Smith finish
- Thread starter Gsmith
- Start date
Got a pic?
It may be better to leave the original finish than to monkey with it.
It may be better to leave the original finish than to monkey with it.
I am sorry to hear of your problem. Those old 5 screw guns are great. If you have someone hot blue the gun, it is still a refinished piece. Most any buyer will be able to tell it was refinished. It will look better, but I doubt it will sell for more than it would sell with the thumb print. The thumb print hurts the value, but a refinish may hurt the value more. Just my opinion. If you decide to hot blue, Brian Ott, of Otts Guns, in the Douglasville area, does very good work.
Bluing isnt a coating that a fingerprint cant be 'deep' into....its an oxidation of the metal. You can probably polish it lightly and get the fingerprint out.
I'd love to see a pic have you tried a stainless chore boy scrubber and some break free?
When he said "thumb print", I immediately thought, "blood". Blood on a blued finish will not polish out. It is just there. Flitz, or Mothers Mag polish is worth a try, but it will probably just lighten the area and not really get out the thumb print. But hey, before I had it hot blued, I would try some Flitz.
If you are going to keep it, and the thumb print bothers you, have it refinished. Heck, S&W will refinish it. However, it will NOT be the deep rich blue that an old 5 screw has, it will be pretty, but real close to black. I would check with Brian Ott, or if anyone else that is recommended, before I did anything.
Again, if you are going to keep it, make it pretty. Value does not mean a thing if you do not plan on selling it. That gun will last another 50 to 100 years, if you maintain it, whether you refinish it or not. Do what makes you happy. I have a couple of refinished guns and I like them much better refinished than I did when they were original.
