Re-Blued Model 10 is Home!

I dont see holstering it since it's not gonna be a carry piece, but even if occasionally do, it's not gonna hurt it. The wear on this gun came from 20 years of cop carry and getting banged around in a leather holster.
 
We got two M10s a few years ago and they looked similiar. I also found the condition of the guns not really complementing my collection of shooting irons and decided to do a rust blue touch-up and add some Nills.

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The S&W Model 10 revolver was used for some years before the GLOCK pistol replaced it in Law Enforcement circles.

The Model 10 has good accuracy for a revolver of it's type, and is chambered in the .38 special cartridge. It's a good choice, you did well and I like the reblue.
 
Nice model 10 & re blue . I almost bought a model 15 last week in similar condition and was thinking of re bluing it . The price of the re bluing turned me away though .
 
I really don't mean to be the bad guy here, but there is practically no reason to reblue a working (using) gun. It's very obvious that bluing doesn't wear well at all. It offers little protection from rust. If you are going to refinish-why not go with an upgraded finish like hard chrome, nitriding, or even nickel? These finishes cost very little more than bluing and are lifetime finishes.
 
I really don't mean to be the bad guy here, but there is practically no reason to reblue a working (using) gun.
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Other than he wanted to? Isn't that all that matters? This is the third time you posted in this thread disparaging his decision to re-blue HIS gun. Why does this bother you so much that you have to continually rain on his parade?

OP, I for one think it came out nice and really like your choice in the grips. It turned out to be a very nice gun, that anyone...well most... would be happy to own. ;)
 
I reblued it because I want my guns to look good and when I bought it I rolled the dice on the unseen gun from Buds. Some guys had gotten some almost new looking ones. When mine arrived, I was disappointed in the cosmetic issues. The serial number dates to 1981, which was a pivotal year in my life and I knew if I tried to sell it to finance a better looking one, that I would lose more money.

I'm not worried about blue loss since I'm never gonna holster it. I will be shooting it though.

When all is said and done, 300 bucks is not gonn change my life. My mortgage is still paid every month and my kids are not hungry.

Finally, it's a gun I wanna pass down to my son. Of all of my guns, my son points to this model 10 as his favorite. He's only 8 and I look forward to the day I gift it to him. I'll also be "wasting" some money on a nice box at some point!
 
Other than he wanted to? Isn't that all that matters? This is the third time you posted in this thread disparaging his decision to re-blue HIS gun. Why does this bother you so much that you have to continually rain on his parade?

OP, I for one think it came out nice and really like your choice in the grips. It turned out to be a very nice gun, that anyone...well most... would be happy to own.
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Of course, it's his gun and he needs to be happy with it. I'm glad he is.
I said I didn't want to be the bad guy, but I thought this a good place to bring up upgraded finishes-something few think about when the decision is made to refinish.
 
I don't like nickel finishes, and I would never out such a modern finish like hard chrome on a 35 year old gun. I have a model 67 and I have the Stainless look covered. I wanted a high polish blue and that's what I got.

And I don't regret it a bit.
 
I for one like the looks of a blue gun a lot more than a silver gun . I do have stainless guns though . I just would never turn a blue gun silver .
 
I cannot agree that there is "practically" no reason to do it. I quickly envision a Victory Model sitting next to a post-WWII commercial Model 10, and one of them just looks atrocious. Certainly, when sitting next to a Carbine or Garand on a dull green GI blanket, it totally looks "correct" and fitting, but sitting next to a lustrous commercial model, it looks like complete hell.

In fact, re-bluing that revolver is a fantastic idea on the whole when you consider that it is the antithesis of rare, it's quite simply one of -THE- finest firearm designs in the history of humankind, so re-finishing would never diminish the collector value because it doesn't carry much of that due to the massive production numbers.

A fantastic gun that he totally wants to pass down to his kids? I can't think of a better idea!
 
Let me explain "practically."
Certainly, if one wants to duplicate the original factory look, rebluing is appropriate.
But, as a practical finish, bluing is just about the worst finish there is. While it's pretty, bluing offers almost no rust protection, and it wears terribly. My point was- if you are going to refinish, it's more practical to use a better finish. The price difference is negligible, and any refinish ruins a guns collectability, so there is no "practical" reason to waste money on rebluing that is going to wear right off, and will rust readily.
 
Wouldn't it also make sense that your statement to practicality then points a finger at like... I dunno, maybe 65-70% of EVERY handgun ever built before the advent of stainless?

Some of the most scorchingly gorgeous handguns that ever graced the globe saw the light of day wearing a high polish and lustrous blue. I can't imagine anyone pigeonholed them as having a totally impractical finish...?!
 
Bluing doesn't "wear off" that easily. It take lots of times holstering and reholstering to do that. This was a cop gun and it sure had seen lots of holster wear. The site here only allows 6 pics and I had others, but couldn't post them, but the gun had maybe 60% of bluing left and the blue that did remain was awful. The grips were beat up too. This gun will not be holstered. It's a range gun only. It will not be in the rain. I clean and wax it so I will not be seeing rust. This isn't my first blued gun. I know how to care for it. It's sitting in the safe with a dehumidifier in it as I type this.

This isn't the gun that started WW 1. It's a model 10. It's not rare and it had no real collectibility. But it had the pinned barrel of older guns so I did the work.

For comparison, the Model 10 "Classic" that S&W offered cost more than this gun with the work included. And mine doesn't have the cheesy lock on the side, the round butt, or the other cost cutting measures that the newer ones do.

And one day when my son gets it, I am sure he will treat it like I do. Admire it for its classic beauty, shoot it since that's what it was made for, clean it and put it away until next time. I'm sure he'll have more modern guns for defense and carry, as I do.
 
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