Electroless nickel

[MtGun44]

Thinking about getting the upper of a Officers ACP electroless nickeled
for corrosion protection. Anybody have any preferred refinisher or (just
as important) someone that didn't do a good job? I wanted to get the
internal parts and three mags done, too.

Thanks.

Bill

[bobthenailer]

Check out mahovskysmetalife.com ! there prices are reasonable compaired to some ! they do industrial chrome , electroless nickel & blueing .
Ill be sending them my just fininshed 1911 as soon as i get the top of the slide serrated.

[MtGun44]

Bob,

I saw their site, thinking about sending them the upper unit and small parts. Let me know
how the parts turn out. Sweat is just really hard on the blued parts of the gun in an IWB
on a 103F day working in the yard and such. I can get red rust starting in 10-12 hrs.

Bill

[Catshooter]

Bill,

I had mahovskysmetalife.com hard chrome a Winchester 94 for me. Couldn't be happier with it or their work.

E Nickeling I just do myself. Brownells sells everything you need and it's not that difficult if you're mechanically inclined.

Good luck.


Cat

[MtGun44]

I saw the Caswell and Brownell's kits but the kit cost was much more than having the
upper half done by mahovsky, and they know what they are doing, and I'd be learning.
Seriously considered mixing up my own chemical bath, too, but time is short and the
gun is suffering a lot every time I wear it in hot weather.

Very good to know that they did a good job on the Win94. Thanks!

Bill

[crabo]

I had Metaloy do one for me and I was very happy. This was 15 years ago.

[nicholst55]

Don't overlook Robar's NP3 plating - it's essentially electroless nickel with PTFE (Teflon) added, and has an excellent reputation.

[Piedmont]

Don't overlook Robar's NP3 plating - it's essentially electroless nickel with PTFE (Teflon) added, and has an excellent reputation.

+1. They also have an NP3 Plus coating now that is even more rust resistant. If cost were not a concern I would go with one of these. They are more rust resistant than hard chrome and have a lubricity even run dry.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Bill: I have had considerable experience with the Electro Nickle/ teflon and whereas it does provide corrosion resistance (usually tested to 700 hours of salt spray on Stainless) it is not nearly as good as Electro polishing. All of those pretty Bass Boat Props you see are electropolished. My guys at the Navy switched away from the nickle/teflon process as soon as all the parts we had done rusted in 6 weeks in the fleet, and this was over 316 stainless as well. Also Electro polishing does not close up clearances as there is no deposition. This obviously will only work on Stainless parts.

However, a much better process is Nickle/Boron which also makes the surface about 73 Rc. It provides a very slick flat silver finish instead of a bright nickle finish like Electroless nickle does. This is the finish I used on the bolt of my Ruger Scout rifle to cure the sticky bolt. I got exceptional corrosion resistance in the bargain.

A plating thickness of .0005 per surface is all that is needed, and is very predictable for the platers to accomplish. Always remember that plating a fitted mechinism can cause problems with clearances. I had .0005 per surface deposited on my bolt and the head space closed up .001, as the back of the locking lugs, as well as the bolt face both had the same amount of plating. Luckily the receiver wore in, in about 50 shots as it is no where as hard as the bolt surface now.

On A 1911 this all would matter, as there are a variety of fits that have to be satisfied in the gun. IN other words it is not just a matter of having something plated, there is alot more to it than that.

Surfaces can be masked from the plating but it really needs to be done by someone who is familiar with the fit of the slide, etc. or you will end up with a gun that either won't go together or will be too tight even if it does.

I got my bolt, extractor and ring plated at Anodyne Inc in Santa Fe Springs CA. 714-549-3321. However even with my simple job, I sent Exact instructions on what I wanted done, as they are aerospace platers not gunsmiths. It came back perfect :mrgreen:

There are some outfits on the net that specialize in plating guns and for the most part I thought their prices were absolutely rediculous. This is a $75-100 job, and when I see one outfit wanting $600 for a nickle boron job on a 1911, I have to call BS!

Caswell sells a nickle/boron kit as well and if you had a few guns to do it would certainly pay for itself. And if you masked the areas that you didn't want plated it is just a mattter of processing for a specific amount of time for X amount of deposition. I think the Caswell kit for Nickle/Boron is about $250. I think Caswell even sells the green plastic masking tape too.

Just some info for you to digest.

Randy

[bobthenailer]

There is a article about Mahovsky's Metalife in the October 1995 HANDGUNS magazine page 82 / 84

[MtGun44]

Randy,

Thanks for the info. I will research the Nickel Boron plating process. Sounds interesting,
do you know the salt chamber rating for the nickel boron plating. I am not particularly
attracted to the nickel teflon, not a fan of teflon. I have seen a few teflon finishs that wore
very rapidly, since the teflon is so soft. Rc 73 is amazingly hard!

Bill