Stainless Guns High Polished-Original or Not??

[haris1]

Hello fellow smithophiles. I am in a quandry as to whether some of my collection has been tainted by prior owners who polished them. I have some that you cant tell from nickel!!!
I believe this hurts the value. But is there a way to know what the particular model was originally? Specifically, the models in question are 629,66,686,and model 60's
Below is a 686 as an example. Isnt that way too shiney???I will dig out some of the culprits and post them. Your answers as always are appreciated
and you have my gratitude





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[shawn mccarver]

That does not appear to be the proper factory finish. There are plenty of people who like this look, but I will not look twice at such as I never know what else the previous owner did. My usual assumption is that they had "second thoughts" about their success as a "firearms polisher," and I usually agree with them.

They may have also attempted other "kitchen table gunsmithing" and thereby made the revolver unreliable.

I always pass on such revolvers.

If the pictures on this forum are any indication, it appears that there are great many people who like the look and who will tell you exactly how to do it, etc.

For the most part, such a revolver has 0% factory finish left, and for me, it is not even a low offer - it is a pass.

Your picture appears to be a 60, not a 686. All of the revolvers you mention would have left the factory with the standard "satin" finish. The Performance Center does offer a "high bright polish" finish, and you might check by serial number and a call to the factory to see if any of your revolvers were sent back for such work. At least if it were factory, and you had documentation of that, you would be in a better position to sell them.

Sorry.

 

[Ranger514]

Looks great to me. My 66 looks a little dull by comparison. Maybe I'll polish it. I've never seen a 686 with fixed sights before.

 

[69HEMI-R/T]

Well, two things here. The revolver pictured is not a 686. If it was a 686 it would have an adjustable rear sight.

I have never seen a factory SS finish on a S&W revolver that shiny either. I, certainly, am no expert or even knowledgeable about S&W's and the different factory finishes available on each model of revolver but I have to think it has been polished by a previous owner.

Certainly could be wrong about the finish but that revolver definitely is not a 686.

 

[ladder13]

I pass on every hi polish gun I see for sale. They don't interest me one bit, ymmv.

 

[UNCLE PAULY]

Your pictured revolver looks like a polished model 60. For older collectable revolvers, I agree polishing the factory finish does lessen the value.

I took a brand new 3" 686-6 and polished it to a bright nickel finish after the 1st range day. I personally don't think any new S&W is collectable and like the flashy nickel look way more than the factory satin finish.

 

[Beemerguy53]

There are many different reasons for polishing a stainless steel gun.

I have a 3" 624 that I 'rescued' some years ago. It was in the display case in my LGS, and it was absolutely filthy. It was obvious that it had been left in a closet or somewhere for years after it had been fired, without having been cleaned.

The bore was dirty, the finish was flaking off the finger-grooved combat grips, and the whole gun was very dull and dirty. There was dust all over it, and there was no box or papers. The gun shop owner had elected to sell it in exactly the condition he'd gotten it, and he priced it accordingly. I bought it on the spot.

I wish I had taken before-and-after photos. I disassembled it, and found that while it was dirty, it was in near-new condition, and evidently had been fired very little. I cleaned it thoroughly and then reassembled it. The finish still looked terrible though, so I polished it with Simichrome, which cleaned it up beautifully.

I took the grips to a friend who does furniture refinishing, and had him strip them professionally. I then applied an oil finish to them.

Is it original? No, but it looks a heckuva lot better than it did when I bought it, and I can live with the fact that it no longer wears the original finish.

 

[haris1]

polishing stainless guns- yay or nay

The comments are great guys, and I have to admit.....me bad-thats no 686 with fixed sights but it isnt a 60 either. I will check tomorrow since the gun lives at my office. The nice part about polished guns is that when they sell for less since they are not original we can bring them back with a bead blast job which if I can do it ...anyone can. I struggle with a tire or oil change!!! And I can bead blast so anyone can.I wish there was some way with each stainless gun's engineering change there would be a picture of the finish. The CS-1 ones were more matte,the early model 60's were definitely shiny and sometimes PC guns are a breed to themselves.The more knowledge we disseminate, the easier it will be for tomorrow's S&W collector!!

 

[ferretray]

Not all of the revolvers you listed came with a bead-blasted finish. Most have what is usually referred to as a satin finish, Best duplicated with varying degrees of polish then a proper going over with some type of scrub pad.

 

[Nightowl]

I do not like the polished stainless either. However, I bought a 5" 610 a few years ago that looks like it might have been polished somewhat. It is a little brighter than the regular satin finish, but not as bright as the one pictured. It is a pretty hard to find gun, so I decided to live with it. Besides, it really shoots good.

 

[03Fatboy]

No polish for me either. Leave as is or bead blast, but we all have different taste

 

[Nemo288]

I tend to add marks to my factory finish stainless guns over the years.
Imagine how that would look on a mirror finish. Not so good.
Bead blast? Yep. Hides all kinds of age

===
Nemo

 

[murphydog]

The factory has done bright polished stainless guns - the very earliest model 60s had this. My recollection is this was too much work to do, and they then went to matte stainless for the vast majority of revolvers. Some NYPD and other LE guns have bead-blast finishes. The factory may re-do the satin finish (with the protective passivation coating) if you ask nicely .

 

[vrichard]

I have a earley 1965 mdl.60 with a bright polished finish & polished hammer & trigger.
ser. # 4098xx
Dick

 

[H Richard]

I have a 1976 vintage Model 60 that has finally gotten to a fairly bright finish, after 35+ years of being carried, shot, cleaned and handling marks rubbed out. It has that sort of soft bright glow from thousands of handlings with a soft cloth. It's just like an old friend.

 

[BJoe]

I have a earley 1965 mdl.60 with a bright polished finish & polished hammer & trigger.
ser. # 4098xx
Dick

I also have a very early 6058XX model 60 with a polish finish. I have read that early 60's did have this as a factory finish.

 

[charlie sherrill]

Our first issue guns were mod 66's. We bought our own prior to that. Several of us polished them to get a little "bling," myself included. We did the same thing a few years later when issued the 686-0, after sending them back for modification. I put smooth targets on mine with a badge shaped polished plate with my name and badge number engraved screwed to the bottom of the grips. I suspect that a lot of the older stainless guns are ex-leo and were polished by the officer that formally carried it. I'll buy one (I have several) for a shooter or carry gun but I won't pay as much. As mentioned earlier, other things were done to these guns, mostly action jobs. I did that to all of them I carried to work. I like that smoother double action trigger pull.

 

[litenlarry]

I use a small amount of flitz and a paper towel..I am happy with the results..

 

[bipe215]

I'm attracted to shiny objects. My 686 is like a mirror and very easy to clean. I polished my 500 and got way more than what I paid for it. Different strokes. If we were all the same it would be a boring world.

Steve

 

[arjay]

Dont think it matters either way,plenty of people like and buy shiny guns.