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Nickel Plating

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crockett

Cannon
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Any one know of any reliable outfits that do nickel plating for a reasonable cost?
 
Ford’s in Crystal River, Florida does excellent nickel plating. Reasonable cost is a relative term that means different things to different folks. Check their web pages or better yet give them a call.
 
PLEASE understand since you put this under the handgun section, I wondered if you were considering nickle plating a gun that had never been nickle plated?

If you are trying to get a gun that was already nickle plated "touched up" or a restoration of the plating, then please disregard this post.

Back in the late 80's a very good friend of mine had helped out another person a great deal. That other person offered to Gold and Silver plate 2 handguns for him as a way to thank him. My good friend not knowing better, allowed him to do it on both a revolver and unmentionable modern pistol.

However, after the job was done, the parts would not fit back together to allow the handguns to be reassembled - let alone work properly. This because the plating winds up making parts LARGER than they were before plating. Even the old "Loose as a Goose" WWII M1911 would not go back together without major stoning and lapping of parts.

Thank Heaven I had already gone to the S&W Armorer's course because I had to completely re-fit the parts back on that revolver, including the side plate.

What many people don't know is that PLATED guns are normally made with different specs, so all the parts will fit and work together properly. So it is often a VERY BAD IDEA to have a Non Plated Handgun later plated and especially if the people plating the parts are not gunsmiths, themselves.

Gus
 
Yes. Plating a surface adds material to the surface making outside sizes larger and inside surfaces smaller. In fact, plating with chrome and nickle is a commonly used repair for metal parts that were worn or machined undersize.

Since this is the MLF, I should mention that nickle plating was not a commonly done process until after 1869.

If a pistol has nickle plating on it and the gun in question is being repaired or, if the owner doesn't care about being PC or HC then nickle plating can give good protection against rust.

If the owner wants to have a PC or HC pistol from 1865 or earlier they might want to rethink the idea of getting it plated.

This is not to sat that plating was not used prior to 1865.
Colt used silver plating on the brass trigger guards and grip backstraps on all of his commercial revolvers after 1851 (and some before that date.)

The Confederate Spiller & Burr revolver was also silver plated.
This revolver is the brass copy of the steel framed Whitney which was made in the North.
 
I don't want to get anything nickel plated, but does anybody know where I can get the color case hardening redone?
 
Zonie said:
Yes. Plating a surface adds material to the surface making outside sizes larger and inside surfaces smaller.

Which means, for example, the holes for pins or screws become smaller in diameter and the diameter of the pins and screws become larger. That means one has to ream the pin/screw holes and/or reduce the diameter of the pins or screws and the latter sometimes including the screw threads.

Gus
 
Classic firearms in Illinois does a great job of bone charcoal color case hardening at a reasonable price.
I have an 1860 Uberti done by them. Flawless!
 
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