Anyone wish S&W would bring back blued guns?
- Thread starter Coffee357
- Start date
...blue steel and walnut...blue steel and walnut. I'm sure with you in that line of thought.
Too bad this generation of revolver handgunners can't see past the stainless steel being fostered upon them. The blued guns of real gun steel have always been the best and always will be.
Now, S&W is making some guns out of lite weight metals that can't hold a finish or they go KABOOM! Kaboom, as in the top of the cylinder goes away from the gun, and if you're luckey not into your head or other vital parts.
Frankly, I can't get real excited about the coming out of the model 21 four incher, its got non treditonal front sights and the gold billboard on the side of the side plate. Plus, not all of us are crazy about the round butts...but, its a start in the right direction ... I hope.
What does it take to get S&W to make treditonal style revolvers from tried and proven past. Space age metals isn't doing it.
Just my 2 cents.
44and45
Too bad this generation of revolver handgunners can't see past the stainless steel being fostered upon them. The blued guns of real gun steel have always been the best and always will be.
Now, S&W is making some guns out of lite weight metals that can't hold a finish or they go KABOOM! Kaboom, as in the top of the cylinder goes away from the gun, and if you're luckey not into your head or other vital parts.
Frankly, I can't get real excited about the coming out of the model 21 four incher, its got non treditonal front sights and the gold billboard on the side of the side plate. Plus, not all of us are crazy about the round butts...but, its a start in the right direction ... I hope.
What does it take to get S&W to make treditonal style revolvers from tried and proven past. Space age metals isn't doing it.
Just my 2 cents.
44and45
I don't think it's being foisted upon them.
The 686 outsold the 586.
The 66 outsold the 19.
The 60 outsold the 36.
The 629 outsold the 29.
While they were all being sold side by side.
Look, we're geeky enough about guns that we are sitting here on a beautiful, sunny afternoon on Memorial Day weekend chatting about guns on the internet. We do not represent your average buyers.
Whenever a model gets discontinued, within a few years there will be a chorus of us gun geeks going "Why, oh why, did they discontinue this gun?"
If we'd been buying 'em instead of talking about 'em, they'd still be making 'em.
If you want to see Smith make more blued guns, buy one of every model they release. Get your friends to buy one, too. Gun companies notice that when they check their balance sheets. "Hey! These Old Skool models are selling like hotcakes! We should make more of them!" Can't blame Smith for being gun-shy after having to remainder out all the Heritage Series guns...
What happen to the SS 696, did they drop it because it was poorly made.
What happen to the blue or SS .44 specials period. Did all us geeks stop liking that caliber, I think not.
All the guys over at the Smith-Wessonforum.com would sell their Glock's to get one...me included...if I had one.
There is just not enough blued guns and especially in .44 special. I know, you will tell me the SS is the decided industry standard.
Looks like this thread's opinion poll is way out in front as the most popular choice being blue...right on.
44and45
What happen to the blue or SS .44 specials period. Did all us geeks stop liking that caliber, I think not.
All the guys over at the Smith-Wessonforum.com would sell their Glock's to get one...me included...if I had one.
There is just not enough blued guns and especially in .44 special. I know, you will tell me the SS is the decided industry standard.
Looks like this thread's opinion poll is way out in front as the most popular choice being blue...right on.
44and45
No, but Ma and Pa Kettle figured out that they could load the .44 Spl into a .44 Mag, and kicked sales of .44 Spl guns in the teeth back in the '60s. I walked the aisles of a gun show recently with a LNIB 4" tapered-barrel 624 that Id've happily parted with for four bills. If I had a dollar for everyone who handled it and said "Oh, I thought it was a .44 Magnum Mountain Gun; I don't want a Special," I wouldn't have had to sell the damn gun in the first place.
Looks like this thread's opinion poll is way out in front as the most popular choice being blue...right on.
I voted for blue, too, but that doesn't change the fact that the 52 of us who took time out from our Memorial Day weekend to screw around on a gun board don't represent a drop in the bucket of overall S&W sales...
hankrearden2000
New member
I would love to see beautiful blued revolvers back in the S&W catalog. I have a lovely Model-49 that I bought new in 1991. I've carried it against my sweaty hide more than any other gun I've owned, and it only shows minimal holster wear.
Secret. Clean blued guns every day with Breakfree after carrying them. This will keep them nearly new looking.
Secret. Clean blued guns every day with Breakfree after carrying them. This will keep them nearly new looking.
There's no comparison to fine blued steel. I agree with those who think S&W should go back to the old ways. There are finer virtues than salability, and I don't have to take a practical stance, as I am not a S&W accountant. Nowadays, when I think quality wheelgun, I don't think of S&W or Colt at all, I think of Ruger. Ironically, they don't offer the exact setup I'd want, which is a Redhawk 5.5" .45 Colt, blued. It only comes in stainless. They do offer that config in .44 Magnum:
GunsnRovers
New member
not from what I saw
I handled my first "new" S&W yesterday, a M25-13. If this is representative of what S&W is putting out these days, I'll keep buying older ones.
The blueing was sub-par, the grips were poorly fit, the trigger was hollow, and the look and feel the $600+ handgun was marginal. I had money burning a hole in my pocket yesterday, but after handling this revolver I went home, put the money in the lock box and I'll patiently wait for a PPT N frame to show up locally.
I will accept the trigger lock and I will accept hammer in frame grudingly, but the quality of the rest of the handgun was not what I want to take home. The fit & finish on my CZ-75 at almost half the $ was better.
I handled my first "new" S&W yesterday, a M25-13. If this is representative of what S&W is putting out these days, I'll keep buying older ones.
The blueing was sub-par, the grips were poorly fit, the trigger was hollow, and the look and feel the $600+ handgun was marginal. I had money burning a hole in my pocket yesterday, but after handling this revolver I went home, put the money in the lock box and I'll patiently wait for a PPT N frame to show up locally.
I will accept the trigger lock and I will accept hammer in frame grudingly, but the quality of the rest of the handgun was not what I want to take home. The fit & finish on my CZ-75 at almost half the $ was better.
Tripplethreat
New member
There's no finish quite as beautiful as the old high lustre blue that the old Smiths had. Call it nostalgia,but I can't help but still love 'em,and,yeah,I want 'em back. Proper care,and your guns won't rust,no matter what the finish. As someone else said,however,it's hard to imagine that the "new" S&W would invest the time to give us these guns again in regular production models. It would probably have to be a Custom shop deal.
Everything today seems to be based on expediency,and to heck with quality and craftsmanship.
Everything today seems to be based on expediency,and to heck with quality and craftsmanship.
warhammer357
Moderator
I am really regretting trading off my very first gun years ago. It was a blued model 29. The blueing was so deep and the finish was so polished you could look in it and see yourself like a mirror! This gun was a tackdriver too and after many thousands of rounds was still as tight as the day I bought it and it shot even better, if you can believe that. Of course, I was young and stupid then.....
I freaked out when the finish inside the chambers eroded and the muzzle flash burnt a streak away from the front of the muzzle and traded it (and all my other blue pieces) off on Stainless. Oh well, I did get a nice Colt Anaconda out of it! LOL....
I thought the four inch blue Mountain gun was awful pretty for a new Smith,and if I had the money and could find one, i would own it. Ditto for a three inch 24. Im very excited about the TRS .44 and have started saving the pennies as it were.....
>>> the recent appearance of last year's Model 29 Mountain Gun and this year's Model 25 Mountain Gun and the Thunder Ranch Model 21 seem to be cause for hope.<<<
I freaked out when the finish inside the chambers eroded and the muzzle flash burnt a streak away from the front of the muzzle and traded it (and all my other blue pieces) off on Stainless. Oh well, I did get a nice Colt Anaconda out of it! LOL....
I thought the four inch blue Mountain gun was awful pretty for a new Smith,and if I had the money and could find one, i would own it. Ditto for a three inch 24. Im very excited about the TRS .44 and have started saving the pennies as it were.....
>>> the recent appearance of last year's Model 29 Mountain Gun and this year's Model 25 Mountain Gun and the Thunder Ranch Model 21 seem to be cause for hope.<<<
SS for real business
IMHO, I prefer SS for anything that could be considered serious business, and blued guns are for plinking, collecting, and show. purposes where they can be babied, as any damage to the blue degrades resale value. SS is great if you do action smoothing as they are sometimes not as smooth as blued.
IF the shine bothers you, a bead blast job is cheap and easy compared to a blueing job. Unless of course, the blue gun is already worn and the price is right.
IMHO, I prefer SS for anything that could be considered serious business, and blued guns are for plinking, collecting, and show. purposes where they can be babied, as any damage to the blue degrades resale value. SS is great if you do action smoothing as they are sometimes not as smooth as blued.
IF the shine bothers you, a bead blast job is cheap and easy compared to a blueing job. Unless of course, the blue gun is already worn and the price is right.
I definitely wish Smith would bring back blued guns. Dont get me wrong, I like ss guns also but some of my blued Smith's are keepers. Among them are a model 19 Texas Ranger Comm. , model 27, and an early model 38 airweight. I even got myself a 4505 which is the blued version of the 4506. My only concern is Smith will not have the workmanship with blue guns compared to old guns if they were to reintroduce them. I would like to find a Nickel p/r 4 inch model 19 to go along with my bued 19.
