Easy way to not have turn lines is leave it in the sock drawer

 

What a buzz kill !! Never owned any gun I didn't shoot.

 

Virtually all DA revolvers and most SA revolvers will develop a turn line. It's just part of the mechanical design and is nothing more than a slight cosmetic blemish. The turn line is caused by the cylinder latch that pops up after the cylinder starts turning. The cylinder latch is spring tensioned so it will lock into the next available cylinder lock notch. Of course the spring tension on the cylinder latch is what causes the turn line.

I've found some cylinder latches with a sharp edge that cuts into the cylinder, leaving a deep turn line. A little fluff & buff on the latch does wonders! Yes, sometimes the latch will cut right through the nickel or chrome finish on a cylinder and there's really no way to repair it short of having the cylinder replated.

I know we want our guns to look like new but the only way to do this is to follow Sr40Ken's advice. Buying stainless steel doesn't prevent turn lines but you can buff them out with a 3-M pad and make the gun look new again.

 

Avoid plated finishes if you obsess over turn lines. Stick with stainless steel so you can polish out any imperfections that bother you.

 

With a blue S&W 586 I touched up the turn line and it just faded away in it's color blending, but the groove is still there which I am not bothered by. With a stainless Sp101 I rubbed out the line with 3-M pads. Unfortunately, the beautiful nickel finish is just more vulnerable. I have never owned a nickel finished gun so the time to learn about this is before I get one.

I was suppose to get my grandfather's nickel plated 12 ga single shot with the rabbit ear hammer. His sister visited and shared they were having some breaking in crimes around her home. Grandfather loaned this 12 ga for her to have for protection. I guess you folk already jumped ahead of my story and know what happened? They got broke into and the shot gun was stolen. Seems you have to be at home when the criminals arrive plus have the shot gun in hand before the protection works!

 

Personally, I prefer a well used, well maintained gun. I used the same M4 in combat for several years. It's finish was worn through, scratched, and maintained perfectly. I find beauty in a little mileage.

 

I love well used, carry worn, but functional guns too. Don't mind holster wear, cylinder turn line, but I do not like rust spots... Sometimes you get them though.

 

I call it a " Racing Stripe " ... my OCD / anal nature buys that term ... Racing Stripe ...Cool !
My gun's cool racing stripe ... it's all in how you think about it .
Gary

 

I used to worry about them as at one time I thought they were the product of improper gun handling. Then I learned better and don’t worry about it. I shoot my revolvers with full knowledge a turn line will be there. The only time it matters is if you are looking at a collector piece that will be looked at and never actually used.

If it’s a used firearm, I would think if it would wear through it would already be there. As for new, I am not aware of anyone who offers splayed finish anymore, but I am probably wrong.

 

The issue is not how bothersome a turn line is on a revolver. All my revolvers have turn lines (both blued and stainless). The issue is that nickel can not be touched up. When nickel chips the finish can only be fixed by having the full cylinder replated. I am just now getting educated about a nickel finish. Seeing revolvers for sale with chips of nickel missing is not attractive to me. To each his own. Just trying to understand this type of finish. Nickel is beautiful but the damaged guns I see sometimes for sale would not be worth it to me to purchase.

 

I see your point now. Ironically, I usually pass us Nickel guns because I have to shoot what I buy. I have seen some really nice ones for decent prices, and some cheap ones with stuff peeling everywhere.

I think replating is the only way to fix it. Maybe swap the cylinder to shoot it, and put the nickel one on for show?
lol

 

stoble, Back in the day, nickel plated revolvers were a premium, suitable for police chiefs, gangsters, and BBQs alike. They were beautiful when new but quickly aged when fired. Besides the turn ring issue, it was very common to see the plating peel off, especially at the front of the cylinder and frame. Erosion from the B/C gap started things then powder solvent like Hoppe's #9 made it much worse. Why? You can not directly plate nickel on steel so first all surfaces must be plated with copper then plate with nickel. Herein lies the problem .... the ammonia in powder solvent will creep under the nickel plating and literally eat the copper. This leaves nothing for the nickel to hold on to so it peels off. Another annoying cosmetic issue with nickel .... it tends to turn yellow with age. Yes, it can be polished to look like new but each application of polish makes the nickel thinner. Once the nickel gets compromised from being too thin, worn areas, scratches, exposure to chemicals, or powder burns, it will start to peel off, making the gun look grim.

Nickel plated guns pretty much went out of fashion when S&W introduced the first stainless steel revolver in 1965 ... a Model 60. It didn't take long before other manufacturers jumped on the shiny gun band wagon. Stainless steel can be polished to a very bright shine and when it dulls, another coat of Mother's Mag polish will make it shine again. Ruger even made a lot of guns with the factory shinny finish. I have a GKGP-141 (4" GP100) with the factory shiny finish and an original Vaquero 45 Convertible with the shiny finish.

If you find a nice nickel plated gun that still has a good finish, it makes an excellent show piece but looks certainly won't hold up if you choose to shoot it.

Here's my Vaquero with the factory high polish that looks a lot like nickel plating:

 

That is one b-e-a-utiful gun!

 

Very interesting history Gary. Makes me wonder how many people bought these plated guns in the past and were not aware the nickel finish was vulnerable to damage? It can go from the most beautiful firearm to the ugliest piece of junk. Currently, with this crazy run on guns and ammo, I am seeing rusted blued guns and peeling nickel guns that are for sale because people are buying anything and everything. Some of the rust pitting guns are terrible. I also saw a box of 50 rounds of 38 Spl with 17 rounds missing, for sale. Then there was the Remington empty box of 38 Spl that was for sale for $3.00. No, it was not a very old box that someone might want to collect. Things are crazy in these times.

 

stoble, When I had my gunsmith shop, I had several customers bring in nickel plated guns to be restored. When I quoted them a price, they didn't waste as second saying "no" Here's the process: First, if you want the gun to look nice, you would do the whole gun, not just the cylinder. Why? As nickel plating ages, it changes color so a refinished cylinder would not match the frame. Next, the nickel plating must be totally removed before replating. This is not an easy process because you really can't use tools or you will damage the gun. So the first step is to "pickle" the entire gun in an ammonia tank. After an overnight application, some of the plating will peel off but most will not so you have to repeat the process at least 3 times, maybe more. When you finally get all the nickel and copper plating off, it's time to plate the entire gun (one piece at a time) by electroplating with copper. Once the entire gun has been copper plated, finally you can chemically or electroplate all the pieces with nickel. This adds thickness so it always causes problems with fitting parts so you may have to spend a lot of time fitting parts to make the gun work again. I did not have nickel plating equipment in my shop so I had to farm out the work to a specialty shop. Actually, it's much easier and cheaper to nickel plate a blued gun because bluing is very easy to remove .... just a few minutes in an acid bath and you're ready to electroplate with copper.

BTW, nickel plating guns as become a lost art. Very few shops are equipped with the proper equipment so most guns are plated in specialty shops that charge a small fortune.

 

I've seen enough nasty old nickel-plated guns that I've never felt inclined to buy a new one, and Iowegan's detailed description of the restoration process just gave me a few new reasons to avoid them. I love stainless steel!

 

With all due respect, if it’s tight and accurate, I don’t care what it looks like.

 

With all due respect, it does matter to me if a prized beautiful gun is very expensive and I am shooting it, then it scores the cylinder deep enough to cause the plating to start chipping off. Some of these nickel guns can go for 2k. I would not buy one but for those that do, I am sure they would have a come apart if the plating flakes at the cylinder score line. I have never had a nickel gun as said before and prefer to have stainless or blued that allow me to touch them up (which I have with good results). Most have turn lines that I don't care about the issue.

 

I've passed on nickel plated guns. As I understand it you have to be careful with certain cleaning solutions which will react with it. I can see why it was used for weather proofing back in the day but stainless steels have improved to the point where they are superior in that respect.

As to turn rings I was told years ago that if your S&W didn't have one, send it back and the factory will install one for free. 😊

 

Back in the day most nickel guns were not bought for the bling .
They were bought for rust resistance . Often people that carried everyday but seldom shot or cleaned or oiled it . Or bought by folks that worked in humid or salty areas that could attack a gun from day one . Think Florida cop.
Not perfect protection but it helped . Stainless helped a lot more and mostly put an end to nickel .
The gun was a tool and a turn line happened if it happened .

 

Proud owner of a 1917 built m1917 Colt, plated (nicely) who knows when.

No serious turn line yet. I will probably give it one My classic cars have road rash, too. Drive em, shoot em, maintain properly.

 

The line never bothered me , just the way the revolver works , not like the idiot scratch on the auto frame . I just posted on after shooting my S&W 4566 , Colt 1911 70 series , Colt New Agent 3" 1911 , all 45acp's week after week . I inherited a S&W mod.49 , gave it a good cleaning and interest all came back , this week I'll be breaking out all my in perfect shape work guns , mod. 36 Chief and mod.65 , old reliables. Just gotta love a good revolver.
Chris

 

Like rock chips on a cool car, a turn-line is character to me. Of course once plating starts to go...when it does on my chrome-plated Colt M1917, maybe I will just replace the cylinder with a blued one.