I recently purchased a Can-Am Maverick Trail and have scheduled a camping trip up in the Northern woods. This will be my first trip out with it and my first time up in the woods. There has been a lot of bear sightings so I wanted to pick up a 44 magnum as a JIC gun. Also always wanted one and this seem liked the appropriate time to buy one. The gun was a neglected just a bit and I would like to get it re-blued. Does anyone have experience with doing so? Would you send the gun out to Mag na port and have them port it? What about Precision Bluing? Their work looks awesome, and the write-up is great very descriptive.

quote:

Originally posted by GroundedCLK:
Would you send the gun out to Mag na port and have them port it?

NO!

I've two here that I wish weren't.

Sir if this fine 29 is going to the woods just use it till it fails. I use a hot .44 special in my revolver not magnums too much pain for me...VI

Instead of re-blueing, maybe use CCR for a more durable woods-gun finish?

quote:

Shoot it. Bears don't care about pretty blueing.
I absolutely love SW combat grips but not on a 44 mag. Get you a set of the Hogue recoil absorbing 500 grips. They done list them as fitting the rb frames but they do. Contact Ken@Hogue to verify fitment. I put them on my 629 44 mag and they were worth it but still ended up selling it as i felt with every shot that my wrists were going to suffer permanent damage. Double up on hearing protection also. Did like its range clearing abilities though. Worked every time!

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yeah the grips made a world of difference. I have the same gun with a longer barrel. It is unpleasant to shoot 44 mag so I often shoot 44 special. It is a fun gun. I would not bother with blueing, just get the better grips. BTW do NOT port the gun. It makes little difference and makes the gun hard to clean.

quote:

Originally posted by PaPaP226:
Shoot it. Bears don't care about pretty blueing.

Truer words were never said!

I'm not a fan of porting either. For a gun you plan to holster and shoot, I wouldn't bother with the expense of reblueing. Just shoot it and enjoy as is.

S&W does a nice job of rebluing also. I would not magnaport it.

It's a tool for a specific purpose. Why spend money to make it pretty? Leave it as is.

Jim

Looks pretty good to me, I wouldn't touch it. For a carry woods gun I would maybe do the Houge grips or maybe some VZ G10 grips and I wouldn't port it. You're going to have enough flames coming out of the front with that short barrel, who needs more coming out of the top?

Beautiful Smith and I love those combat grips!

Uhhh.... that short barrel will roar enough without porting. I would pass on that. And for a gun you plan to carry and expose to the elements, I would hold off awhile before a refinish. Looks fine to me!

Uh. I'll partially disagree with the above responses to leave it as is, always. Just wait until it saves your skin. If it does that, then you can even invest in some engraving. The engravers then get the gun reblued, and a quality job to set off their work. If the gun fails and the bear eats you, you've saved the cost!

Don't port it unless you want to be deaf and blinded when you shoot it in the woods. Put some rubber grips on it are a must. I'd just clean up the blueing it has and leave it alone. Ford's if you want to reblue it.

That's a great revolver. The 3" N-frame is the absolute stuff. If you want to get it finished, you should. I would consider carrying it and shooting it for quite a bit before you do so. Time will give you a better feel on what you want out of the gun. Congrats on that purchase. You'll get a lot of enjoyment out of it.

No MagnaPort.
Get some rubber grips.
https://www.midwestgunworks.co.../mgwi/prod/413870000

Running your trail rig, if you encounter trouble, you can be confronted immediately.
So if you can't draw quickly, it won't matter.
Get a holster that you can draw quickly from and practice with it.
This is a chest used in Alaska.
https://gunfightersinc.com/sho...-for-sw-n-frame-629/

This message has been edited. Last edited by: DirectDrive,

As stated, no on the porting.
There is enough fireworks without the porting.





I like my guns pretty, so I understand the want to reblue.
I'd send it to S&W and have them do it.
Maybe get a trigger job while it is there.

PERFORMANCE CENTER® PRECISION GUNSMITHING

They did great work on one of my 686+ revolvers..

OP, that’s a nice revolver!

While not a .44, I’ve acquired a S&W 28-2 that, somewhere along the line, was fitted with a 3.5-inch barrel from a S&W 27. This has become one of my favorites very quickly! Shown posed with some Barranti Leather gear (all of which is also working-out nicely) and a shot at the ignition of a 110-grain .357 Magnum round. I’d pondered the Magna-Port notion but also wouldn’t want even more flame, etc. haha...

Jerry Miculek who shoots S&W officially always recommends porting the competition revolver. In the videos I have seen, he never extends this to a woods revolver.

Having a great rust proof finish to me would be of some value for a woods gun. Sure, blued guns have withstood the outdoor environment for centuries now. But, there are many more durable finishes today.

I would never use a spray-on finish on a classic revolver like this, however. Nor would I have it media blasted to look more matte.

If you are simply looking for rust prevention, you can with care wipe down the revolver each day with an oily cloth, and see if you can live with the finish as is.

Looking at the sideplate screws, it appears that they are not deformed by improper use of a non-fitting screwdriver. This is good.

Looking at the hammer, it appears that the hammer is a firing pin mounted case hardened item. This is good.

You may have a collectible revolver. Check on that. There is a forum for this brand on which many people can advise.

If you have a collectible, and don't want a collectible, you could always sell it or trade it for a modern stainless S&W. If you found one pre-lock, say a 629, you would then have a nice JIC item.

Thank you to everyone for their responses I really appreciate it.

So no porting, but I do love the flamethrower photos though.

Rubber grips, I am looking at them now and Hogue has a lot of different models to choose from.