Need Refinishing advice for a tired Ruger BH

[DanWalker]

Hey guys,
Looking for some advice.
My pard has a WELL worn ruger blackhawk 44 mag that is really showing it's age.
This gun is his constant companion in the backcountry.
The blueing is all but gone after 15 years of riding around Wyomings mountains.
Looking for an outfit to refinish this gun for him. He's looking for something more durable than blueing.

[chaos]

I wonder if a SBH couold be parkerized, would look pretty slick in my book. I got a tired one as well.

[nicholst55]

Yes, any steel gun can be parkerized. All parkerizing really does is to act as a matrix to hold oil; all by itself, it's a really poor rust-preventing finish - just like bluing.

I've got a very well used 4-5/8" Super Blackhawk that I bought that way; it needs some work and a new finish. I'm seriously considering either Birdsong's Black-T finish, or perhaps electroless nickel for it. I think it's going to become a Bisley and have the cylinder fluted, first.

I was thinking about hard chrome, but it's really not all that good at preventing corrosion. Wear, yes; corrosion, no.

[winelover]

Look into Cerakote finishes. Very durable. I had my 1894SS done to cut down on glare. Very satisfied!

Winelover

http://www.nicindustries.com/firearm_coatings.php

[jmsj]

Dan,
I really like the look of "honest wear" on firearms. I've got a Ruger Bearcat that sounds similar to your gun. The wear just reminds me of all the good and bad times I've carried it w/ me.
That said, I have applied Brownells Oven cure moly/teflon to a few guns. It forms a waterproof barrier on the gun. I used it on a blued Detonics receiver for a gun I built for my CCW gun. Another was for a friend of mine from South Carolina, It was an Ithaca 87. He hunts ducks in the swamps where he lives, standing waist deep in water. This was a couple of years ago and I think it is working well for him.

I don't know if the Brownells oven cure moly/teflon is as durable as the other finishes as this the only finish other than bluing I've used
Good luck, jmsj

[Dale53]

I have used both Industrial Hard Chrome (my choice of the firm for this finish is Mahovsky's Metal Life) or Electroless Nickel.

I prefer the look of Hard Chrome (it's much finer in appearance compared to the coarser grained look of Electroless Nickel).

Both are applied molecularly to the base steel. Neither will peel, crack or change appearance.

I have had Electroless nickel on the frame of my IPSC 1911. In one year of use, the blued frame was down to the base metal. In several years of IPSC use, there is NO evidence that this gun has been fired over 100,000 times with more cycles of that practicing drawing, etc. It is VERY rust resistant.

Industrial Hard Chrome has many of the same properties. In addition to it's better appearance (exactly like a polished stainless steel surface) it is harder than the Electroless Nickel ( 60 some on the rockwell scale for chrome to 50 some on the nickel).

If you have an engraved gun, then Mahovsky's Metal Life is the ONLY surface it you are not going ot reblue it. It will not cover ANY engraving. It is an awesome finish (it is only a couple of ten thousandths thick).

As far as utility value, it's a tossup.

The cost is pretty close, too. Just look up Mahovsky's web site and you'll see the comparison.

For a field revolver, it's either stainless steel for me or Mahovsky's for me, if I have a choice. Right now, I am trying to decide whether or not to send my Ruger .44 Lipsey Special in. I believe I'll wait until it needs finishing, THEN it'll get sent in.

FWIW
Dale53

[82nd airborne]

KG gunkote, cheap and indestructable.

[Changeling]

With out really good pictures of what each has recommended, answers are sort of worthless!

[82nd airborne]

My .50 in the special projects forum is coated with gunkote if you need a visual reference.

[Dale53]

I don't have a picture of either of my rifles with Mahovsky's Metalife on the actions but I do have a picture of the 1911 with Electroless Nickel. It was my IPSC gun and has over 100,000 rounds through it. Most of those rounds have been fired after I had it refinished (my hands had nearly completely worn the finish off the pistol before refinishing. The frame was merely bead blasted and then was Electroless Nickeled by an outfit in Dayton, Ohio (that is before I knew of Mahovsky's). It has now been "converted" to a Bullseye gun.

As you can see there is NO wear apparent after all of that use. What is really amazing, is that there is no wear apparent on the frame rails, either. Electroless Nickel has a rockwell of about 56. The Metalife finish has a Rockwell of 71 (I was in error above when I indicated in the sixties). Either will do just fine but the Chrome is a finer grained finish and some prefer that.

In fact, my Ballard was inspected by a couple of genuine single shot experts and they asked what finish I was going to use. They couldn't believe that it was plated. It looks just like polished stainless steel. It didn't cover the engraving in any way.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj80/Dale53/4DalesPistolsRevolversSelects-3328.jpg

Dale53

[DanWalker]

Thanks guys!
I'm really thinking we're gonna go with the Metalife.
Now all I have to do is figure out how to sneak his favorite gun out of the house for a month to get this done before Christmas.