All right, we all have to admit that the bluing on old S&W's (model 27-2 to be exact) was fantastic. Rich and beautiful, great lustre etc. etc. This was though Charcoal Bluing, which not only I guess is hard to find somebody that does it, but is not cheap either.

I have a revolver that needs to be reblued (some good rust, but nothing too deep into the metal). I was thinking about having it hot blued instead. I wanted to know though, what is the durability of Charcoal Bluing?

the biggest problem seems to be that people that do bluing don't like polishing out the metal on pistols. Don't know how much the whole job will cost, not that I plan on doing it soon. i just went camping this weekend and it is my companion when I go and I always worry about it being more susceptable to rust now that the finish is not there in a couple of spots.

I should mention that the color case hardening on the trigger and hammer have lasted quite well.

Red

Doug Turnbull has carved himself out a niche doing all the old classic finish methods. Prices seem resonable. The Colt WW1 reissues are finished by his company with the carbonia process and are really a sight to be seen ( and fondled).



http://www.turnbullrestoration.com/pricelist.htm

It depends upon who does it. Most pre-war Winchesters were blued via charcoal bluing (sometimes by a combination of methods), and often by subcontractors, and it's not at all uncommon to see near-new early pre-war Model 70's with flaked, charcoal-blued receivers, and pre-war Model 92s and 94s with badly flaked receivers. Many of these guns are in nearly new condition, and some -- if you can believe it -- are new-in-th-box. Other specimens retain almost all of their bluing. When Winchester went with hot bluing after WWII for most production rifles, consistency and durability of bluing increased dramatically.

If I had an older S&W revolver that meant something to me and that was originally charcoal blued and I wanted it restored, there is no question that I'd send it to Doug Turnbull Restoration. Those good folks are wizards. They know more about restoring and applying correct original period finishes than anyone else, and they can very carefully remove pits and refinish to original condition.

www.turnbullrestoration.com

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I have seen his work and have met him, he seemed to be a nice guy and his work is of the highest quality, if I went with original finish it would be him I had do it. Although it has sentimental value because it was my fathers, I don't want to go with original if it will not last like the hot or rust blues. Maybe doug will be in REno in january and I can ask him how he thinks it would hold up (the carbona blue).

Red

Oh! One other thing. The factory charcoal blue was as tough as any blue, including rust blue. I can't attest to the wearability of the new stuff.

I think Turnbull got a lot of help setting up his charcoal blue from Dan Cullity. He has been doing this type of restoration for a lot of years. He's not as well known as Turnbull because most of the restoration work he does is for people in the trade. He would also be a good guy to talk with regard to your questions..

Allen:



I have a theory about the flaking Carbonia blue found on Winchesters. I have, to my knowledge, not seen a flaked Colt or Smith. To my thinking that eliminates the Carbonia process as the culprit.



Colt's and Smith's were not heat treated with case hardening as the Winchester's were, and I have seen many, many flaked case colors on Winchesters( I have done more than a few restorations). I've held the opinion over the years that the case coloring process was the cause of flaking Winchesters. I'm not positive about this, it's pure speculation.



BTW, Smith was using Carbonia blue until the early '80's.