Metal finishing on a bi-metal revolver ???

[Magnum Wheel Man]

so I have a custom revolver it was built on a stainless Ruger Single 10 that I just couldn't make myself like... I converted it to an 8 shot 257 Special ( centerfire ) when the work was done, carbon steel was used for the barrel & new cylinder, & the finish of the carbon steel in the white, matched the stainless exactly... trouble is, it's not very corrosion resistant in the white, & I'm fighting finger prints & dusting of surface rust...

so to complete, I feel I need to finish the barrel & cylinder at minimum...

I'm wondering if I can nickel plate the barrel & cylinder in some form, that will match the stainless frame, or if I can nickel plate both the carbon steel & stainless to get a matching finish???

also considered blueing the barrel & cylinder & leaving the balance of the gun in stainless ( it's a single action, so the extractor tube is also stainless )

looking for suggestions here... duo color, or one color, & anyone in the know, that could recommend weather the nickel should be able to match the stainless??? & or if I'm assuming correctly, that I could nickel finish the stainless to match the carbon steel parts if they were nickeled at the same time...

the gun... right after it was completed...



Thanks

[Bill DeShivs]

Plating stainless is rather tricky.
You could brush plate the carbon steel with nickel, but it will be yellower than the stainless parts. PM me, and I'll send you a source for brush plating gear.
A good commercial plater should be able to nickel or hard chrome the entire gun.

[Magnum Wheel Man]

BILL thanks for the comments ( I had hoped you'd see this thread )... I honestly wouldn't want to try brush nickeling myself... right now anyway... & I'm aware of the slight color difference between nickel & stainless, so I'm most interested in either high polish blueing the barrel & cylinder, or plating the whole gun... I just wasn't sure how tough the stainless was to plate...

I'll be taking the gun to the finisher that blued my little spur trigger S&W, & likely they'll be doing the work... I'm just trying to get a feel for my options & pros & cons

is there one plating ( like hard Chrome for example ) that plates better on both metals, than others, or are they all similar, provided the proper prep work is done ???

[Bill DeShivs]

Strangely, I have never tried to plate stainless so this is just a guess-
Once you get the plating to start on the stainless, they all should be the same. Industrial hard chrome is the toughest wearing plating.

[WESHOOT2]

Ask Mr. Bob Cogan at Accurate Plating & Weaponry, or contact Robar.

[Snyper]

Back in the 90's, S&W made some J frame 38's with Aluminum frames and stainless barrels and cylinders, in a natural finish.

They never really sold well because of the looks, to they took the leftovers at the factory, gave them a black finish, and called them "Model 042", which was never listed in their catalogs

I have one of them

[Magnum Wheel Man]

received the gun back the other day... decided to high polish blue the barrel & cylinder, polish the stainless parts, & replace the factory grips with some black buffalo horn...

I don't know what I think of it yet... but MRS picked it out / noticed it immediately when walking in the gun room, with it on the wall with many others ( she doesn't often notice a new gun ) yet said this one looked distinctive...

hard to take pictures of highly polished guns, & I was trying to get a contrast between the polished black, & polished silver...

Thoughts ???

before...



after...

[Hunter Customs]

Satin finish hardchrome the complete outfit, it will look good, have a finish that will wear good and be rust resistant (not rust proof).

Best Regards
Bob Hunter
www.huntercustoms.com

[2ndsojourn]

I think that looks good as is. Real good.

[Bill DeShivs]

I like it!