Nickel or Stainless

Model 36 came in blued and nickle. Model 60 were the stainless version.

Until somebody more knowledgeable than I comes along, I'd say if it were a Model 36, its nickel. If it were stainless, it'd be a Model 66. If there's no Model number, its nickel.

Bob Wright

S&W revolvers that are stainless steel start with a 6 so 60,66,686,629 are stainless steel, you have a 36 so it is nickel.

BobWright said:

Until somebody more knowledgeable than I comes along, I'd say if it were a Model 36, its nickel. If it were stainless, it'd be a Model 66. If there's no Model number, its nickel.

Bob Wright

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60

If it's a 36 it's nickel. Stainless would be marked Model 60.

Toss it in a bucket of ammonia and leave it there a few days.
If it comes out looking fine, it's stainless. If it comes out looking all yellow and jaundiced - it's nickel plated.
- just half kidding here.....nickel can yellow if you leave stuff like #9 on it after cleaning it.
Ballistol is 100% safe on nickel - so - I'd pick some up so you can clean that pretty nickel plated gun after firing it.

A lead away cloth will remove all that nasty carbon that's going to build up on the face of the cylinder. Just to be safe though, wipe it down afterwards with Ballistol - just in case.

Another tip - about bright stainless - it scratches horribly and looks like crap any time you handle the gun.
I made the huge mistake of taking the slab sides of my Ruger Mark II "slabside" up to bright.
Now, not only do I have to clean the thing after each trip to the range, I have to sit down for a few hours and sand scratches out of it......

I only bring this up because of that M36 was indeed stainless & someone went to the trouble to sand and buff it up to the bright of nickel - it might be all scratched and nasty looking.

I know people do take stainless stuff, like knife blades and guns, up to mirror all the time w/out issues, but, my Ruger sure isn't one that it worked out well on.

JFrameTwitch said:

Is this model 36 nickel plated or polished stainless?

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I can feel the fragility and deception of the micron-thick nickel plate masking the unloved visage of unloved and unblued carbon steel. . . a poser trying desperately to play the Stainless it's not. . .

M36, gotta be nickel.

Hal said:

I know people do take stainless stuff, like knife blades and guns, up to mirror all the time w/out issues, but, my Ruger sure isn't one that it worked out well on.

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I think it depends on the quality of the steel used. I've deblued and polished several pistols and I've noticed the differences keeping them bright. My S&W revolver isn't much of a problem, but my Taurus is.

BobWright said:

Until somebody more knowledgeable than I comes along, I'd say if it were a Model 36, its nickel. If it were stainless, it'd be a Model 66. If there's no Model number, its nickel.

Bob Wright

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Model 66 are K frame guns.

If it's marked 36, then it's nickel, as previously mentioned. The early model 60's were stainless, and .38Spl.

It appears current model 60's are .357.

There is a large "N" stamped on the grip frame.

(could indicate Not stainless?)

Should have a blued ejector star

If it were stainless the trigger and hammer would also be stainless. Those are case color, so....nickel.

Hal said:

....Another tip - about bright stainless - it scratches horribly and looks like crap any time you handle the gun.
I made the huge mistake of taking the slab sides of my Ruger Mark II "slabside" up to bright.
Now, not only do I have to clean the thing after each trip to the range, I have to sit down for a few hours and sand scratches out of it......

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Thanks, Hal. I always wondered why polished stainless was not more popular. That's a pretty good reason!

BobWright said:

Until somebody more knowledgeable than I comes along, I'd say if it were a Model 36, its nickel. If it were stainless, it'd be a Model 66. If there's no Model number, its nickel.

Bob Wright

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The model 66 is a K frame. I believe the OP has a 36 Nickel Plated.

I believe that there were early m.60's with case hardened triggers and hammers. (I consider those to be the really good ones...)
There were later 60's with mim appendages that were flash chromed , which left a drab grey finish. My edc no-dash 60 has the latter.

Nothing about the OP revolver says 60 to me. I am guessing that it is pre '57 , so no model number at the base of the yoke?

Waveski said:

There is a large "N" stamped on the grip frame.

(could indicate Not stainless?)

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Indicates it's factory Nickel...not an aftermarket job. Is there an "N" on the rear of the cylinder between the chambers?

Waveski said:

I believe that there were early m.60's with case hardened triggers and hammers. (I consider those to be the really good ones...)
There were later 60's with mim appendages that were flash chromed , which left a drab grey finish. My edc no-dash 60 has the latter.

Nothing about the OP revolver says 60 to me. I am guessing that it is pre '57 , so no model number at the base of the yoke?

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Since it doesn't have a flat cylinder latch it should be post 1966, and hence a model number.

Good point.
Has the OP checked for a model number?

As the others have said, if it's the same model number as the blued version, it's nickel. S&W has never used the same model number for blued/nickel and stainless. For instance, this is a nickel model 15. Were it stainless, it'd be a 67.

Hal said:

A lead away cloth will remove all that nasty carbon that's going to build up on the face of the cylinder.

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I wouldn't get LeadAway anywhere near my nickel guns. Contrary to the marketing, it is abrasive and nickel plating isn't very hard. Not to mention that cleaning the carbon scoring off the cylinder face is a colossal waste of time.

bangswitch said:

If it were stainless the trigger and hammer would also be stainless. Those are case color, so....nickel.

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Flash chromed, not stainless.

JFrameTwitch

All three of these guns (one Ruger and two S&Ws), are polished stainless steel, courtesy of Mother's Mag Polish.




The one Colt semi-auto is bright nickel plated, kept clean and tarnish free with Flitz.


If your gun's finish appears to be mirror-like then it's most likely a Model 36 that has been nickel plated.

CraigC said:

Flash chromed, not stainless.

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I should have just said, since his hammer and trigger were color case hardened, it was a nickel finish. Some early M60 and M66 had a stainless trigger and hammer, not sure when the change was made, they didn't see it worthy for a series number change.

Waveski said:

Good point.
Has the OP checked for a model number?

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OP asked if "THIS model 36" is chrome or stainless. I assume he knew the model number but was not aware of S&Ws model numbers being specific to the material used.

Nickle has a certain luster that I've never seen stainless achieve , I'm sure there are exceptions. a good nickle finish has a hue of color sometimes to my eye too, maybe kind of blueish. Hard for me to elaborate but I can usually spot the difference pretty easily.
- I'm zero help for s&w model designations or identification.