Lots of use for a K-Frame?

[Bang340]

Guys... if you were going to carry a Model 19 or 66, concealed, and you also wanted to shoot it maybe 50 rounds per month, would the Blue hold up ok or do you think it would be best to go with a 66? I'm pretty sure I know the answer... but man.... I just love the old beautiful blue of the Model 19's!

Thanks.

 

[SmithNut]

The blueing will wear more due to the holster you carry it in rather than shot count.
It's just going to wear on the muzzle and other edges if you carry it moderately, and if you holster/reholster on a regular basis.

If you are concerned about this, I'd suggest the stainless models, these will also show wear in their own way, but not as rapidly or as noticably as a blued gun

 

[sixdeuce]

Both have faults

Hello! I have had and used both alot over the last 25-30 years. Here is my free (if worthless) advice:

1) a blued model is great if you are going to shoot thousands of rounds through it as
it will wear very slowly (more slowly than stainless) but it is not so great if you mostly carry it and do not shoot it much and you are in very corrosive environments (salt water,
boating, high humdiity, etc.)

2) a stainless model is great if you carry it alot but seldom shoot it. If corrosion is usually
what will wear it out where you will be, then a stainless is best. In my experience,
stainless will wear faster if fired thousands of rounds in a short period of time.

3) I have come to the point, after 30 years of S&W k frames, where I own both and
which one I pick depends on what I plan to do. Going boating, carry the stainless.
Going to the range with 500 rounds, carry the blued.

 

[Bang340]

So what you're really saying: "Buy BOTH and have fun using them!"

It's an addiction.... my wife is gonna really like it!

Hello! I have had and used both alot over the last 25-30 years. Here is my free (if worthless) advice:

1) a blued model is great if you are going to shoot thousands of rounds through it as
it will wear very slowly (more slowly than stainless) but it is not so great if you mostly carry it and do not shoot it much and you are in very corrosive environments (salt water,
boating, high humdiity, etc.)

2) a stainless model is great if you carry it alot but seldom shoot it. If corrosion is usually
what will wear it out where you will be, then a stainless is best. In my experience,
stainless will wear faster if fired thousands of rounds in a short period of time.

3) I have come to the point, after 30 years of S&W k frames, where I own both and
which one I pick depends on what I plan to do. Going boating, carry the stainless.
Going to the range with 500 rounds, carry the blued.

 

[HAWKEYE10]

Well here goes! I love blued S&W K-Frames.
I don't own a stainless S&W, I really like blued
guns. All these guns are shooters and never
carried. What I carry is a Kahr CW9 & CW40.
They are high quality,light,and dependable. I also
carry a Kel-Tec as a BUG. There are other quality
guns you could carry. M S&W are all shooters but
they are nice shooters and I want to take care
of my babies. Opinions are like - - - - - - - everyone
has one. Don

 

[bubbajoe45]

bang it!

If you love a blued gun (me too), then carry it, shoot it, enjoy it, that's why you bought it (not to fondle). At the end of the (your) day, it will show the wear and have the history of bang340. When youngsters pass it around 20 or 40 years from now they'll say, 'Yeh, ole bang used to pack this rod'. I don't seriously think you could wear out one of these guns (interesting challenge?) - let's see at 50 rnds/mon, that's 600/yr, and 6000 in ten years (maybe you should have it checked over then in 10 yrs just to be sure it's still OK). Remember, they weren't made to fill up safes.

 

[tac803]

Blued guns require more care than stainless (although that's not necessarily a bad thing). I have used flitz polish gently and sparingly on all my blued working guns. Once the luster is brought out, I simply wipe them down after carrying them, usually with an old hand towel. I don't have the blue worn off, or rust problems on guns that have been carried for years! Besides, a slightly worn working finish adds to the character of the piece. If you want to keep it pristine, put it in a box.

Stainless isn't maintenance free. You have to deep it clean and wiped down, or it can discolor over time. I've even seen rust on stainless before. That being said, it's less work to keep them up. They will scratch, and holster wear will become evident, but they can be polished with no concern for loss of finish.

 

[fyimo]

I have both blued and stainless guns as shooters. They both hold up well if cleaned properly but the blued gun will show more holster wear over time. I say that because I polish my stainless guns and they can easily be brought back to a high luster shine with the proper materials and techniques. However, no matter what techniques you use on a blued gun once the blue is worn off it's gone and no amount of polishing is going to bring it back.

 

[Art Doc]

Will it "hold up?"

No.

If you use a gun it will become worn looking. Fact of life. Holster wear is the biggest culprit in wearing a blued finish. If it's important to you that the gun stay looking like new then don't use it. Stainless starts out ugly and is not much affected by holster carry. Stainless is the most practical, and that's the only thing going for it IMB.

Want to see what a S&W carried a lot in a holster looks like?

 

[Bang340]

Guess I will just have to get it in my head that if I buy a pretty new blue gun, it just will "age" in time....

That's ok. I still love the looks of the blued Smiths.

 

[Cocked & Locked]

A little blue wear from use (not neglect) ain't a bad thing, but stainless is good too.

19-1

66-no dash

 

[Iggy]

13 years of duty holster wear. We both have marks and scars that were honestly earned. I wouldn't consider refinishing it or dyeing my hair and beard.

 

[stevieboy]

I buy guns to shoot. All of mine get used, regularly. Consequently, I don't worry too much about natural wear, I consider it part of the business and, besides, a little wear adds to the charm as far as I'm concerned. On the other hand, I'm a fanatic about cleanliness!

 

[4inch357]

"That's ok. I still love the looks of the blued Smiths"

Yes, they just have that classic look.

 

[signsrup]

There was a time, that every handgun I owned, or hoped to own, was stainless. Now I look at stainless guns, and they appear "lifeless". A well worn blued gun seems to be talking to you, telling you stories about how it was treated, and the things it's done, much like an old boat.

We seem to get caught up in "how long will these things last.." debates, when in reality, unless someone knocks on our doors to take them, most will outlive their owners.

 

[shawn mccarver]

As long as you wipe it off regularly, you should be fine, but the 66 makes the job easier.

 

[TNDave]

There is no doubt blue will show wear if you carry a blue steel gun all the time. Two factors make a big difference though. One is sweat and the other is your holster.
If you carry inside the belt with the gun against your skin that side of the gun will suffer from being sweated on. If you holster gets soaked with sweat the whole gun will want to rust. If you carry IWB but wear a T shirt between your hide and the gun it will eliminate a lot of that. If you carry the gun outside the belt sweat won't really be a factor.
Your holster also makes a big difference. A quality holster like a Kramer, Sparks, and others are smoother inside and fit the gun better than commercial holsters like Galco, Hume, etc. Lined holsters are the worst for rubbing the blue off a gun esp once the lining gets grit trapped in it. A good holster doesn't allow the gun to move inside the holster so it eliminates a lot of rubbing.
Some blue wear is inevitable but if you carry outside the belt, get a properly fitting holster, and wipe your gun off with RIG everyday you can minimize it. But hey, some blue wear is no big deal. In fact once the shine is knocked off a gun you can quit worrying about the blue and just enjoy the gun.

 

[Louie]

Back in the days of revolvers in police holsters, I was carrying the issued model 64. The Dept. allowed your own gun to be carried by choice. A good friend carried his blue model 19 4" every day in a police uniform holster. This was in Pinellas County Florida, (where St. Pete is located; think Rays ball team) and it is hot and humid. At the end of each day, he removed the revolver from the holster, wiped it off with a silicone cloth that he kept in his locker, and put the gun on the shelf in the locker until the next shift. He did this for years, and the gun had no noticable holster wear, and no rust. He used this gun to shoot a jewelry store armed robber that was trying to get the safety off on his 25 automatic after the officers showed up on the alarm as the robbers were running out. Shot from the hip at close range with the lead SWC 38 spl HP +p that was issue at the time, and the gun and the ammo did a fine job.

 

[99tdr]

Hi,

Just to tell you tale of the life of one blue k Frame that was used/carried/ and worn out, and re-born.....

I bought a 19-2 used, it was owned by two LEO's, who carried it. I know the 2nd LEO that owned it, that I bought it from. And it shot cleaning when I bought it.
I don't know how much of what type of ammo either LEO put through it.

The finish was well worn when I bought it back in the mid 80's.
You could see the hostler wear on the barrel, and where the strap was, and on the cylinders.

After a few of years of my shooting it every couple of months or so, with a minor amount of magmum loads, and mostly P+ wadcutters, it started spitting lead, not a good sign I was told back then.

It still shot accurately (as I could with it) at 10 yds in doors, but didn't want to do any more damage to it or to me... so I put it away.

It was damaged during storage (hence why it looks soo bad in the before).
(stuff happens, is the point here)

So I recently finally sent it into S&W.
The cylinder was "shot out", the forcing cone wasn't cracked but had erosion.
There was a problem with the firing pin seat,a bent cylinder pin. And some internal lock work worn out we found out later. Based on the bag of lock work parts, seems most of it was replaced, with a few springs.

So basically it received a complete overall at S&W, and has been re-born.

If your collecting it, put it away in the safe and never shoot it.
If you want to enjoy it, use Magnum load sparingly in a K-frame, but enjoy it...
And when it needs to re-born in 15-20 years or so, send it back to S&W.

BEFORE....

AFTER...

 

[Bang340]

Wow!

Quite a transformation there! What did they charge you to restore it to like new? Beautiful!

Hi,

Just to tell you tale of the life of one blue k Frame that was used/carried/ and worn out, and re-born.....

I bought a 19-2 used, it was owned by two LEO's, who carried it. I know the 2nd LEO that owned it, that I bought it from. And it shot cleaning when I bought it.
I don't know how much of what type of ammo either LEO put through it.

The finish was well worn when I bought it back in the mid 80's.
You could see the hostler wear on the barrel, and where the strap was, and on the cylinders.

After a few of years of my shooting it every couple of months or so, with a minor amount of magmum loads, and mostly P+ wadcutters, it started spitting lead, not a good sign I was told back then.

It still shot accurately (as I could with it) at 10 yds in doors, but didn't want to do any more damage to it or to me... so I put it away.

It was damaged during storage (hence why it looks soo bad in the before).
(stuff happens, is the point here)

So I recently finally sent it into S&W.
The cylinder was "shot out", the forcing cone wasn't cracked but had erosion.
There was a problem with the firing pin seat,a bent cylinder pin. And some internal lock work worn out we found out later. Based on the bag of lock work parts, seems most of it was replaced, with a few springs.

So basically it received a complete overall at S&W, and has been re-born.

If your collecting it, put it away in the safe and never shoot it.
If you want to enjoy it, use Magnum load sparingly in a K-frame, but enjoy it...
And when it needs to re-born in 15-20 years or so, send it back to S&W.

BEFORE....

AFTER...