Questions regarding stainless steel

K

Kimio

New member
I was browsing around the CZ forums and came across a thread which had asked if a certain handgun was offered in stainless steel. At this time the handgun is not, yet there were pictures of the firearm in question that clearly looked the part.

It would appear that the individual who owned the handgun had the pistol sent off to be "plated"(?) to have that appearance.

How difficult would this be and how durable would such a "plating" be compared to a traditional finish such as parkerizing or blueing?
 
The finish you're referring to is probably hard chrome. It might be nickel... but hard chrome would be the preferred finish. Hard Chrome is exceptionally durable and abrasion resistant. Metaloy Industries is one of the more popular finishing companies, especially among 1911 aficionados... here's a link.
 
Thanks creeper

I'm actually kind of surprised, I was expecting the price for such a job to be a bit higher. I might consider doing this to one of my handguns eventually, I always liked the stainless steel look.
 
I always liked the stainless steel look
Click to expand...
Hard Chrome is actually better than SS. It's less prone to scratching and is much harder and slicker, so there's no chance of galling. I've got a mirror polish SS Colt GC-NM... and it will scratch if you look at it wrong. :eek:
 
FWIW, the "galling" problem was solved many years ago. Hard chrome plating is around Rockwell 72. A file will just skate across it. It is very hard. But a hard chromed slide stop skating across a hard chromed frame will leave a nice scratch.
 
If you decide to have a gun plated make sure to pick a company that has a lot of experience in plating guns and has a good reputation !!
 
I used to work in a shop that used APW (Accurate Plating and Weapons) for all of our plating and bluing work. It was always perfect and they never lost any small parts. They are true professionals. Bob Cogan will actually answer the phone and talk to his customers.
 
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