This story and restoration starts in the late 70's when I was a young kid (maybe 7 or 8 years old) living in Northeastern Indiana where my dad was a police officer. A young man in my hometown at the time had committed suicide, he shot himself in the chest. After the State Police investigation was over, they returned the gun the father of the young man who took his own life. The young mans dad immediately called my dad and asked him to come and get it. He said give it away, sell it, destroy it just don't bring it back to him. He never wanted to see it again, and I can understand that. My dad brought it home and pretty much from the beginning, it was always "my gun". I knew it's history and it never bothered me even a little bit. The State Police did engrave the gun under the stocks on the sideplate and on the frame at the butt of the gun with what I assume was the case number. They did a terrible job.
My dad kept it under lock and key until I was around 10 or 11 years old then he finally gave it to me. I suppose he got sick of having to get it out for me to fondle. I was allowed to take my Combat Masterpiece out of the house (we lived in the city) and ride on my bicycle with it in a left handed holster on my hip, out in the country to shoot it. Those were the days.
From the time we got the gun, it's bluing was damaged on the one side. I have since learned that blood is really bad on bluing, so I would bet that it sat in a little blood for a while (or it wasn't cleaned off due to the investigation). When I was a Freshman or Sophomore in High School, I took a class called "Field, Stream & Conservation". Other than the teacher being a tool of sorts, the class was pretty cool. We were each required to do a project in class from a list he had to choose from. To my amazement one project could be the rebluing of a gun (a muzzle loader barrel is what he was probably referring to) but I quickly asked if I could reblue my Model 15 Smith & Wesson. To my amazement, he said that if my parents and the Dean of Boys signed a permission slip, it would be okay. My parents obviously knew my respect for guns and how safe I was even then with them, so they didn't have a problem. The Dean didn't have a problem and also signed off on my permission slip, I was good to go! I brought that 4 inch .38 special, Smith and Wesson, model 15-2, Combat Masterpiece into my high school concealed, in my pants and under my shirt. It was unloaded of course, and I walked straight to the classroom where the teacher was and disassembled it before he locked it away. Did I mention that those were the days. I failed at my rebluing attempt after all this was way before YouTube and my teacher was a moron. I decided to taxidermy a red fox. I ended up taking the model 15 to a gun shop and having them send it away for hot bluing. I can't remember how much it cost back then, but the barrel had a different color and had buffing marks on each side of the barrel. I wasn't happy but it was better than what I could have done so I lived with it.
Fast forward about 20 years of carrying around and holstering. I ended up letting a buddy talk me into Duracoating my model 15-2 (bad idea). For obvious reasons I then had it media blasted and I polished it all by hand. Then I cold blued it.
Not being happy with the cold bluing, I decided to get it hot blued for more beauty and better durability. This time around I stripped off the cold bluing that I had put on, and I invested a little more elbow grease in the polishing this time around. I called several gunsmiths in several states and after trying to accurately describe what the guns condition was, I still couldn't find anyone willing to hot blue it. Then I stumbled across a local gunsmith in Cumming Georgia who was willing to let me hot dip my revolver using his equipment and tanks.
BEFORE...
AFTER...
My dad kept it under lock and key until I was around 10 or 11 years old then he finally gave it to me. I suppose he got sick of having to get it out for me to fondle. I was allowed to take my Combat Masterpiece out of the house (we lived in the city) and ride on my bicycle with it in a left handed holster on my hip, out in the country to shoot it. Those were the days.
From the time we got the gun, it's bluing was damaged on the one side. I have since learned that blood is really bad on bluing, so I would bet that it sat in a little blood for a while (or it wasn't cleaned off due to the investigation). When I was a Freshman or Sophomore in High School, I took a class called "Field, Stream & Conservation". Other than the teacher being a tool of sorts, the class was pretty cool. We were each required to do a project in class from a list he had to choose from. To my amazement one project could be the rebluing of a gun (a muzzle loader barrel is what he was probably referring to) but I quickly asked if I could reblue my Model 15 Smith & Wesson. To my amazement, he said that if my parents and the Dean of Boys signed a permission slip, it would be okay. My parents obviously knew my respect for guns and how safe I was even then with them, so they didn't have a problem. The Dean didn't have a problem and also signed off on my permission slip, I was good to go! I brought that 4 inch .38 special, Smith and Wesson, model 15-2, Combat Masterpiece into my high school concealed, in my pants and under my shirt. It was unloaded of course, and I walked straight to the classroom where the teacher was and disassembled it before he locked it away. Did I mention that those were the days. I failed at my rebluing attempt after all this was way before YouTube and my teacher was a moron. I decided to taxidermy a red fox. I ended up taking the model 15 to a gun shop and having them send it away for hot bluing. I can't remember how much it cost back then, but the barrel had a different color and had buffing marks on each side of the barrel. I wasn't happy but it was better than what I could have done so I lived with it.
Fast forward about 20 years of carrying around and holstering. I ended up letting a buddy talk me into Duracoating my model 15-2 (bad idea). For obvious reasons I then had it media blasted and I polished it all by hand. Then I cold blued it.
Not being happy with the cold bluing, I decided to get it hot blued for more beauty and better durability. This time around I stripped off the cold bluing that I had put on, and I invested a little more elbow grease in the polishing this time around. I called several gunsmiths in several states and after trying to accurately describe what the guns condition was, I still couldn't find anyone willing to hot blue it. Then I stumbled across a local gunsmith in Cumming Georgia who was willing to let me hot dip my revolver using his equipment and tanks.
BEFORE...
AFTER...
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