Moving Mom into assisted living.
I got Dad’s Smith 32 long and it needs some work.

Any recommendations?

Ford's has a good reputation in firearms reblueing:

https://www.fordsguns.com/pricing

I'm not sure that you should. How bad is it? A little - or even a lot - of "honest" or "character" wear (e.g., holster wear), I don't know that I'd bother. If it is rusted or especially pitted, forget it and just remove existing rust and keep it from getting worse. All you'd get is bluing over rust pits. There aren't many people around who can replicate that old bluing, let alone disassemble the gun (necessary), prepare the surfaces without messing them up and reassemble it. If any parts get damaged or lost, there won't be any replacements.

I was kinda think that, I would post pic for opinions. I can’t get logged in to my hosting site, been a while since I tried.

Ford's in Florida would be the place for blueing.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
I'm not sure that you should. How bad is it? A little - or even a lot - of "honest" or "character" wear (e.g., holster wear), I don't know that I'd bother. If it is rusted or especially pitted, forget it and just remove existing rust and keep it from getting worse. All you'd get is bluing over rust pits. There aren't many people around who can replicate that old bluing, let alone disassemble the gun (necessary), prepare the surfaces without messing them up and reassemble it. If any parts get damaged or lost, there won't be any replacements.

another vote for leaving it alone.

And another

I regret rebluing mine.

leave it as it is,

shoot and enjoy it

Leave it alone. There is no up side to refinishing.
A collectible gun with zero percent finish is worth more than a reblued one.
A non collectible gun with modest value ( let’s say $400) will cost $300 minimum for a good refinish after which it will be worth-$400.
Erasing its age and character is not a good thing either

I have no idea what a .32 is worth these days. I wouldn't pay to have it done because it will add nothing to the value of the gun. Not that long ago an average refinish would cost you more than the value of the gun. Then it would add nothing to that value. Keep the gun as it is.

Hammer1967,

I won’t share an opinion here for what you should do with the 32. However, it was your dad’s gun that is now passed to you. It must be what you want it to be. We can say this or that but the decision is yours to make. Read the posts and then do as you please. It is your gun after all. The value of the gun more $ or less $ will be what you think of it.

I have a model 10 that I had re-blued. I also have a model 10 that has honest finish wear. I love the looks of both of them and am perfectly happy with my decisions. Neither were inherited, however.

I’m also concerned with shipping.
If I sent it out and it got lost, that would suck.

I bought this shooter grade .32 for $325 a few months back. Refinished it might bring $350

Not a thing wrong with double sharp revolver appearance. Guns acquire wear from honest use, trying to keep them pristine is a losing proposition

Do a search on Youtube for Mark Novak and spend some time watching his videos. He uses a process known as Rust Bluing to convert red rust to Black Oxide and it is a super simple process. Basically you remove any oils or grease with solvents and soap and water and once it's totally free of grease and oil it gets dropped in a pot of boiling water. For complete actions with barrel mounted the "pot" is basically a metal pipe with heaters and the bottom to get it boiling. After boiling from 45 minutes the part is removed and carded with a brush. Note even a cheap nylon brush can be used once the item is fully cooled, ass you are doing is brushing off the loose balck dust that can form. If you can find a bronze carding brush that will work a bit faster. After carding t he surface you'll find you have some new red rust showing, so keep repeating the boiling cycles until you cant find any red rust. Note on Carding, you want to remove any loose scale or dust, you DO NOT want to scrub the finish down to bare metal. If you are unsure about how much is enough remember LESS IS SAFER. The whole point is to preserve the remaining finish and extra boil cycles will not remove any finish so rely on that instead of trying to scrub the finish too much.

After that an application of oil to act as a rust preventative is the next step and plain old lawn mower oil works just fine. However make sure it's plain oil because you do NOT want an oil with detergent additives, these can act to remove bluing. After oiling take some paper towels and wipe the surface clean and dry.

BTW, Black Oxide is a lattice structure sort of like a sponge and filling that lattice with oil is what prevents rusting. So with any blued firearm it is good to refresh that lattice from time to time with a bit of plain non detergent oil. If your out in the rain doing some Hunting when you bring the gun in dry it off well and then wipe it down with a bit of oil. For guns that are stored inside refreshing the finish every year will prove beneficial.

Finally if you conserve the finish properly you'll find how good that finish looks to be a bit of a shock. Nothing invested but time and your gun will look at least 20 years younger.

You might contact Coyote killer here on the forum. He did some work for me and it was fantastic.