Even before I was a peace officer, I was a little suspicious of people who used nickel-plated guns. The high shine never appealed to a guy who grew up with Parkerizing and tung-oil finished walnut. As it happens, I may have been unfairly prejudiced against this old-time gun finish. But the arguably unfounded calumny against the nickel-plated handgun is still part of my thought processes. So much so that I count only a single nickel-plated gun in my assortment of arms—a very nice Smith & Wesson DA Frontier .44 that was re-done at the factory in the 1970s.
March 05, 2013