Gunsmith to remove chrome plating

[wv109323]

Merry Christmas to all
My son in law has his grandfathers WW2 Luger P08 that he brought home from the war. The trouble is it was nickel or chrome plated. He wants to have it restored to a blue finish. The pistol has a couple places of pitting and several places where rust has pushed through the plating.
I am looking for a gunsmith that can "deplate" the finish and reblue the pistol. I suggested a matte finish instead of trying to get a high polished blue.
He lives in Jackson, MS so a local gunsmith would be ideal but may not be doable. Any suggestions?

[pietro]

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I would first disassemble it and remove the plating @ home, that way almost any real gunsmith (not some parts-changer) can do the refinish as normal,

https://www.wikihow.com/Remove-Chrome-Plating

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I'm pretty sure you can get a solution from Brownell's to soak it in to remove the plating. As Pietro said, disassemble it first.

Since it is a Luger the value has been greatly reduced by the chrome or nickel plating, and you'll regain little of the value by rebluing it. Possibly you'll get a nasty surprise once the plating is removed, as plating is sometimes used to hide a previously rusted gun's pits and flaws. It is a very labor intensive job and consequently very expensive to pay a gunsmith to remove a lot of pitting to return the appearance to approximately what it originally was. Below is a photo of one that I did, all hand polished with various grits of W&D sandpaper. Nickel plated Lugers are not that uncommon as this was done at the behest of many returning servicemen from WW I and WW II to enhance their trophies. Viewed from that perspective, if the pistol is still presentable with the present finish, i.e. a lot of the nickel hasn't started flaking off, then it has some interest to some collectors as being a war trophy, especially if some paperwork like capture papers accompanies it. If it still looks decent, I'd leave it alone. In re-reading your post I see where you do see some rust and pitting--so that is likely why it was plated. The solution that will remove the plating will also probably remove the rust-- but if not, there are other solutions that will. To avoid the expense of removing the pits I'd even consider having it replated after the old plating and rust was removed.

273944

DG

[dogrunner]

I used Brownell's formula to remove a nickel plate finish from a 1918 Colt M/1911............the usual bubba'd mess...over polished, rounded edges partial removal of patent dates...et all, ad nauseum.

But the gun was a bequest from an old and valued friend and I was loath to dispose of it due that fact. The Brownell's stuff worked well and quite quickly. A few small spots remained in tight places and edges....all were easily removed by carding the areas with a brass brush.......I suppose a cleaning brush would've done the same thing. Anyway, it worked....BUT....the finish on my Colt was nickel, I doubt the solution i used will work on that....I'd strongly suggest you check with someone knowledgable for a determination.....Brownell's stuff is really a cheap way to go, but I was so impressed with it that I'll use it again.

Unable to post, but my old Colt now is like an older model........really looks good unless you get too close to her.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Maybe take the gun apart and take all the parts to a local plater that actually knows what he is doing and can remove the chrome correctly as opposed to trying to figure out how to do it yourself.
A plater will have all the necessary materials to do the job right and know how long to leave it in the tank to remove the chrome and leave the rest of the metal behind.

I'll tell you a little secret. I do what I do pretty well. IF it matters,,, I farm out what I don't know how to do well, as there are those that are better at what they do than I am.

I am even pretty good at doing what I don't know how to do,,, but if it matters,,, I ALWAYS defer to them that knows for sure.

You got to know your limitations? Them that don't just mess alot of stuff up. (very polite version of how I really feel.)

My .02

Randy

[Bent Ramrod]

Nickel is typically a thin plating, removable by solutions of persulfate ion. The underlying metal is not appreciably reduced in dimension or fit by this removal. Chromium only comes off (completely) by reverse electrolysis.

I’ve seen chrome plating on guns that is on there at least as thick as heavy duty aluminum foil. Some of a bad plating job that was partially blasted off the front of a S&W Triple Lock Target cylinder that I examined looked even thicker than that.

It is my understanding that in order to get a thick plating job like that, the metal of the gun must be polished or dressed down so the chrome buildup doesn’t interfere with function. Removing such a plating job would leave the parts very loose and the fits sloppy.

Of course, nobody thought of reversing the process when the original rusty relic was buffed down to a fare-thee-well before dunking into the bumper plating tank, but it might be something to consider now.