First off, WELCOME to the forum!
What you call brushed steel, I strongly suspect might be electroless nickel which sort of looks like a "brushed steel" in affect. Regular nickel would be very shiny. Colt never made any in "brushed steel".
Colt did make some of the DBs in the duller electroless nickel and the ones I have seen were usually in 4" 38SPL. If in fact this one is in electroless nickel, it would be a steal at that price. That said, let me CAUTION you, some 4" 38SPL have been "hard chromed" (after bluing stripped)(by unscrupulous individuals) and they very much look like electroless. A HC Diamondback would be worthless to me other than as a shooter and they can be found for less than $600. Usually the HC looks darker and has a more matte finish than the EN. But be cautious, I would have to see the piece to tell you for sure, but maybe you have someone locally that could help you tell the difference. Good luck.
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Dick
IN GOD WE TRUST,
BUT I'LL KEEP ONE .357,
JUST IN CASE!
[This message has been edited by diamonback68 (edited 04-27-2004).]