Hard Chrome Durability

A

Amin Parker

New member
Hi all,

I am thinkin about having one of my pistols hard chromed. How durable is it for a carry pistol? Is it more rust resistant? Does it flake like satin nickel does from time to time?

Thank you.
 
It's all but immune to what you might call "handling" wear (holstering, wiping-down, etc.), but it can be scratched (cosmetic damage), and I don't think it's especially rust resistant. I treat all of my guns as if they were bare metal, but I have a little patch of rust under the edge of a grip panel, where I suspect some sweat collected. A buddy's gun had a problem with flaking, twice, but it was an aluminum frame, so I wouldn't draw any conclusions about steel based on that.
 
A proper job of plating requires a chemically clean surface !! For the best hard chrome it is first "reverse plated'" for a short time. This removes dirt, oxides etc to produce a clean surface .In the process it etches the surface producing a matt finish. Do it right and you won't have flaking.
 
Its very durable if its done right ...and its a unique look too ....so just make sure its what you really want....

I can't say I'm a big fan ....where I do like an all stainless gun --- or even a nickel finish on like some of the older S&W revolvers..
 
Hey Aarond, how you doing?

Last week i finished a 1911 carry gun project i have been working on for a while. I basically only worked on it when i had lots of wonderful time to myself. Well to be honest, it turned out beautifully. Trigger is great and the gun looks marvellous.

It also shoots very well and reliability is perfect. It just needs a tough finish and voila.

Aarond i cannot wait for the day you start playing with 1911s, i check these posts all day waiting for that moment. A 1911 is a thing unto itself.

... And you get them in rimfire too lol.

Bill,

Thank you for replying. I always respect your opinion and find it valuable. I have learnt a lot from your posts in the past and i thank you.

What colour does hard chrome end up as? I have seen them as almost white, a dull lead coloured silver ( like a Norinco barrel) and shiny. Are these options or metal finish which determines this?

By the way, you reminded me of my love for Spanish guns with your DKs, very nice.
 
Most of the hard chrome I've seen ...is polished to a high gloss mirror finish ...on a couple of Les Baer 1911's that one of my local dealers had in their case.

to me, its a little too bright / but you're probably right, it depends on who does it ...but I suppose you could spec it to be bead blasted or brushed too ...
 
I've had 2 guns hard chromed by Accurate Plating & Weaponry. They did an outstanding job, and both guns look like they are OEM factory stainless. As I've heard it described, the hard chrome actually bonds molecularly to the surface metal, and becomes part of it. Flaking should never occur when the hard chrome has been properly applied. It's also very hard and is corrosion resistant. It's the only coating that I'll put onto my guns.

The Springfield was originally parkerized...:barf: The CZ was originally a high polish stainless, which I also didn't care for. I could've had it bead blasted, but I decided to just have it hard chromed. Both of these guns got Accurate's "brushed stainless" hard chrome.

Springfield1911A1.jpg


IMG_2884.jpg
 
I'm doing well Amin,,,

Actually, I grew up shooting a 1911,,,
It originally belonged to my step-uncle Acey,,,
Military surplus ammo was so cheap back in the late 1960's,,,
That Ithaca 1911 was one of the guns I could afford to shoot regularly

Acey carried this gun in WW-II through 2 or 3 island landings in the South Pacific,,,
It's ironic that he survived the war, decided to stay in the Army to retire,,,
Was made an MP and stationed at Hickam as a warehouse guard,,,
Sometime during those years he was an Honor Guard,,,
They all had their pistols nickel or chrome plated.

He was shot and killed in 1949,,,
His partner stashed the pistol away,,,
He eventually sent it back to my Dad years later.

While I was in the Air Force 70-78,,,
A cousin "stole" the pistol from my home,,,
I finally got the pistol back from his Mom in 1992,,,
But by then he had mistreated it so badly most of the plating was gone.

I had it bead blasted to remove the rest of the nickel/chrome finish,,,
And now it is completely disassembled in two very oily zip-lock baggies.

A few years ago his daughter got in contact with my Dad,,,
That was a surprise as my dad didn't know Acey ever married,,,
Much less that he was a father of two girls who grew up in Hawaii.

I told her at that time that I would gladly give her the disassembled gun,,,
Unfortunately she lives in california and isn't sure she can bring it across state lines.

Maybe someday I will get the pieces to a decent smith for reassembly and re-plating,,,
It would have no monetary value but will at least preserve the memory of Dad's brother Acey.

Aarond
 
The "color" is silver.
The appearance depends entirely on the surface preparation. Shiny polish= shiny chrome. Matte finish= matte chrome.
The most durable surface finish is originally bead blasted, acid etched, or electrolytically etched before plating.
Note: industrial hard chrome is NOT applied with a copper or nickel underplate (except on aluminum.) The chrome is plated directly on the steel.
 
I have a hard chromed S&W 547. The finish is very durable but it will show scratches. As to rust resistance, a chromium plated pistol will be more resistant than a blued finish.
 
This is 10+ years of daily use/abuse in both leather and kydex holsters, but mostly kydex.

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The "black" streaks are actually polished chrome, and look mirror like in person. The rust that drove me to have it hard chromed in the first place, was basically knocked down to nothing, but if you look close around the grip panel, you can see some of what would occur, which was basically more of a "dust" than what you'd normally call rust.
 
I really appreciate the responses. Thanx for the pix AK, it turns out the mental picture i had for my gun is exactly the pistol you already own!!!

Aarond that is one interesting story that i enjoyed reading about. Let me know when you put it back together please.
 
I had a Dan Wesson Revolver I owned hard chromed back in 89 or 90. still going strong till when I sold it.
 
Go to A P Cogan's Accurate Plating website and read about different finishes They do some of the best hard chrome in the industry. Cogan is a stand up guy.
 
It will take time to tell how durable it is, but I had my P90 Frame Metalife coated. It is guaranteed for the life of the firearm. I like the coating and in 20 years I can give a report on the durability of it. I carry it every day. :)
P90ls.jpg
 
no lies

One of my Witnesses went to AP&W for hardchrome about 16 years and 100K rds ago.

The durability is stellar, but it does not hold up to bashing away on the gun with rocks.
It has a few very minor rust spots, but the gun is mistreated.
It is my favorite gun (Mr. Cogan also did some 'smithing and hardfit a Nowlin barrel).

My favorite finish remains Robar's NP3.
 
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