Winchester Pleasant Surprise.

[Kev18]

A few years ago I bought a Winchester 1873 for quite the sum of money. Its the most expensive gun that I own. I didn't buy it because it was a nice original condition rifle, but more for the fact that it was quite unique. When I bought it, the man said it was fully nickel plated and that it had the Canadian motto painted on the stock. Seems like half that statement is true.

I joined the Winchester collectors forum and posted pictures about the rifle. And many people stated that it wasn't nickel. Some said it was just polished steel, others said silver.
The info that I had was, that the rifle tarnished quite easily. No rust at all just black tarnish when it comes in contact with humidity and sweat.

After doing some research of my own and with help of the members on the site we came up to a solid conclusion:

If It was:
Nickel: It wouldnt tarnish at all, and may get a little dull with age.
Steel: It would rust pretty much instantly with orange surface rust.
Silver: it would tarnish with humidity and sweat...

All this time and I thought it was nickel. Turns out its silver.
https://i.imgur.com/XnhCT8Y.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/2rEfcFZ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/PX610AT.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/DvofRUW.jpg

[Ajohns]

Wow! Nice Winchester!

[Shawlerbrook]

Very nice. A Cody letter might be very interesting on that rifle.

[veeman]

That's a sweet looking rifle. 44-40? How does it shoot? What year was it made?

[Kev18]

I already got a letter for it. It says its just a normal rifle, the plating isnt factory, id be rich if it would be:)
It was made in 1888.
And it shoots nice, chambered in 44-40. I shoot factory or reloads through it.

[M-Tecs]

Very nice rifle. To me it looks like Nickel Plating. I have a couple of SXS with nickel plated receivers and they do tarnish. Hard to tell in a photo the color seems to be off for silver. The biggest indicators are in the rusted areas. Sliver plating that is flaked of or rusted looks like this. Doesn't matter is it's silverware or fireams. https://www.gunsinternational.com/guns-for-sale-online/rifles/winchester-rifles---model-1873/winchester-1873-2nd-model-deluxe-factory-silver-plated---engraved-rifle-with-letter.cfm?gun_id=100681132

[Kev18]

Very nice rifle. To me it looks like Nickel Plating. I have a couple of SXS with nickel plated receivers and they do tarnish. Hard to tell in a photo the color seems to be off for silver. The biggest indicators are in the rusted areas. Sliver plating that is flaked of or rusted looks like this. Doesn't matter is it's silverware or fireams. https://www.gunsinternational.com/guns-for-sale-online/rifles/winchester-rifles---model-1873/winchester-1873-2nd-model-deluxe-factory-silver-plated---engraved-rifle-with-letter.cfm?gun_id=100681132

I Heard nickel tarnishes but it takes awhile and it because a matte color, do you have pictures you could post? Id like to compare. My screw holes are chipping slightly around the edges.

https://i.imgur.com/mw5599F.jpg

[M-Tecs]

I have the same SKB 200 shotgun as here https://www.gunsinternational.com/guns-for-sale-online/shotguns/skb-shotguns/ithaca-import-skb-200e-20ga-nickel-coin.cfm?gun_id=101009156

Mine tarnishes just like above after 6 months in the safe. I had just polished it about a month ago for a gunshow. Couple of days after I polished it the show was cancelled due to Covid 19. I will check to see what it looks like in a couple of hours.

[Doolin-Dalton]

Fantastic Rifle and thanks for sharing. But since you did, IMHO the photos you have seem to show a polished iron surface.

If you google "polished iron" you'll find similar finishes. Regards to silver plating, can you show pictures of the inside edges of the frame with the side plates removed? That would be most telling, if there was a substrate applied to the original Winchester Iron, and then the silver plated on top of the substrate.

[Kev18]

Fantastic Rifle and thanks for sharing. But since you did, IMHO the photos you have seem to show a polished iron surface.

If you google "polished iron" you'll find similar finishes. Regards to silver plating, can you show pictures of the inside edges of the frame with the side plates removed? That would be most telling, if there was a substrate applied to the original Winchester Iron, and then the silver plated on top of the substrate.
We already went over this on the other forum but there isnt any traces of anything on the inside, just bluing. So they said its most likely a brush plating and not a dipped one.
Its not polished since it chips and I need to be careful. I would like to do a test kinda like they do with gold. Some type of chemical test, il google it.
https://i.imgur.com/wKA18WI.jpg

[Kev18]

I have the same SKB 200 shotgun as here https://www.gunsinternational.com/guns-for-sale-online/shotguns/skb-shotguns/ithaca-import-skb-200e-20ga-nickel-coin.cfm?gun_id=101009156

Mine tarnishes just like above after 6 months in the safe. I had just polished it about a month ago for a gunshow. Couple of days after I polished it the show was cancelled due to Covid 19. I will check to see what it looks like in a couple of hours.

Mine doesn't take long. if I take it outside in humidity and hold it by the receiver, by the time I get back inside from a woods walk its tarnished. The picture I posted of the barrel is nothing. It was horrible the first time I took it out. It was black everywhere.

[M-Tecs]

Too me everything points to it just being polished bare metal. Brush plating would have plated the pitting also.

[Kev18]

Too me everything points to it just being polished bare metal. Brush plating would have plated the pitting also.

There isnt any pitting on the whole rifle, Looks brand new. And if it would be bare metal it wouldnt chip off. I used a screw driver that was to big and chipped some off around the screw.
I guess its a mystery :killingpc

[M-Tecs]

There isnt any pitting on the whole rifle, Looks brand new. And if it would be bare metal it wouldnt chip off. I used a screw driver that was to big and chipped some off around the screw.
I guess its a mystery :killingpc



https://i.imgur.com/XnhCT8Y.jpg


That looks like pitting in the pic.

Bare metal is easy to test. On the side plate screwhead or a spot that can be re-polished degrease and touch with cold blue. If it blues it's bare.

[Kev18]

That looks like pitting in the pic.

Bare metal is easy to test. On the side plate screwhead or a spot that can be re-polished degrease and touch with cold blue. If it blues it's bare.

Im going to try that now.

[Kev18]

I tried the Blu on the bottom of the butt plate and it made the metal grey. So, just to make sure. I took my grandmas fine silver ware and added Blu to it. It's not as gray but made it alittle cloudy.

[John Taylor]

Nice rifle. I picked up a 73 that was found in the crawl space under a house that was torn down. It's got a good coat of rust but still functions. I put a liner in it but have not had a chance to take it out. Mine is 32-20 made in 1893.

[Kev18]

Nice rifle. I picked up a 73 that was found in the crawl space under a house that was torn down. It's got a good coat of rust but still functions. I put a liner in it but have not had a chance to take it out. Mine is 32-20 made in 1893.

Should shoot like new with a liner. Good luck.

[45-70 Chevroner]

I have a factory Nickle plated pre model 29 44mag Smith and Wesson, and it has never showed any signs of tarnish of any kind. It has been setting in my safe for over a year now and yesterday I went out to get some personal papers and it was just fine. My understanding is that Nickle does not tarnish or rust unless some of the nickle plating flakes off. My older Brother bought this gun in 1957.

[flint45]

What ever it is it's a nice old rifle. Hope all the experts here can figure it out and have a good time using it in the meantime.

[missionary5155]

Good afternoon
Looks like silver to me. Any Jewler can do an simple acid test to definitively show it is silver and at what caret value. The silver will get dissolved at the spot the test is taken so use a part that has silver on it but covered by a stock or other part. The trigger on the back side would be sufficient. I personally would not take the whole rifle.
Also have the jewler write a test statement. I would call around and see how much they charge. Just tell them you have a family piece you want tested.
Mike in LLama Land

[missionary5155]

Looking at your photos more you may also have a "Short Rifle". Barrel looks to be 20"..... Your letter should say.
I know with the 1892 model Winchester made a run of short rifles which today bring a nice premium .

[Kev18]

Looking at your photos more you may also have a "Short Rifle". Barrel looks to be 20"..... Your letter should say.
I know with the 1892 model Winchester made a run of short rifles which today bring a nice premium .

naaah, its a standard rifle. haven't given any attention to it. IM rebuilding my 1886 instead.

[fatelk]

It looks like silver to me, too, but I'm not an expert. I can tell you what I know about silver plating: I bought a cheap little electroplating kit when I was a teenager back in the '80s. I don't think it cost more than $20 or $30. It came with little jars of copper, nickel, and silver in some kind of gel. I'd prep the metal I wanted to plate, ground it with a little clamp, then apply the gel with a little brush connected to a small electrical charge. Wipe away the gel and you have a very thin plating. Clean it up and coat it several times. You needed to plate a base of copper before using the nickel or silver. I still have my old Ruger Standard that I nickel plated so long ago. It's held up pretty well.

It seems that someone could well have brush electroplated your rifle with silver. Doing it the way I did, it's not terribly hard to do, and inexpensive.

[BFJ]

Great looking rifle and post. Thanks

[john.k]

Silver blackens with sulfur ,a component of all living things ,which is of course the black on eggspoons ......Nickle does tarnish ,and the tarnish is an oxide ,pale green in colour ,and if attacked by ,for instance ,by hot water ,a darker green tarnish or deposit...Nickle salts are generally green.

[missionary5155]

What length is the barrel? At least 24" was a standard and 26" was the common...
We have a real Eastern Short Rifle 44 WF with all the right measurements (barrel, handguard....) And your's sure made me wonder.

[fatelk]

I was going through some old stuff today, and found this old round that I had silver plated with my little rinky-dink electroplating setup a long time ago.

261637

By the way, the electroplating system I used isn't terribly durable, unless you use many, many coats. It will polish off if you get a little aggressive with the cleaning.

[Doolin-Dalton]

Thanks for sharing. It is a fantastic rifle, anyone would love to have this! Granted this is just my opinion, and it's a virtual one, but I don't see any signs of any copper substrate to indicate base for plating and what I am seeing is that every surface of the gun has a - brushed - appearance, a tell tale sign of it being a brushed iron surface that is what give the brightness. Think of jewelry, no one would dare take a polishing stone or 000 Steel Wool to polish their gold or silver. Yet, your rifle has a highly polished surface entirely. The polishing of the iron is what gives it the bright appearance.

[MT Chambers]

The Canadian markings are more recent as it is one of the rifles Trudeau is trying to ban.

[Kev18]

The Canadian markings are more recent as it is one of the rifles Trudeau is trying to ban.

Shame for those bans .

[Ramjet-SS]

Very cool rifle

[Kev18]

Very cool rifle

Thanks:)

[Speedo66]

Very nice rifle. To me it looks like Nickel Plating. I have a couple of SXS with nickel plated receivers and they do tarnish. Hard to tell in a photo the color seems to be off for silver. The biggest indicators are in the rusted areas. Sliver plating that is flaked of or rusted looks like this. Doesn't matter is it's silverware or fireams. https://www.gunsinternational.com/guns-for-sale-online/rifles/winchester-rifles---model-1873/winchester-1873-2nd-model-deluxe-factory-silver-plated---engraved-rifle-with-letter.cfm?gun_id=100681132

The rifle in the link is factory engraved according to the museum letter. The cost was $3, which with inflation would be $64 in 2020 dollars. Quite a bargain.

[Kev18]

The rifle in the link is factory engraved according to the museum letter. The cost was $3, which with inflation would be $64 in 2020 dollars. Quite a bargain.

I wish it would be that cheap.

[missionary5155]

Imagine if we all could rollback the clock to 1875 and not be held back with shallow pockets !

[Kev18]

Imagine if we all could rollback the clock to 1875 and not be held back with shallow pockets !

I think about that quite often . 1000$ in your pocket.

[T-Bird]

But think how old we'd be today!:lol:

[bigted]

A brand new shiney Colt SAA in 1873 cost 1 one ounce of Gold.

Right now ... May 30 ... 2020 ... a brand new shiney Colt SAA cost's 1 one ounce of Gold.

Generally this is the lie that we endure concerning inflation.

For sure a nice rifle there Kev. Congrats on your adoption.

[Mytmousemalibu]

What you need is someone to hit it with an XRF gun and see what metals it detects. Probably have traces of all of the above but if its plated it should spike on whatever it is plated with.

[Kev18]

Ya, that would be good :)