Personally I prefer the look of Colt SAA with case-hardened frame & blued cylinder, barrel, back-strap, & trigger guard, but if you want to shoot it and still retain most of it's value, then nickled is the way to go. The finish is more durable & cleans up easy, where as bluing wears & case-hardening fades the more you shoot it. Usually if you have problems with nickle plating flaking off, it was a poor job done by the factory. Just my opinion, LM.