Has anyone had a SW scandium revolver refinished?

[firecop019]

I've got a 342 that I seem to be wearing the finish off of. I was wondering if anyone has tried to refinish one of them with duracoat or something similar. I really don't want to send it back to SW if I don't have to.

[JodyH]

The finish is wearing off my 360, I don't worry about it.
Not like it's going to rust or anything.

[JV_]

I'm partial to worn finishes. It's proof the gun gets used!

[boyscoutg36]

I've had a couple and I hate that lacquer finish that S&W puts on them. I've had them refinished by the factory (same problem occurred) and I've used two different finishes myself with good results. The first time I used matte black Gunkote, it wore well and applied easy, but started to show holster wear on the edges before I sold it. On my current 642 I used matte black Cerakote, which has held up better than anything I've ever seen. I can post pictures if you want, I am very impressed with this finish. It's thicker than Gunkote, but it wears like powder coating. The most important factor seems to be the prep, I blasted this last 642 with medium grit aluminum oxide at 70psi and it worked perfect.

[firecop019]

Did the S&W finish have to be stripped off first?

And the scandium doesn't rust?

[boyscoutg36]

Scandium is an aluminum alloy, so when it oxidizes it gets little black pits like stainless steel. When I blast the revolver, the factory finish comes off. None of the finishes I have applied would have adhered if the factory lacquer had remained.