A customer brought this custom S&W revolver in for appraisal and cleaning for possible sale. I have never seen anything like the dark lines on the finish of this pistol. This is the first time I have seen something like this and before I damage the finish, can someone out there tell me what causes it and how to remove
it?
http://s347.photobucket.com/albums/p457/mryan4850/Gunsh...current=DSC01722.jpg
http://s347.photobucket.com/albums/p457/mryan4850/Gunsh...current=DSC01714.jpg

Thanks, Mike

I've seen similar caused by hairline cracks in plating.

I was wondering, maybe it was satin plated before it was engraved, then blued.
Could be cracks in the plating. Nickle sometimes looks like that ??
good luck!

Notice the hair lines do not show on the gold. This would lead me to believe that it is a chemical reaction associated with lint, perhaps, which may have had a sulfer or other contamination. Silver is susceptable to this type effect. Just a thought. roger

I agree with Bartsche. Could have been a spiderweb That came into contact with the slide and was not quickly removed. I had a Browning shotgun that made contact with spiderweb while hunting once and it took the finish off when I cleaned it. Only took a few hours.

Mike

My guess would be rust coming from under the plating. May be due to surface prep before plating or to the lack of care. I would say lack of care. Is the right side worse than the left? To correct the problem entirely it would have to be refinished.

I would like to see a full photo of revolver if possible.

James

I cannot tell without a closer look, maybe if your camera has a "super macro" mode that might work.

To me, it looks either way-

It could be the finish being attacked externally causing corrosion related "runs", or it could be being attacked internally and causing the related "cracks".

If you examine the cracks under magnification you may be able to see if they are "V" or "U" shaped in profile, which points to external corrosion or they can have clean, vertical edges that mate up which points to a poor application of finish, or it can be an "inverted V" where you can see the corrosion started underneath and worked itself upward.

Can you remove the lower rib or a scope base and look underneath? That would also be a safe place to do some test poking, maybe under the grips as well.

As the others have said, I suspect that no matter what the issue is it will probably not be cured with just a simple cleaning.

http://s347.photobucket.com/albums/p457/mryan4850/?acti...current=DSC01713.jpg
I cannot get more photos to load. Must be too tired. Anyway, The story from the owner is that this revolver was made by or for Riley Gilmore of Tulsa, OK, the Bianchi Cup Champion and it was engraved by Jery (?) Davidson of Rustburg, VA. One of my customers brought it in for cleaning and appraisal with the intention of selling it. It's a .41 Mag and the action is slick as oily glass in both SA and DA. I will take it apart tomorrow to see what is under the lug and run some experimental cleaning tests. One of the weird things about this gun is the barrel is set up like a Dan Wesson with the locknut to hold the barrel and shroud on.

Here is the pic: