]

Looks good, except I wonder if you would be happier with a black front sight?

You are right. I need all the help I can get, because I am blind in one eye and can't see out of the other.

The front sight blade is not removable. Cogan can cut a dovetail in the sight and insert colored plastic, but the only color they have is orange. Orange may be effective, but it is ugly as sin. I'm going to try masking it and using a little florescent red Testors paint.

 

[lefty_jake]

You are right. I need all the help I can get, because I am blind in one eye and can't see out of the other.

The front sight blade is not removable. Cogan can cut a dovetail in the sight and insert colored plastic, but the only color they have is orange. Orange may be effective, but it is ugly as sin. I'm going to try masking it and using a little florescent red Testors paint.

I was going to suggest the same thing. I paint my sights with Testor's paint, and I am quite happy with the results. I find that the plastic inserts are never that visible, and become scuffed up over time. A good paint job is more visible than the plastic, and is easier to refresh when it needs it.

 

[Golphin]

I was going to suggest the same thing. I paint my sights with Testor's paint, and I am quite happy with the results. I find that the plastic inserts are never that visible, and become scuffed up over time. A good paint job is more visible than the plastic, and is easier to refresh when it needs it.

Sharpie and others make permanent markers for metal that will work to color the front sight.

 

[Hair Trigger]

What's not to like about a M28. Looks nice, like a stainless gun.

 

[BigBill]

I have a body sweat problem too using in the pants holsters. My stainless and nickel guns get tarnished or a dull finish in hot weather. I end up polishing the dull finish to bring it back. I prefer shoulder holsters anyway. Just to say your not alone.

 

[Muley Gil]

Sometimes, plating adds just enough to the tolerances to make things a little too tight.

 

[tennexplorer]

What kind of .357's were you firing? There is some less than great quality stuff out there now.

 

[Beemer-mark]

I would nix the flexhone idea. The tool will tend to "follow" surface irregularities to some degree and may not be the best idea. And you run the risk of "blending" the transition between chamber and exit bore. You might be better off to turn a brass mandrel and lap with a light and/or medium grit of Clover compound. If you can identify an offending chamber, you can save yourself some work.

You might call Cogan and see what they suggest. I'm assuming the revolver extracted-ejected normally before plating?

I have the ball type hones and have honed the cylinders of a lot of revolvers with rough interiors. The hones are made for brake cylinders which are a lot pickier than cylinder throats.

 

[kraynky]

I think it looks pretty darn good! Since it's yours, you could have it gold plated, camouflaged or even nickle plated or bronzed if you wish. I like my 28 blued, and the little bit of wear it has on it suits me perfectly. But I totally get where you're coming from on the "rusty fingers".

Used to have a fellow on our deer lease that nobody would let him admire one of our guns, if he wasn't wearing gloves. His pocket knife, belt buckle, and any gun he touched would soon be rusty. A perfect fingerprint would be there the next day if he forgot to spray/wipe it down at lunch break or at bedtime.

He had corrosive skin (salty or something) that would rust up a fishing reel in fresh water.

I digress,...... I would likely try a bronze or copper brush chucked in a drill, and use some Flitz, or a rubbing compound inside the cylinders. Let us know what Cogan has to say about it too.

Of course you could show off a few more pictures of the chromed 28, anytime you feel like it! I like it!

 

[GerSan69]

Looks great! I'm a big fan of hard chrome refinishing.
OK, first, have you figured out if it's one chamber or more giving you grief? Once you know where to concentrate your efforts, I suggest polishing the offending chamber with one of the many metal polishes. You won't wear down hard chrome but you might be able to smooth it out some. Good luck!

 

[Seamus O'Caiside]

I sent an e-mail to Cogan yesterday, but it was late in the day. He called me today and we chatted for a while. Neither of us knows whether this problem is due to the plating or not, but he is going to work on it. He has seen something like that just a few times in the past.

Per his instructions, I'm going to fire a cylinder of shells, leave the empties in it, remove the cylinder and send it to him. He said he will get it back to me pretty quick.

I'm pleased with his response and it looks like it is going to be taken care of. We may never know whether it was caused by his plating or not.