Does re-bluing de-value a 1950's gun?

[Art Doc]

Common sense.

 

[Modified]

Never say never. An old Corvette (say a mid-year 60's one) that's in 90% condition would be valued more than a restored Corvette, apples to apples.

Same with an older run of the mill Smith. At 90% a restore will lower the value, but at 50% ( finish wear, rust, or freckling)a good re-finish could add value.

The problem is that the cost involved in a truly good re-finish that could add value is roughly 3x what the gun will be worth after the refinish, on top of many months of wait time.

 

[glowe]

. . . an older run of the mill Smith. At 90% a restore will lower the value, but at 50% ( finish wear, rust, or freckling)a good re-finish could add value.

Here is the problem. A 44 Magnum is not a run of the mill Smith in any condition!

Demand for a non-Model numbered N frame 44 is very strong amongst collectors and SHOULD NOT be refinished period! A refinished early 44 Magnum would at best be worth half of what a 90% original would be. A 50% pre-Model 44 Magnum would still be worth more than a refinished gun as well after one has to pay for the refinish.

Re-bluing a sought after S&W model eliminates all the collector interest and value so now you are mostly attracting the uneducated and the bargain hunters. Most people with big money would not care much about what it is, but rather why is it no longer original?? If you want a pristine 44 Mag, go buy a new one and sell that one to someone who would appreciate it just as it is.

Lastly, who would refinish the gun? Are you talking about a premium gun restoration company? If so, $500 would probably be the down-payment. If you are talking about a local hot blue specialist, good luck on getting someone who knows what they are doing. The result could well be heavy buffing, smearing or obliterating the stampings, or ending up with a blued gun and a plum brown cylinder as is often the case.

 

[reddog81]

No refinish, please!

Here’s a gun that would have an increase in value with a refinish.

Even if you make the gun worth more, there's a good chance the combined cost of the refinish (include shipping and prep work) will still be a net loosing preposition.

I'd only get a gun refinished if it's something I wanted to do. A good refinish isn't going to be cheap and a cheap refinish probably isn't going to be a good refinish.

 

[Breakaway500]

Personally, I prefer a gun with patina. Not rust..or abuse..but good ole Pat!

 

[Ackley1952]

Have you ever seen a re blued gun in a museum? Just wondering.

 

[ben_g1]

Here is the problem. A 44 Magnum is not a run of the mill Smith in any condition!

Demand for a non-Model numbered N frame 44 is very strong amongst collectors and SHOULD NOT be refinished period! A refinished early 44 Magnum would at best be worth half of what a 90% original would be. *** A 50% pre-Model 44 Magnum would still be worth more than a refinished gun as well after one has to pay for the refinish.***

Re-bluing a sought after S&W model eliminates all the collector interest and value so now you are mostly attracting the uneducated and the bargain hunters. Most people with big money would not care much about what it is, but rather why is it no longer original?? If you want a pristine 44 Mag, go buy a new one and sell that one to someone who would appreciate it just as it is.

Lastly, who would refinish the gun? Are you talking about a premium gun restoration company? If so, $500 would probably be the down-payment. If you are talking about a local hot blue specialist, good luck on getting someone who knows what they are doing. The result could well be heavy buffing, smearing or obliterating the stampings, or ending up with a blued gun and a plum brown cylinder as is often the case.

Not wanting an argument here, but I disagree. No collector wants a 50% rust pitted gun in their collection, some people just don't like shooting ugly guns.

Fords in Florida have done good work for me at $500-$600.

here's a 27-2 they did for me.

 

[Modified]

Not wanting an argument here, but I disagree. No collector wants a 50% rust pitted gun in their collection, some people just don't like shooting ugly guns.

Fords in Florida have done good work for me at $500-$600.

here's a pre-27 they did for me.

I would disagree.

I am a fairly serious collector and I wouldn't own a Ford's refinished gun if you gave it to me. I would however very much enjoy (and do enjoy) my less than 50% rust pitted or just totally finish-free guns. Immensely.

There are more to these guns then merely looking good and shooting good. When one is re-finished (particularly with poor buffing), it just wrecks the fun of owning an original gun that someone used and shot to hell, and it looks it.

Ford's refinishes are fine for a colt, with that sort of melty buffed edge look that came with so many of those royal blue guns, but it looks all sorts of wrong on a S&W.

 

[merl67]

I realize this one isn't a S&W but I love it with all it's cosmetic flaws. It is probably the roughest gun I own, it is one of my favorites the stories it could tell...

 

[22hipower]

I'm late to the discussion but I'll chime in and agree with the majority that it shouldn't be refinished and that if you do you'll lose the cost of the refinish and probably more. I have had a couple guns re-blued and have not been happy with the results. I have a 6.5 4 screw pre-29 that has been used and shows it but probably is in 90+% condition. No way would I have it refinished.

The exception on refinished guns, in my opinion, are those refinished by the factory. Those refinishes, at least until sometime in the '80s were done by the same folks with the same equipment using the same processes as when the gun originally was manufactured. I see little or no deduction in value for an old factory refinish. Here are two; a 48 refinished by the factory in 1969 and a pre-27 redone in 1982. . .and the pre-29 with wear.

Another exception may be guns that have already been refinished at some time in their history and could be brought back closer to their former glory and/or which need a more utilitarian finish. I have a commercial 1917 poorly nickeled that I've toyed with having the nickel removed and re-blued. Also have a shooter 25-5 that someone had done in hard chrome and that's hard to beat for something to carry, shoot and not worry about.

Jeff
SWCA #1457

 

[Waveski]

An older gun that has been well refinished may be beautiful , but it lacks character.

A close friend had a Colt 357 he carried when he was a SAC captain. The gun was beat up by the time he left the service ,he told me , so he opted for a re-blue. That revolver had been carried on covert missions up and over the North Pole , but by the time I saw it all that history had been washed away ; it was just another gun.

I sure wish I could have seen it all dinged up from time in the cockpit during those long flights over the USSR...

 

[llowry61]

FWIW - if you care about re-sale value, buy the highest condition you can afford and make sure you don't diminish that condition.

So, if you buy truly ANIB examples, you may not be shooting them, but a 95% gun you can shoot some and still retain value.

If you want to shoot a lot, get good mechanical condition and have at it.

Once you get 40 or 50 guns or more, you can shoot them all a little and never worry about condition degradation.

Just my .02

 

[Justin T]

Even if you make the gun worth more, there's a good chance the combined cost of the refinish (include shipping and prep work) will still be a net loosing preposition.

I'd only get a gun refinished if it's something I wanted to do. A good refinish isn't going to be cheap and a cheap refinish probably isn't going to be a good refinish.

On my $400 beater Sistema, a refinish in blue would be expensive indeed. But that is besides the point, given the OP’s original question. The question was would a refinish increase value, and my example provided a valid reference point. A 90% revolver? Heck no.

Fortunately, some Sistemas were subjected to a rebuild program that included a parked refinish, and I like parkerized finishes. So I’m headed down that road.

 

[aphelion]

Rust and its aftermath is usually ugly, but simple bluing wear naturally accumulated through use can be beautiful. I wouldn't refinish this gun in a million years. It looks even more interesting than in these photos. But tastes vary, of course.

 

[merl67]

Rust and its aftermath is usually ugly, but simple bluing wear naturally accumulated through use can be beautiful. I wouldn't refinish this gun in a million years. It looks even more interesting than in these photos. But tastes vary, of course.

Here is my 29-2 wouldn't change a thing...

 

[Kurusu]

Buy it for what it is and when you find a nicer one,replace it with that one.

What do you mean replace it???

Have you got no heart?

Just have both. Show them to your friends and say:

This is what they look like when they left the factory. And this! Is what they look like if you actually enjoy them.

 

[mike from st pete]

Barn Find

Thanks for your responses. I was quite sure that it would decrease the value by about 1/3, but I wasn't sure if there might also be a market for people who see a Concours restoration as a plus, much like they do with Corvettes and other classic cars.

Now imagine that same 'Vette NIB so to speak.
Only a few miles, perfectly stored like a sock drawer gun with all the original paper work and tools?

 

[Neversink n Klapperthal]

If you have no intentions of selling it,or keeping it for an investment,by all means have it re blued,if they do as good a job as you say they do.Why keep it as original if your not satisfied with it?

 

[IrishFritz]

I believe a reasonable rule of thumb might be when you have a mechanically sound gun that has major finish issues such that it is no longer a collectible and if you can purchase it at a price that reflects that, then the case can be made to refinish the gun as a "working" gun.We all know that daily carry of a piece can be hard on the finish so restoring a worn gun as a carry piece can save a better piece from unnecessary deterioration. Doug Turnbull makes a good living out of resurrecting guns.

 

[bmcgilvray]

A re-blue is not undetectable. If a refinished example was lying next to your 90% gun on an exhibit table I'd look disdainfully at the refinished one while admiring your 90% original finish.