[JustinL]

Hello everyone

I've seen a lot of nice older smith & wesson revolvers that look about the same save for a turn ring and I was wondering how much shooting (or dry firing) it takes to wear off the bluing on the cylinder, creating a turn ring?

[rcmodel]

None.
Some of them come from the factory that way any more.

It is normal for a properly timed S&W to drop the bolt slightly early when it is cocked.
If done repeatably, or if there is no lubrication, or dirt or grit present, you are going to get a turn ring in the finish.

Unless abnormally deep or rough, don't worry about it.

Perhaps a better indicator of how many rounds a revolver has through it is to look inside the frame at the recoil shield.
A high-mileage gun will have more of a shiny circle polished in the recoil shield from fired cases hitting it.

rc

[Old Fuff]

rcmodel is correct, but also part of that ring is important to the operation of the gun. The cylinder stop is released early a little past midway between the chambers, to act as a brake. If it didn't do this it would be possible for a rapidly revolving cylinder to rotate past the stop before it had raised high enough to engage the notch.

The ring is also caused when users close the cylinder and then turn the cylinder to latch at the next notch. As they do this, the cylinder stop rubs all the way.

Other then never using it, there is no way to prevent a correctly timed revolver from eventually developing a ring, but careful handling can reduce it.